Lippe

Lippe (German: Lippe) or Lippe-Detmold (German: Lippe-Detmold) was a territorial state in western Germany that existed until 1949. Its capital was Detmold. Its area was 1,215 km². As of 2002, the population of Lippe district was 365,000.

History

The Lippe region became a lordship (Herrschaft Lippe) in 1129, and in 1616 the ruling house split into four lines. In 1720 it became a principality (Fürstentum Lippe). In 1749 the divided Lippe region was reunified, and from 1815 to 1866 it was a member state of the German Confederation. Afterward, it passed through the North German Confederation and in 1871 became part of the German Empire. In 1918, in the aftermath of defeat in World War I, Leopold IV abdicated and it became a free state. Thereafter, in 1949, it lost its status as a state and was merged into North Rhine-Westphalia, becoming Lippe district.

List of rulers

• 1789 – 1802 Leopold I (1767–1802)
• 1802 – 1851 Leopold II (1800–1851)
• 1851 – 1875 Leopold III (1821–1875)
• 1875 – 1895 Woldemar (1824–1895)
• 1895 – 1905 Karl Alexander (1831–1905)
• 1905 – 1918 Leopold IV (1871–1949)