Did somebody say Schaumburg-Lippe?

[Dave Danner]

Schaumburg-Lippe came up in the Lippe-Detmold thread, but deserves its own thread.

Such a tiny little place! Less than 45,000 inhabitants in 1905.

But a long military history. Schaumburg-Lippe troops fought in the War of Austrian Succession on the side of Austria. Alongside the British, Hanoverians, and Hessians, the Schaumburgers helped defeat the French at Dettlingen in 1743. They also served at Fontenoy (1745), Raucoux (1746), and Laffeld (1747).

In the Seven Year's War (what we provincial Americans call the French and Indian War), Schaumburg allied with England (George II) and Prussia (Frederick the Great). Graf Wilhelm zu Schaumburg-Lippe placed his troops under the Duke of Cumberland and then Duke Ferdinand von Braunschweig, and fought at Minden (both the siege and the battle). They also served at the battle of Marburg Castle (1759), the siege of Münster (1760), the relief of Kassel (1761), and the battle of Hamm (1761). Graf Wilhelm and his troops joined the English in Portugal in 1762-63, where he commanded the combined Portuguese/British/Schaumburg-Lippisch army.

Landgraf Wilhelm IX of Hessen-Kassel invaded and occupied Schaumburg-Lippe in 1787 in a dynastic dispute, but was forced to leave after two months by the Imperial Court of the Holy Roman Empire.

After joining the Confederation of the Rhine in 1807, the county (Grafschaft) was elevated to a principality (Fürstentum). The tiny principality provided 280 troops for Napoleon's Grande Armee, and accompanied him to Russia in 1812. After the Battle of the Nations and the dissolution of the Confederation of the Rhine, Schaumburg-Lippe joined the allies. Joining the German Confederation in 1815, it was required to field a batallion of 240 men and provide 120 reservists. These troops participated in the maneuvers in Schleswig-Holstein in 1849 and occupied Luxembourg in 1859.

After an 1866 military pact, Schaumburg-Lippe's troops became part of the Prussian Army in 1867. Its troops then fought in the Franco-Prussian War.

Schaumburg-Lippe's troops were part of the Westfälisches Jäger-Bataillon Nr.7, which was garrisoned at Bückeburg. It was part of the 26th Brigade of Army Corps VII.

After World War Two, Schaumburg-Lippe was joined by the British occupation forces with Hannover, Braunschweig, and Oldenburg to form the new state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen).

Liek Lippe-Detmold, Schaumburg-Lippe had its own equivalent to the Iron Cross, which served as its principal military decoration. The medal was known as the Cross for Loyal Service (Kreuz für treue Dienste) and, like the Iron Cross, came in two classes, a pinback grade and a a lower grade on ribbon. The first class pinback cross is pretty rare; I don't think I've ever seen one in person, and only once in a catalog.

Here is a ribbon bar showing the Iron Cross, 2nd Class, the Cross for Loyal Service on ribbon, and the World War I Honor Cross:




Stogie-Rick's cased one and majorpayne's beautiful polished one are nice. A medal bar is nice too. Here is the matching medal bar for the ribbon bar above:




Dave

[JensF.]

Very nice bar!!! Here is one from me with a Landwehr-Dienstauszeichnung:

[Klaus O.]

Dave,

Great medal bar! I have a medal bar with the an identical tailor's label "Godet & Cie", too! Usually these bars are always very well put together...

I didn't know that Schaumburg-Lippe was such a little state! Thank you very much to tell us about it.

Here's the Fürstenstandarte (Flag adopted 1911, abolished 15th November 1918)



Ciao,

Claudio

An extrait from the Catholic Encyclopedia (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13523c.htm)


Schaumburg-Lippe
A German principality, surrounded by the Prussian province of Westphalia Hanover, and an exclave of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau (the Prussian County of Schaumburg). Schaumburg-Lippe has an area of about 131 square miles and (1910) 46,650 inhabitants. As regards population it is the smallest state of the German Confederation; in area it is larger than Reuss-Greitz, Lübeck, and Bremen. In 1905, of 44,992 inhabitants 43,888 were Lutherans, 653 Catholics, and 246 Jews. Thus the Catholics are 1 5 per cent of the population. The principality of Schaumburg-Lippe has sprung from the old County of Schaumburg, in early days also called Schauenburg, which was situated on the middle course of the River Weser, and was given as a fief by the German Emperor Conrad (1024-39) to Adolph of Santersleben. Adolph built the castle of Schaumburg on the Nettelberg, which is on the southern slope of the Weser Mountains, east of Rinteln. The descendants of Adolph of Schaumburg, among other possessions, acquired the County of Holstein and the Duchy of Schleswig also.

In the year 1619 the Schaumburg family were made counts of the empire; however, soon after this, in 1640, the male line became extinct by the death of Count Otto V. At the division of the inheritance the County of Schaumburg went to the mother of Otto V, Elizabeth, Countess of Lippe. Elizabeth gave it to her brother Count Philip of Lippe, the younger brother of Count Simon VII, ruler of the County of Lippe. The Margrave of Hesse-Cassel and the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg also laid claim to parts of the old County of Schaumburg, and an adjustment was made which was confirmed in the Treaty of Westphalia. On account of this agreement the county was divided, one part going to Hesse-Cassel, another to Brunswick, while what was left, including the Barony of Buckeburg, came to Count Philip who now called himself Count of Lippe-Buckeburg. The first one of his descendants to call himself Count of Schaumburg-Lippe was Count Philip Ernest (d. 1787). Thus the territory of the present principality of Schaumburg-Lippe has never had any constitutional connection with the present principality of Lippe. The two countries have not arisen by partition of another principality.

The districts of the old County of Schaumburg that fell to Hesse-Cassel, among which were the castle and the district of Schaumburg, became Prussian territory when the Electorate of Hesse-Cassel was suppressed (1866), and since then these districts, under the name of the government district of Rinteln, have formed an exclave of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau. Since 1905 Rinteln has been called the Prussian County of Schaumburg. George William of Schaumburg-Lippe (d. 1860) joined the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806, and received the hereditary title of prince. After the dissolution of the Confederation of the Rhine he joined the German Confederation (1815). At the outbreak of the Prusso-Austrian War (1866) Prince Adolph George (d 1893) at first agreed to the demand of Austria for the mobilizing of the forces of the Confederation against Prussia, but after the Prussian victories he withdrew from the German Confederation and joined Prussia and the North German Confederation. In 1871 the little country became a state of the German Empire, Prince Adolph (b. 1883) succeeded as ruler in 1911, in which year he was still unmarried. At the time of the great religious revolt of the sixteenth century the territory of the old County of Schaumburg belonged, in ecclesiastical matters, to the Diocese of Minden (founded by Charlemagne about 800). The Reformation was introduced into the country between 1560 and 1570, after the death of Adolph III, Archbishop of Cologne (d. 1556) and of his brother Anthony (d. 1558), both of whom belonged to the Schaumburg dynasty. The reigning Count Otto IV, brother of these two, was won over to the new doctrine after his marriage with Elizabeth Ursula, daughter of Duke Ernst of Brunswick-Lüneburg (called the "Confessor" on account of his zealous adherence to and championship of Protestantism).

The childless Count Ernst (d. 1622) was succeeded by a Catholic Count, Jobst Hermann, who also died without children (1636). Jobst, indeed, attempted to bring up his probable successor, the later Count Otto V, in the Catholic Faith, but Otto's mother, Elizabeth, had him educated in the Reformed doctrines. Upon the death of Otto V the male heirs of the Schaumburg line were extinct. What remained of the country after the partition, the present principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, came under the House of Lippe, which had also adopted the Reformed teachings, so that since this era the ruler of the country and his family have been Protestants, and the national Church is the Lutheran. However, the ruler of the country has by law supreme ecclesiastical power over the State Church. Parishes of the Reformed Church were formed only in the capital, Buckeburg, and Stadthagen. Catholic services were re-established at Buckeburg about 1720 for a Catholic countess and her servants. Originally the Catholic pastoral care was exercised from Minden by Franciscans of Bielefeld; between 1840 and 1850 the mission parish of Buckeburg was created, to which was added in 1883 the mission parish of Stadthagen. In consequence of the country's entrance into the Confederation of the Rhine the few Catholics received equal civil rights with the Protestants. By a rescript of 3 July, 1809, the Sovereign settled the relations of the principality to the Catholics, and granted Catholics permission to hold public church services. Since 1846 episcopal jurisdiction has been exercised by the Bishop of Osnabrück in his capacity as Pro-vicar of the Northern Mission.

The political status of the Catholic Church was revised by the State law of 18 March, 1911. The Catholic parishes are corporations established by law and are composed of the aggregate of all the Catholics residing in the district. Their boundaries are fixed by the bishop with the approval of the ministry after the opinions of the interested parties have been consulted. The ministry exercises the State's right of supreme supervision. The pastor is named by the bishop who must, however, before making the appointment, ascertain that the ministry has no objection to this cleric. If within thirty days no objection be raised against the candidate the acquiescence of the ministry is assumed. Every parish is bound to establish and maintain properly the buildings necessary for worship, etc. To meet these obligations every self-supporting member of the parish who has resided there at least three months is bound to pay the church tax. The State gives nothing for Catholic Church purposes. The necessary expenses are met by the bishop. Orders and congregations are not allowed in the country. The primary schools are all Lutheran. Religious instruction is not given to the Catholic minority in the public primary schools, although this is legally permissible. There are private Catholic primary schools at Buckeburg and Stadthagen; these do not, however, receive any aid from the State or commune. The Catholic school at Buckeburg, founded 1848, numbers (1911) 20 pupils; the one in Stadthagen, founded 1877, numbers (1911) 27 pupils.

[Klaus O.]

map of Schaumburg-Lippe

Here's the map of this tiny Fürstentum:


http://www.dhm.de/lemo/objekte/karte...chaumburg.html

[Klaus O.]

Map, 2nd attempt

Map:

[Rick Research]

Here is an award document--rather nice, given the usual "dog license" nature of German paperwork. The "signature" is a stamp, the stamp is real (see closeup below) and note the very helpful running award number from the awards roll at lower left. Anybody got any late 1918 documents for approximate numbers? (the pencilled numbers at bottom right are from the Kube auction itself, their consignment inventory markings.)

I rescued this and half his award documents, left after somebody pillaged half and left these to rot in an early 1980s Kube auction. (I don't SPLIT groups, but I RESCUE poor remnants). I was then lucky enough to get all his commissions and miscellaneous papers (like the actual citation accompanying his EK2 document, and application for his Hindenburg Cross) in the next auction. Somebody out there has his EK1, MVO4X, 1905, Bremen Hanseatic, and 1918 Wound Badge documents -- God alone knows why they wrenched the group apart!

Alois Louis was born in 1873 and served in the Bavarian army 1893-1920-- from 1893 until 1914 in Infantry Regiment 14--retiring as a char. Oberstleutnant aD.

As commander of the Machine Gun Company, he was shot through both lower legs in August 1914, losing his left leg below the knee two months later. After spending most of 1915 recovering, he went to the Staff of Military Railways Direction 6 (Brest-Litovsk) 1916-17, then was Railroad Staff Officer for Army Groups Woyrsch, Eichhorn, and Linsingen, retiring as Line Commandant of Nürnberg.

This falls into the category of a "lounge lizard" award-- apparently the Schaumburg-Lippe award was handed out to Louis for waving the ruler's train through or something similar!

Although one legged, Louis got a driver's license, and participated in illegal army maneuvers from 1932 on. During WW2 he was an Oberstleutnant zV and on the staff of the Abwehr office in Nürnberg, well past "retirement" age!

These are the sort of real-life details that make incomprehensible to me the sort of moron who splits a whole group because all they "care" about is one piece!

[Rick Research]

And close up of the rubber stamp, showing all that miniature heraldic detail!

[Zach]

I got this medal bar Saturday from a German dealer:

[Daniel Krause]

Great items guys!

I think, the small German states deserve much more attention! The Decorations are beautiful made and much rarer than 3rd Reich zinc stickpins! And this things are much less expensive!

Best regards

Daniel

P.S. The Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe was one of the 10 richest Germans before 1918! Maybe thats why they could afford such nice awards!

[JensF.]

Another one in a rare combination:

[Daniel Krause]

To put a face behind this awards,

here is Fürst Adolf von Schaumburg-Lippe

Best regards

Daniel

[JensF.]

A Husar? He is wearing the 1st class of the Cross for Loyal Deeds.

[Daniel Krause]

Yeah!

The stickpin Kreuz für Treue Dienste was only given to members of the Princely family (according von Hessenthal / Schreiber)

Best regards

Daniel

[Klaus O.]

my last purchase...

Dear imperialites,

I have just received from Germany this interesting medal:

Freistaat Schaumburg-Lippe, Kreuz für treue Dienste am Kämpferband im Verleihungsetui

Measurements: weight 16.2 g, cross h 35.8 mm x w 35.8 mm.

The cross fits precisely into the case. Too bad that there are no inscriptions on the case itself. Does somebody know how such case schould look like?

Ciao,

Claudio

[Kai-Steffen M.]

Apropos Bückeburg:

From july 2000 on i was stationed in the Jäger-Kaserne in Bückeburg, the building itself dates 1870 and is the oldest military building in germany still in use- also i did my "gelöbnis" in the schaumburg-lippe schloss in bückeburg...- today it houses the IV., V. and VI. inspection of the german army aviation school there is still a lot of tradional items from the "bückeburger jäger" the no 7 there (also from the 58. IR which was there during ww2)- if anyone want to have- i can send a lot of photos of the kaserne both old and today and of historical items displayed there.(like uniforms of regimental kommanders- pictures of them flags- general equipments etc....)

Gruß,
KSM
OFR d.R.