Sources for the Lippe Region

Lippe was split into four pieces in 1613 and gradually reassembled itself over the next 225 years. For purposes of tracking the breakup and reassembly, the following document (particularly the first paragraph and last section) proved exceptionally useful:

Both German and English Wikipedia articles contained contradictory information and were inconsistent with contemporaneous maps—the most useful of which was Die Furstenthumer Lippe-Detmold, Schauenburg-Lippe und Waldeck. – David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, drawn by Arno Streit in 1837. This map definitively shows that Amt Blomberg was still part of Schaumburg-Lippe in that year.

Unfortunately, Süvern does not document the reintegration of Amt Alverdissen, nor does it address the status of Cappel and Lipperode or the Biesterfeld line. Those were resolved as follows:

Genealogisches Staats-Handbuch – Google Books provides answers to most of those:

  • Alverdissen reverted to Lippe-Detmold in 1812 (other sources clarify that this occurred via purchase by the Princess).
  • Lipperode reverted to Lippe-Detmold in 1748 as part of the Stadthagener Vergleich that settled the issue of Brake succession.
  • Jobst Herman, the founder of the Lippe-Biesterfeld line, “obtained more possessions in the Ämter of Schwalenberg, Oldenburg, and Stoppelberg” in 1667, which I use as the founding date of that line. His descendants sold out to Lippe-Detmold in 1762. (Other sources explain that they continued to use the title of Count, but only owned land outside of Lippe and exercised governing rights over none of it. The offshoot line of Lippe-Weißenfeld never controlled territory In Lippe.)

Finally, Amt Sternberg spend a portion of the 18th century under the control of Hannover. All sources date the beginning of that period as 1733. German Wikipedia articles on Grafschaft Sternberg and Burg Sternberg give conflicting dates for the end of the period—the former claiming 1771 and the latter claiming 1781. The History of Extertal web page (Geschichte des Extertals) dates the end of the period as 1781, which I regard as the tiebreaker.

The German Wikipedia article “Ämter in Lippe” provides a generally reliable account of the Ämter that existed in 1613 and beyond. (An exception is the claim that Blomberg and Schieder exchanged territory after they reverted to Lippe-Detmold in 1789. In fact, Blomberg did not revert until 1838 so the exchange had to have occurred after that date. Another exception is the claim that Stadt Blomberg fell to Schaumburg-Lippe between 1647 and 1789. I can find no other reference to that jurisdictional change and therefore ignore it.) The list of towns and villages in each Amt, however, is for 1886, which is of no use to me. For the period of interest, I relied on a map on page 421 of Quellen und Forschungen zur Reformationsgeschichte – Google Books which shows villages and Amt boundaries in 1618. The village names are blurry, but with the help of modern maps, I am confident that I have correctly placed them in the appropriate Amt. The map recognizes Vogteien only in Amt Detmold, although Wikipedia and other sources identify Vogteien in other Ämter. I follow the conventions of this map.

Return to master list of countries and subdivisions in the Lippe region