Former German state.
It lay between the Teutoburg Forest and the Weser River , and its capital was Detmold. A lordship in medieval times, it became a county in the 16th century. Dynastic divisions in the early 17th century resulted in two counties, Lippe and Schaumburg-Lippe . In 1720 it was made a principality. A member of the German Confederation in 1815, it became part of the German Empire in 1871 and of the Weimar Republic in 1918. In 1947 it was incorporated into North Rhine–Westphalia.