Countess Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld

German noblewoman
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroGerman noblewoman
PlacesGermany
wasNoble
Work fieldRoyals
Gender
Female
Religion:Lutheranism
Birth22 June 1870, Oberkassel
Death3 September 1948Detmold (aged 78 years)
Family
Mother:Karoline of Wartensleben
Father:Ernest II, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld
Siblings:Leopold IV Prince of Lippe Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld
Spouse:Prince Friedrich of Saxe-Meiningen
Children:Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen Georg Prince of Saxe-Meiningen Bernhard Prince of Saxe-Meiningen
The details

Biography

Countess Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld (22 June 1870 - 3 September 1948) was the eldest child of Ernest II, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Countess Karoline of Wartensleben.

Family and early life

Adelaide with her father and two sisters.

Adelaide was born on 22 June 1870 to Ernest II, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld and his wife Countess Karoline of Wartensleben.

After the death of Woldemar, Prince of Lippe in 1895, her parents were involved in a regency and succession dispute to the principality of Lippe. Though Woldemar's younger brother Alexander succeeded, he was incapable of ruling due to a mental illness. Consequently, two branches of the House of Lippe argued over rights to a regency. Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe, a brother-in-law of Wilhelm II, German Emperor was chosen, but another settlement allowed Ernest to become the regent of Lippe-Detmold on 17 July 1897.

Marriage and issue

At Neudorf, Adelaide married Prince Friedrich Johann of Saxe-Meiningen, a younger son of Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen on 24 April 1889. They had the following children together:

NameBirthDeathNotes
Feodora Karola Charlotte Marie Adelaide Auguste Mathilde29 May 189012 March 1972married on 21 January 1910 to Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
Adelaide Erna Karoline Marie Elisabeth16 August 189125 April 1971married on 3 August 1914 to Prince Adalbert of Prussia.
Georg, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen11 October 18926 January 1946Died as a POW in Russian camp of Cherepovets, Soviet Union; married Countess Klara-Maria of Korff genannt Schmising-Kerssenbrock; had issue including Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen, wife of Crown Prince Otto of Austria.
Ernst Leopold Friedrich Wilhelm Otto23 September 189517 August 1914Killed in action, near Maubeuge, France
Luise Marie Elisabeth Mathilde Helene Katharine13 March 189914 February 1985married on 25 October 1936 to Götz, Freiherr von Wangenheim
Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen30 June 19014 October 1984married firstly Margot Grössler (morganatic) and secondly Baroness Vera Schäffer of Bernstein (equal marriage)

Role in Lippe succession dispute

Two branches of the House of Lippe debated over rights to the principality of Lippe-Detmold.

As Adelaide's great-grandmother was a member of the petite noblesse, her family's claim to full royalty was challenged. This claim threatened the succession to Saxe-Meiningen, as Adelaide was married to the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen's heir apparent; were her father deemed a lesser royal status, it might be thought that her own claim was not equal enough for her husband's family.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles

  • 22 June 1870 – 24 April 1889: Her Highness Countess Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld
  • 24 April 1889 – 3 September 1948: Her Highness Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen

Ancestry

Ancestors of Countess Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16. Count Karl of Lippe-Biesterfeld
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Count Ernst of Lippe-Biesterfeld
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17. Countess Ferdinande of Bentheim-Tecklenburg-Rheda
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Julius, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18. Karl Philipp von Unruh
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Modeste von Unruh
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
19. Elisabeth Henriette Dorothea von Kameke
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Ernest II, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20. Count Friedrich Carl of Castell-Castell
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. Friedrich, Count of Castell-Castell
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21. Countess Amalie of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Virneburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Countess Adelheid of Castell-Castell
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
22. Karl Ludwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Princess Emilie of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
23. Countess Amalie Henriette of Solms-Baruth
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Countess Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
24. Leopold Alexander, Count von Wartensleben
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Caesar Alexander, Count von Wartensleben
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
25. Caroline Louise Dorothea von der Recke
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Leopold Otto, Count von Wartensleben
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
26. Johann Friedrich Carl von Gfug
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. Friederike Wilhelmine von Gfug
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
27. Johanne Juliane von Lestwitz
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Countess Karoline of Wartensleben
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28. Johann Arnold Halbach
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. Arnold Halbach
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
29. Maria Gertrud Hillger
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Mathilde Halbach
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
30. Bohl Bohlen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Johanna Caroline Mathilda Bohlen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31. Johanna Magdalena Oswald
 
 
 
 
 
 

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