county · Germany and Central Europe

County of Lippe

1123 CE – 1789 CE (approx.) · capital Detmold

A Westphalian lordship around the Teutoburg Forest whose rulers founded Lippstadt and Lemgo and survived as a German state until 1947.

Origins

Bernhard I appears as lord of Lippe in 1123, holding lands on the Lippe river. His grandson Bernhard II, a companion of Henry the Lion, founded Lippstadt around 1185 and Lemgo, before becoming a crusader bishop in Livonia. The lordship developed between the bishoprics of Paderborn and Minden.

Rule and society

Lippe was a rural territory of small towns and farms in the hills of the Teutoburg Forest. The lords were raised to counts in 1528 and introduced the Reformation, the Reformed faith following in 1605. Detmold became the main residence. Branches split off, including Schaumburg-Lippe in 1647.

Decline and legacy

Count Simon August's successor Leopold I was raised to prince in 1789, making the county the Principality of Lippe. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine and the German Empire, and became a Free State in 1918 before merging into North Rhine-Westphalia in 1947.

Lineage

County of LippePrincipality of Lippe 1789 CE – 1918 CE

Connections (1)

County of Lippe was part of Holy Roman Empire1123 CE – 1789 CE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). County of Lippe. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-lippe
MLA: “County of Lippe.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-lippe. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “County of Lippe.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-lippe.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘County of Lippe’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-lippe (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻