Barons and castellans · Other imperial lands · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Lippe

The lords of Lippe are the rising house of central Westphalia.

Bernhard II founded Lippstadt (1184/85), the first planned town in Westphalia, on the Lippe crossing, and Lemgo (about 1190) by his castle of Brake on the Bega; he inherited Rheda from his cousin Widukind (died on the Third Crusade, 1189) and won the advocacies of Liesborn and Freckenhorst. His son Hermann II now rules these scattered blocks while the old warrior prays at Marienfeld. They are Otto's men, kin by marriage to Tecklenburg.

Who he is

Name
Hermann II
Title
Lord (Edelherr) of Lippe
Since
1194-1196 (co-ruler with his father, sole lord from 1194 by one account, 1196 by another)
Born
1175, at Lippe (Lippstadt), so about 24
Family
Son of Bernhard II of Lippe and Heilwig of Are-Hochstaden (died 1196). Wife: Oda, daughter of Count Simon of Tecklenburg. Children born by 1200: Bernhard (about 1194), Simon (about 1196, later bishop of Paderborn), Otto (about 1198, later bishop of Münster); a daughter Heilwig is given as about 1200 (not pinned whether born by 1 January). Brothers include Otto (later bishop of Utrecht from 1215), Bernhard (later bishop of Paderborn) and Gebhard (later archbishop of Bremen). His father Bernhard II (birth year not pinned; married in 1167), the founder of Lippstadt and Lemgo and Henry the Lion's old comrade, has entered the Cistercian abbey of Marienfeld (after 1194) and lives there as a monk; he will become abbot of Dünamünde in Livonia about 1210 and bishop of Selonia in 1218.
Confidence
high

In the throne war of 1198 Hermann took the Welf side; he changes to Frederick II only in 1214. He later becomes Engelbert of Cologne's follower and then his enemy, governs Utrecht for his brother (1217/18), fights at Bornhöved (1227) and is killed by the Stedingers on 25 December 1229.

Overlord

Free lords with fiefs of Cologne, Paderborn and others.

What it holds

  • Lippstadt: the planned town on the Lippe, 'nova civitas' in 1194, with ramparts, ditches and palisades (charter only 1220-1222)
  • Lemgo, the planned town by the castle of Brake (about 1190), and Brake castle
  • Rheda castle and lordship (inherited 1189)
  • The Falkenburg in the Teutoburg Forest (built about 1192 with Paderborn's leave, rights shared with the bishop)
  • Advocacies of Liesborn and Freckenhorst (Bernhard), Clarholz and Herzebrock (gained by Hermann, date not pinned)
  • The old family lands round Lippstadt

How it was acquired

Family lands; town foundations of 1184/85 and about 1190; Rheda by inheritance 1189.

Allies and rivals

Allies: Simon of Tecklenburg (father-in-law), Otto's party. Rivals: Count Hermann of Ravensberg (old enemy, now Staufen); the archbishop of Cologne, who fought Bernhard in 1177-1179 and whose new town of Rüthen (29 September 1200) and Geseke face Lippstadt; the bishop of Paderborn over the Falkenburg and Lemgo.

How things stand that morning

On 1 January 1200 Hermann holds Lippstadt, Lemgo, Rheda and the Falkenburg and backs Otto IV. Across his borders: Cologne's Soest Börde and Erwitte to the south of Lippstadt; Münster to the west of Rheda; Osnabrück's Wiedenbrück and Arnsberg's Rietberg beside Rheda; Ravensberg to the north of Rheda and west of Lemgo; Paderborn and the Schwalenberg counts round Lemgo and the Falkenburg.

Wealth

The markets of Lippstadt (a crossroads of trade at the Lippe ford) and Lemgo (at the crossing of two trade roads); advocacies; manors. No figures.

Military

Castles of Brake, Rheda and the Falkenburg; Lippstadt's earthworks; ministeriales and vassals. Bernhard's war record against Cologne (1177-1179) and at Halerfeld. No numbers.

Threats

  • Cologne's fortified towns on the Hellweg
  • Ravensberg
  • Paderborn's claims

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. 29 September 1200Cologne founds Rüthen, a fortified town a day's ride south of Lippstadt.Depends on: Cologne's settlement with Arnsberg. Stopped by: Its failure.

Places of note

  • Lippstadt: Planned town founded 1184/85.
  • Brake castle: Castle by Lemgo, built before 1190.
  • Rheda castle: Inherited 1189.
  • Falkenburg: Built about 1192, rights shared with Paderborn.
  • Marienfeld abbey: Where Bernhard II lives as a monk.

Where the sources disagree

  • Bernhard II's entry into Marienfeld is dated only 'after 1194'; the handover to Hermann is 1194 in Bernhard's article and 1196 in Hermann's.

Evidence: Foundations and family well attested; the holdings' extents are rough.

On the map: The Lippe lands of 1200 are scattered and their extents rough; the later county is not back-projected.

Primary sources for Empire

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

8 more in the sources library for The Rhineland, the Low Countries and the Swiss Lands.

Sources and studies

  1. Bernhard II. (Lippe), de.wikipedia
  2. Hermann II. (Lippe), de.wikipedia
  3. Lippstadt, de.wikipedia
  4. Lemgo, de.wikipedia

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.