Lippe (The Kalmar Union)

The Principality of Lippe, Lippe, is a small constitutional monarchy in Northern Germany a member state of the Holy Roman Empire. It is bordered, clockwise from due north, by Minden, Calenburg, Paderborn, Munster-Westphalia and Ravensburg. The capital is Detmold and the population around 225,000.

The Head of State is Prince William Henry.

The official language is German.

The currency is the Westphalian Crown (WFC).

History
The supposed site of the German victory over the Romans at Teutoburg Forest, Lippe was originally part of the old Duchy of Saxony and its first lord, Bernhard I was given the territory in 1123 by Emperor Lothair II. He and his successors slowly enlarged it with judicious marriages and inheritances. On the eve of the Reformation it was raised to a county.

Count Bernhard VII's brother Philip was elected to the Archbishopric of Cologne. When he married, refused to resign from the see and then attempted to secularise the state. This unleashed the Cologne War (1538-1541) which would lead its Catholic neighbours to invade both Cologne and Lippe (amongst others) to oust the protestant rulers and re-impose Catholicism.

Countess Katharina (1540-1578) proved to be one of the most formidable rulers of the Schmalkaldic period, effectively deposing her uncle, the Catholic-imposed new ruler, Leopold I, to wrest the throne for her son Bernhard VIII. Under her guidance Lippe would confirm its adherence to Lutheranism and Lippe would be one of the founding members of the Schmalkaldic League. Her daughter Anna Katharina would become Cnut VIII's second wife. Despite this allegiance Lippe would not involve itself directly in the Fifty Years War after it was split between the two sons of Count Leopold II. Instead, the two counties attempted to steer a path of neutrality. They would still suffer after the billeting of Imperial troops in the territory however escaped the worst excesses of the war. The Alverdissen-Lippe branch would die out in 1903 and the two counties would be re-united.

In the meantime however the Detmold-Lippe branch had been raised to a principality, mainly thanks to the efforts of Count Frederick Adolph in the development of a smallpox inoculation. Frederick Adolph had set up a well-equipped medical school in 1800 which would train Eugene Hübsch, who correctly identified cowpox as a preventative measure for smallpox. Fearful of public resistance Hübsch approached the court for assistance in 1818 and Frederick Adolph was subsequently instrumental in promoting the vaccination and dampening public fears.

Frederick Adolph's legacy was somewhat diminished however after he pledged Lippe's assistance in fighting the Iberian Revolution. Its small army was almost totally wiped out at the Battle of Nancy (1829) an event which provoked rioting in the capital and a move towards a constitutional monarchy.

To commemorate the Battle of Teutoborg Forest, and apparently providing a well needed boost to Imperial pride after the messy conclusion of the Second Imperial-Kalmar War, a statue depicting the chief of the Cherusci tribe, Hermann, was raised in 1899 just outside Detmold.

Government
Lippe is governed by a single chambered Landstag which is elected, on average, every four years.

The current Head of State is Prince William Henry and the Chancellor is Hans Kronecker.