**Lippe** ([[German language|German]]: Lippe) or **Lippe-Detmold** ([[German language|German]]: Lippe-Detmold) was a [[Territorial state|territorial state]] in western [[Germany]] that existed until 1949. Its [[capital city|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)