View source for Countess Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld

{{Short description|German noblewoman (1870–1948)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Countess Adelaide
| title        = Princess Friedrich of Saxe-Meiningen
| image        = Countess Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld.jpg
| caption      = Photograph, {{circa|1900}}
| full name    = Adelheid Karoline Mathilde Emilie Agnes Ida Sophie
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Prince Friedrich of Saxe-Meiningen]]|24 April 1889|23 August 1914|end=d.}}
| issue        = {{plainlist|
*[[Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen (1890–1972)|Feodora, Grand Duchess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]]
* [[Princess Adalbert of Prussia|Adelaide, Princess Adalbert of Prussia]]
*[[Georg, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen]]
* Prince Ernst Leopold
*Princess Luise Marie
* [[Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen]]
}}
| house        = [[House of Lippe|Lippe]]
| father       = [[Ernest, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld]]
| mother       = [[Karoline of Wartensleben|Countess Karoline of Wartensleben]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1870|6|22|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Oberkassel (Bonn)|Oberkassel]], [[Bonn]], [[kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], [[German Empire]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1948|9|3|1870|6|22|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Detmold]], [[British occupation zone in Germany]]
| burial_place = [[Christuskirche (Königsberg)|Christuskirche]]
}}
'''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|Karoline von Wartensleben]].
==Family and early life==
[[File:Grafregent Ernst zur Lippe-Biesterfeld mit seinen Töchtern.jpg|left|thumb|170px|Adelaide with her father and two sisters.]]
Adelaide was born on 22 June 1870 to [[Ernest II, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld]] and his wife, [[Karoline of Wartensleben|Countess Karoline von 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, Prince of Lippe|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 a court-settlement allowed Ernest to become the regent of Lippe-Detmold on 17 July 1897.
==Marriage and issue==
At [[Schloss Neudorf|Neudorf]], Adelaide married [[Prince Friedrich Johann of Saxe-Meiningen]], a younger son of [[Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen]] on 24 April 1889.<ref name=P685>{{cite book|first=John|last=Paxton|title=The Statesman's year-book, Volume 37|publisher=Macmillan and Co|location=London|year=1900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OtsRAAAAYAAJ&q=lippe-biesterfeld+countess+saxe-meiningen&pg=PA685|page=685}}</ref> They had the following children together:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!width="18%"|Name!! width="14%"|Birth!! width="14%"|Death!! width="62%"|Notes
|-
| [[Princess Feodora of Saxe-Meiningen (1890–1972)|''Feodora'' Karola Charlotte Marie Adelaide Auguste Mathilde]] ||  29 May 1890 ||  12 March 1972|| married on 21 January 1910 to [[Wilhelm Ernst, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]].
|-
| [[Princess Adalbert of Prussia|''Adelaide'' Erna Karoline Marie Elisabeth]] ||  16 August 1891 ||  25 April 1971|| married on 3 August 1914 to [[Prince Adalbert of Prussia (1884–1948)|Prince Adalbert of Prussia]].
|-
| [[Georg, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen]] ||  11 October 1892<ref name=P685/> ||  6 January 1946|| Died as a [[POW]] in Russian camp of [[Cherepovets]], [[Soviet Union]]; married Countess Klara Marie von Korff genannt Schmising-Kerssenbrock; had issue including [[Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen]], wife of [[Otto von Habsburg|Crown Prince Otto of Austria]].
|-
| Ernst Leopold Friedrich Wilhelm Otto ||  23 September 1895<ref name=P685/> ||  17 August 1914|| Killed in action, near [[Maubeuge]], [[France]]
|-
| Luise Marie Elisabeth Mathilde Helene Katharine ||  13 March 1899 ||  14 February 1985|| married on 25 October 1936 to Baron Götz von Wangenheim
|-
| [[Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen]] ||  30 June 1901||  4 October 1984||  married firstly Margot Grössler ([[morganatic]]) and secondly Baroness Vera Schäffer von Bernstein (equal marriage)
|-
|}
==Role in Lippe succession dispute==
Two branches of the [[House of Lippe]] debated over rights to the principality of [[Lippe-Detmold]].<ref name=nyt1/>
As Adelaide's great-grandmother was a member of the lower nobility (Modeste Christiane von Unruh) and has one [[Quarters of nobility|quarter commoner ancestry]],<ref name=nyt2/> her family's claim to full royalty was challenged.<ref name=nyt1>{{Citation
| title = No Title
| newspaper = [[The New York Times]]
| location = Berlin
| date = 8 October 1904
| url =https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/10/09/101399076.pdf
| access-date = <!-----13 November 2010----->}}</ref> This claim threatened the succession to [[Saxe-Meiningen]], as Adelaide was married to the [[Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen|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.<ref name=nyt2>{{Citation
| title = The Kaiser and the Lippes
| newspaper = [[The New York Times]]
| location = Berlin
| date = 26 July 1898
| url =https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1898/08/07/102119690.pdf
| access-date = <!-----13 November 2010----->}}</ref>
==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes|align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Countess Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld'''
|2= 2. [[Ernest, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld]]
|3= 3. [[Karoline of Wartensleben|Countess Karoline von Wartensleben]]
|4= 4. [[Julius, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld]]
|5= 5. [[Countess Adelheid of Castell-Castell]]
|6= 6. Count Leopold Otto von Wartensleben
|7= 7. Mathilde Halbach
|8= 8. Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld
|9= 9. Modeste Christiane von Unruh
|10= 10. Friedrich Ludwig, Count of Castell-Castell
|11= 11. Princess Emilie of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
|12= 12. Count Cäsar Alexander von Wartensleben
|13= 13. Friederike von Gfug, Heiress of Osniszczewo
|14= 14. [[Arnold Halbach]]
|15= 15. Johanna Caroline Mathilda Bohlen
}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adelaide of Lippe-Biesterfeld, Countess}}
[[Category:1870 births]]
[[Category:1948 deaths]]
[[Category:Countesses in Germany]]
[[Category:House of Lippe]]