State Flag (Landesflagge) 1880-1935

Principality of Lippe-Detmold

Fürstentum Lippe-Detmold

Princely Standard (Fürstenstandarte), c.1895-1918

About the Principality Orders and Medals Links

About the Principality

The Principality of Lippe was located in central Germany, south of Hannover. It is routinely called Lippe-Detmold to distiguish it from nearby Schaumburg-Lippe. It had a 1905 population of just under 146,000 and its capital was the city of Detmold.
The ruling house traced its lineage back to Edelherr Bernhard I. "de Lippe" in the early 1100s. The town of Lippstadt was founded in 1185 by Bernhard II and shortly thereafter other towns, including Lemgo and Detmold, were established. In 1528, Lippe became a County (Grafschaft) and in 1789 a Principality. From 1815 to 1866, Lippe was part of the German Confederation. Lippe sided with Prussia in the Seven Weeks' War of 1866 and became part of the North German Confederation. In 1871 it joined the German Empire.
A succession crisis kept the principality in some turmoil from 1985 to 1905, but was finally resolved in favor of Fürst Leopold IV. He ruled from that point on, including throughout World War One, and abdicated in 1918. Lippe became a Free State in 1920 and in 1947, it was incorporated by the British occupation administration into North-Rhine Westphalia.
The regular Lippe contribution to the German Army on the eve of World War One was the 3rd Battalion of the Infanterie-Regiment Graf Bülow von Dennewitz (6. Westfälisches) Nr. 55, which belonged to the 26th Brigade of the 13th Division under the VII Army Corps. The regiment was headquartered in Detmold. Its 1st Battalion was garrisoned in Höxter, its 2nd Battalion in Bielefeld, and its 3rd in Detmold. Fürst Leopold IV was the honorary commander of the 3rd Battalion.
In addition, the 3rd Battalion and the Machine Gun Company of Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 15 were also located in Detmold. Another unit with a Lippe connection was the 26th Brigade's Brigade-Ersatz-Bataillon Nr. 26, which was raised on mobilization in 1914 from the replacement battalions of Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 15 and Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 55 and in the Summer 1915 became the 2nd Battalion of Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 369. During World War One, Landwehr-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 56 was raised from Westphalian troops, including a Landsturm battalion from Detmold and Krefeld. Besides these, as the war progressed, other men of the principality served in various units, including artillery, pioneers, logistics, aviation and others.

Orders and Medals

House Order of the Honor Cross

Hausorden des Ehrenkreuzes

From 1869 until 1890, the two Lippe principalities issued a common House Order, commonly known as the Honor Cross of the Princely Joint House. In 1871, awards of the Honor Cross with swords were authorized and in 1877 a provision was made for awards of "swords on ring", to indicate that the holder had received a lower grade of the order with swords.

In 1890, the princes of Lippe-Detmold and Schaumburg-Lippe agreed to separate the order, and the Princely Honor Cross of Lippe-Detmold was born. The order came in five classes - the Honor Crosses 1st and 2nd Class, the Officer's Cross, and the Honor Crosses 3rd and 4th Class. The 4th Class came in two divisions. In addition to these, there was a provision for certain members of ruling houses to wear a Grand Cross of the order.

Some 1,300 Honor Crosses of the Princely Joint House were awarded in all classes between 1869 and 1890, 529 of them by Lippe-Detmold. Of these 529, 92 were with swords (14 1st Class, 5 3rd Class and 73 4th Class). After the split and through 1918, Lippe-Detmold awarded 1,692 Honor Crosses in all classes, of which 240 were with swords (5 Grand Crosses, 15 1st Class, 7 2nd Class with Oakleaves, 24 2nd Class, 37 Officer's Crosses, 25 3rd Class, 80 4th Class 1st Division and 47 4th Class 2nd Division). All but five of the swords awards (all in the 4th Class 1st Division) were awarded during World War One.

Officer's Cross with Swords / Offizierskreuz mit Schwertern

Photo credit: Charles Caudle

Honor Cross 3rd Class with Swords / Ehrenkreuz 3. Klasse mit Schwertern

Photo credit: Andreas Schulze Ising

Photo credit: UBS

Honor Cross 4th Class, 1st Division, with Swords / Ehrenkreuz 4. Klasse, 1. Abteilung, mit Schwertern

Photo credit: Andreas Schulze Ising

Honor Cross 4th Class, 2nd Division, with Swords / Ehrenkreuz 4. Klasse, 2. Abteilung, mit Schwertern

Photo credit: UBS

Photo credit: Andreas Schulze Ising

Military Merit Medal

Militärverdienstmedaille

The Military Merit Medal was created on May 16, 1832 as an award for long and faithful service, distinction in war, or general military merit. In its original version, it was awarded 144 times between 1832 and 1915. In 1908 the criteria were modified slightly, and awards with swords on the ribbon were authorized. There were, however, only four of these awarded. In 1915, the medal itself was redesigned, with crossed swords added to the obverse. According to Joerg Nimmergut's research, 1,945 awards of this version, illustrated below, were made.

War Honor Cross for Heroic Deeds

Kriegsehrenkreuz für heldenmütige Tat

A few months after the outbreak of World War One, on December 8, 1914, two new military awards were authorized which could be awarded without regard for rank. These were the War Honor Cross for Heroic Deeds and the War Merit Cross. The War Honor Cross for Heroic Deeds was a pinback cross, while the War Merit Cross was worn from a ribbon. Although somewhat similar to the Prussian Iron Cross, there were important differences. The War Honor Cross for Heroic Deeds was not a higher grade of the War Merit Cross, and there was no requirement that one have received the War Merit Cross (or the Iron Cross, for that matter) before one was eligible for the War Honor Cross for Heroic Deeds. Also, the War Honor Cross for Heroic Deeds was intended solely as a bravery award, while the War Merit Cross could be given for merit on the home front. This latter requirement was sometimes not obeyed, and several royals and generals received it. There were 740 awards of the War Honor Cross for Heroic Deeds.

War Merit Cross

Kriegsverdienstkreuz

As noted above, the War Merit Cross was created on December 8, 1914. It could be given for bravery or military merit and, as noted, for merit on the home front. There were 18,374 awards on the combatants' ribbon and 1,116 on the ribbon for non-combatants.

War Merit Cross, on the ribbon for combatants / Kriegsverdienstkreuz am Kämpferband