Schaumburg-Lippe

Schaumburg-Lippe, officially the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe (German: Freistaat Schaumburg-Lippe), is a and located in by Germany. The is while the is . It covers an area of 340 square kilometres (130 sq mi), about twice the size of Liechtenstein. With a population of 75,190, it makes the world's in the world both in terms of area and .
Schaumburg-Lippe arosed in 1647 by the division of the among the House of , the and the . The existence of the small territory of the was difficult from the very beginning. Facilities were initially shared with the Hessian part, the County of Schaumburg. The territorial independence was always endangered by the Hessian landgraves, which is one of the reasons why (r. 1748–1777) developed a specific form of national defence, but also caused the small state to become over-indebted. Under (r. 1787–1860), Schaumburg-Lippe became part of the -dominated and was rewarded by the enhancement to a (1807). After the defeat of Napoleon the microstate joined the and would eventually become a of the . After , renounced his throne on 15 November, 1918 as one of the last remaining in Germany.
Schaumburg-Lippe then became a within the . A final constitution of Schaumburg-Lippe was eventually enacted in 1922. During the democratic government was suppressed. At the end of , the British military decreed on 1 November 1946 the union of Schaumburg-Lippe, , and to form the new state of Lower Saxony. This new state received little approval from the people of Schaumburg. A plebiscite held on 19 January, 1975 to restore the was rejected by the despite a positive outcome. This triggered a wave of outrage, which the used to undermine the political institutions of the . To solve this constitutional crisis a radical decision was struck when Schaumburg-Lippe was kicked out of Germany intended to forestall other attempts at changing the , such as Oldenburg which also had a successful plebiscite, but it had the opposite effect and the soon had to give in to the wishes of the Oldenburgers. However, the people of Schaumburg-Lippe felt betrayed and , adopting a modified version of the 1922 constitution. This led to a second constitutional crisis, which was resolved by the Bielefeld Customs Treaty. The independence of the Free State was recognized, but and it would become nothing more than a of its larger and stronger neighbour.
92% of the residents describe themselves , the rest is made up from , the or . The is nominally the largest and most important in the microstate, but the number of is steadily increasing. The Free State is a member of the , the , and the . Although not a member of the because it was not designed with microstates in mind, it participates in both the and the . It has a and a with Germany.
== Etymology ==
Usually when a in the consists of two words combined with a , such as Schaumburg-Lippe, it implies that two or have been merged (e.g. Baden-Württemberg, Schleswig-Holstein, etc.). In this case, however, only Schaumburg is meant to describe a region. The former was partitioned in 1647, and one of the newly created administrative units was to become Schaumburg-Lippe. Since the part of Schaumburg ruled by was still called Schaumburg, the name -Lippe, the of the newly established county, was added to the present day country in order to distinguish between the two Schaumburg.
The name of the former County of Schaumburg can be traced to the , who ruled the county before the partition and in turn got their name from . The castle is located in , the Hessian part of Schaumburg, now a part of Germany and used to be called Schauenburg, but was later renamed to Schaumburg, while the ruling dynasty is still called Schauenburg. The origin of Schaumburg itself has not been historically recorded. The House of Lippe, which incidentally also ruled the , is named after the once Lippian , located on the . What exactly Lippe means isn't clear, it could originate in an term that means stream or slike. The form of the river (Lupia) has been comprehensible for over 2000 years.
== History ==
=== Origins in Medieval times ===
In 1110, the Saxon Duke , later Emperor Lothar III (r. 1133-1137), fiefed the noble with the counties of and . Its origin is unknown, but he probably was the builder of the , after which he named himself. Adolf was to defend the endangered border to the Slavs. He and his successors also colonized eastern Holstein. was expanded by Count Adolf I, by Count in 1143 and by between 1233 and 1242 as a newly established city, as well as , and which emerged under their leadership. The Schauenburgers managed to become one of the most important in the southern . By they related to the kings of and , to the dukes of , and with one line eventually becoming the . The shared history of the modern state of Schleswig-Holstein and the Schaumburg region is symbolically expressed in the : the is part of the Schleswig-Holstein coat of arms as well as a symbol of the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe. The Counts of Holstein-Schauenburg were initially only endowed with selective goods and rights in the area between the and , facing the Counts of Roden, the and the as fierce competition. Only in the course of the did the Schauenburgers assert themselves in what would soon become the Schaumburg region and create a closed territory.
One means that the Schauenburgers used to expand and consolidate their dominion was the systematic of the (internal colonization) north of , the Stadthäger plain. The is a remnant of the Dülwald, a primeval forest that disappeared during colonization in the 13th century. The Hagenhufendörfer (e.g. , , ) were established with special rights and with a typical layout: along a , lined up next to each other like for kilometers on one side while with and were opposite on the other side.
 The two of Möllenbeck and in the are among the oldest in Schaumburg with the oldest surviving document concerned about the Möllenbeck monastery dated 13 August, 896, a monastery converted into an monastery in 1441 before it became a monastery after the in 1559 and a Hessian domain after the , with whose goods the University of Rinteln, founded in 1621, was furnished. The , a since 1836, is one of the most important late in the central Weser area. The two striking are the remains of a . The in Fischbeck was established on 10 January, 955, making it the oldest documented in Schaumburg. In the mid-1200s the was introduced. After the Reformation, it was transformed into a free , which lives on to this day as an ladies' foundation. The Romanesque building forms from around 1100 and the coherence of the complex make it a remarkable example of monastic tradition. As part of the municipality of , Fischbeck no longer belongs to Schaumburg since the administrative reform in 1973. The former Augustinian in , founded shortly before 1167, also survived as a Protestant ladies' foundations. In 1498 the also had income from ; which served to equip the in 1621 based University of Rinteln. The with a double-towered Romanesque west wing is also used as an evangelical parish church. In 1225 the monastery at Bischoperode near was moved to , later converted into a Benedictine monastery. After the Reformation, its buildings were handed over to the newly founded university by in 1621, and its goods were used to equip them. The university eventually was closed in 1810, the buildings were demolished and the Ernestinum Gymnasium was built in its place. Of the medieval buildings, only the church has survived, which today serves as a Protestant parish church. The income from the Augustinian monastery in , established in 1298, was also used to fund the University of Rinteln. It disappeared without leaving any obvious traces. From the monastery in Stadthagen, which was built in 1486 and only existed for a short time until the Reformation, only the of the Gothic church remains, which is still used by the Protestant as a place of today.
 The founding and expansion of was also part of the measures taken to develop the lands in the Middle Ages. Stadthagen am , Rinteln on the and Oldendorf on the road from to were therefore planned by the Schauenburg counts around 1225/30. Stadthagen and Rinteln received and , which were converted into a at the beginning of the 19th century and as such - easily recognizable to everyone - now surround the medieval . Impressive town buildings, town halls and parish churches testify the and of its , Burgmannshöfe to the attractiveness of the city for families of in the surroundings. The settlements in , , - based by the counts of Roden - and - established by the - were linked to , Möllenbeck and Obernkirchen to the respective monastery; the settlement was under the influence of the canonical monastery of . Its legal and economic development probably fell short of the expectations of its founders as they remained in the rank of minor cities. Bückeburg received city rights in 1609, Obernkirchen as well as Rodenberg in 1615, and Sachsenhagen in 1650. Möllenbeck even reverted back into a in the Late Middle Ages.
Through skilful politics, the counts of Schauenburg had created a coherent small territory in their lands - the Holstein had been reduced to the dominion of with during the High Middle Ages. Since they were regarded as equals by families such as Brunswick-Lüneburg, out of the 10 children of Otto II, daughter Mathilde († 1468), married two of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Anton (1439-1526), a daughter of the Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, and Johann (1449-1527) the Cordula of , who brought the of Gemen in (including the Lordship of in ) into the marriage as a . The Schauenburg counts also had a career as up to the end of the Middle Ages: three to Hildesheim, five bishops to Minden, one bishop to - not counting the other dignitaries in the - came from the Schauenburg family; two counts of Schauenburg ( r. 1547-1556; r. 1557-1558) were even and thus of the .
=== Reformation, zenith and demise ===
The was introduced in 1559, i.e. comparatively late, under (r. 1544-1576), who was initially on the side. Otto had studied in , was from 1531 to 1537 and took part in the war against on the side of before he eventually married Elisabeth Ursula of , a daughter of , the , in 1558. Under her influence, teaching was introduced in Schaumburg. The two of Obernkirchen and Fischbeck have survived to this day as ladies' foundation.
 The experienced its cultural peak under Otto's son (r. 1601-1622). Ernst was born in in 1569, grew up in at the court of , studied law in , stayed in at the court of the very erudite and got to know the and of and the on trips through half of . He married Landgrave Moritz's sister, . Advised by outstanding men, he refurbished the country's , led the country to economic and reorganized Schaumburg. In 1606 he moved the main residence from to Bückeburg, which he expanded according to his ambitious plans and standards. The Golden Hall with its gate of the gods still impresses every visitor to Bückeburg Castle with its glance; the town church and the layout of the town square together with the adjoining buildings also originating in Count Ernst. Further noteworthy achievements consist of the in Stadthagen by and its important sculptures by , the academic high school in Stadthagen and the University of Rinteln. He gave the country a (1614) and a ordinance (1615), some of which remained valid well into the 19th century. His funds, largely coming from the Schaumburg , were also sufficient for a greater , which he made available to . In gratitude, Count Ernst was raised to the rank of in 1619.
The University of Rinteln was founded in 1621 with an . The equipment was initially sufficient for twelve and several tens of . After a promising start, it experienced a sudden collapse in 1622 due to the death of its founder and the turmoil of the . With usually around 150 , it was one of the smaller universities; their spatial catchment area was limited to the nearer to farther surroundings of . On the whole, its among remained rather modest. So there was little protest when the University was abolished in 1810 and its estates incorporated into the ; the was largely destroyed. The university building was demolished and the "Ernestinum" high school was built in its place.
 When Prince Ernst was buried in his mausoleum in Stadthagen on 21 March, 1622, troops of the marched through the against the "insane" ; the Thirty Years' War had reached Schaumburg. Like all of , the population suffered from , and ; and did the rest. Time after time the Weser valley was used as a transit and area. One of the few major battles took place on 8 July, 1633 at ; it ended victorious for the , but without having any significant influence on the further course of the war.
 Since Prince Ernst had died childless, the county was inherited by the line of the Counts' House of Schaumburg. Count Otto V. was participating in a war council of the Evangelical party in in 1640, when the attendees at a were reportedly given . In any case, Count Otto V. died a few days after his return from Hildesheim on 15 November, 1640, and with him the last male . With his death, the "Old County of Schaumburg" came to an end. The was up for division: Otto's mother Elisabeth, daughter of Simon VI. to Lippe, transferred all rights to her brother . With ceasing to exist, the county of and the of were sold, the lordship of Gemen fell to the counts of , and the county of Sternberg to . Several parties laid claim to the ancestral lands on the : Brunswick-Lüneburg drew in the office of , the of Lachem, Mesmerode and Bokeloh, as well as as a defunct ; the of and the of also asserted claims, and the Counts of Lippe asserted inheritance claims. In the end the old county of Schaumburg was divided into two equal : the counts of Lippe ( collateral line) received the offices of Arensburg, Bückeburg, Stadthagen, and half of the office of ; Hesse received the offices of and and the southern part of the office of Sachsenhagen. The University of Rinteln (until 1665), the Weser (until 1734) and the mines (until the 20th century) remained in . Minden, ruled by the , got nothing. In several contracts, this regulation was affirmed (1647 and in Article XV on 14/24 October, 1648) with the concluding the war between the and .
=== Lippian reign ===
If you want to learn more about the Hessian part of Schaumburg you can find more information here.
 The continued to exist in the theory of imperial law. In practice, both parts of the country now went their separate ways. The part of Schaumburg was fortunate enough to produce some capable rulers who devoted themselves entirely to the well-being of their small country. Among the most important and famous of these is (r. 1748-1777), who was deemed worthy by of to be ranked among the in the . Born in , after a temporary stay in and studies in and , he got the opportunity to travel to while serving in the army. As a in the / service, he fought successfully in the in the in 1759 and secured the independence of against and in 1762. He built his own country according to the new concepts he had created himself so it could be defended in case of war, being amonst the first to introduce . The in the as well as the war school that he set up in Wilhelmstein produced the army reformer . He promoted and in his country; established , improved the and maintained a written exchange of ideas with people like of Prussia, , , and . At his court he raised the (1771-1776 consistorial councilor in Bückeburg), the philosopher and the "concert master" , the "Bückeburger Bach" (1750-1795 in Bückeburg). Contrary to family tradition, Wilhelm's grave, a with symbols, was built in the middle of the .
After the end of the (1806), the small country experienced an increase in rank when its regent assumed the title of prince on his own initiative in 1807: the county now became the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, which claimed full .
 After the devastating , Prince Georg Wilhelm (r. 1807-1860) specifically promoted the country's . The traffic connections were considerably simplified when the - - - was opened in 1847 and Schaumburg-Lippe joined the Prussian in 1854. Despite , agriculture remained an important factor. It was freed from bondage by the abolition of . All of this led to a surge in modernization like never before. The and in in the district was influencial far into the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe. With the establishment of the Georgschacht near , mining in Schaumburg peaked, which continued to flourish into the 20th century until it came to an abrupt end in 1961. In addition, the and sovereign offered many jobs. The industrialization of the region was favored by the relatively high , the existing mineral (, ) and the favorable traffic situation (railway, , , since the 1930s). So in Schaumburg - not evenly distributed, but with different focal points - there was a coexistence of agriculture, mining and glass industry, last but not least also small trades () and ( catching). Industrial towns based on the model of the or the neighboring Hanover () did not develop in Schaumburg; rather, the settlement structure in Schaumburg remained and .
 The and of the principality increasingly diverged in the course of the 19th century. Although Schaumburg-Lippe retained its in 1866, it lagged behind general developments in the modernization process and had to accept help from Prussia wherever the was overwhelmed by modern administration. and , schools and were gradually subordinated to Prussian . After 1867 the had passed entirely to Prussia, the 7th Westphalian Rifle Battalion was transferred from to and Stadthagen; the Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe became the chief of the "Bückeburger Jäger". In the , from about 1840, Schaumburg-Lippe became more and more the proverbial object of ridicule against the outdated small state; it found its best-known expression in the "Duodez" by , who was of the Schaumburg-Lippian Landeszeitung in Bückeburg from 1907 until his dismissal in 1909.
Shortly before the end of the , the princes added one last zenith to their : (r. 1893-1911) - whose brother was married to the 's daughter and lived in the "" in - added the style to the palace and completely redesigned the castle , which has since been flanked on the right and left by two "" in the revived style of the . Georg's son (r. 1911-1918) built a in the Bückeburg Palace Park that was unparalleled in terms of size and furnishings and stood in a strange contrast to the actual importance of his principality. He had , which had been founded by (1761-1799), expanded into a respectable .
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