Princess Pauline of Anhalt-Bernburg
Encyclopedia
Pauline Christine Wilhelmine of Anhalt-Bernburg (also: Princess Pauline of Lippe; 23 February 1769, Ballenstedt
– 29 December 1820, Detmold
) was a princess consort of Lippe
, married in 1796 to Leopold I, Prince of Lippe
. She served as the regent of Lippe
during the minority of her son from 1802 to 1820. She is regarded as one of the most important rulers of Lippe. On 1 January 1809, she abolised serfdom
by princely decree. She managed to keep the principality independent during the Napoleonic Wars
. She wrote a constitution
, in which the power of the estates
was reduced. In the collective historical consciousness of the Lippe population, however, she is best remembered for her social goals. She founded the first day care center in Germany, a labor school for neglected children, a voluntary work camp for adult charity recipients and a health care institution with first aid center.
Pauline was the daughter of Prince Frederick Albert, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg
of Anhalt-Bernburg and his wife Louise of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön. A few days after her birth, her mother died of the measles
. She had an elder brother, Alexius Frederick Christian
(1767–1834), who was Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg from 1807. It was noticed at an early age that Pauline had an alert mind. Her father, Prince Frederick Albert personally took over the upbringing of his daughter Pauline and his son and heir Alexei. She was a good student and learned French in addition to Latin, history and political sciences. Already at 13 years of age, she assisted her father in the business of government. First she took over the French correspondence, and later the entire correspondence between the residence in Ballenstedt Castle and the government offices in Bernburg. Her education was strongly influenced by Christian ethics
and the ideas of the Enlightenment
. Later Pauline continued to practice what she had learned in her youth, such as the teachings of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
and Jean-Jacques Rousseau
.
On 2 January 1796 Princess Pauline of Anhalt-Bernburg married Prince Leopold I
of Lippe. The wedding was celebrated in Ballenstedt, and on 21 January 1796 the couple returned to Detmold, under great cheers of the population. Leopold of Lippe had been asking for her hand for years, but Pauline had repeatedly rejected his suits. The marriage took place only after Leopold's health improved. Previously, he had been put under guardianship for a short time because of mental confusion. In the following years, Pauline spoke positively about their marriage and her "loving" husband. She confessed in a letter to her trusted cousin Frederick Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg:
Pauline gave birth to two sons, Leopold
(born November 6, 1796) and Frederick (born December 8, 1797). A third child, a girl named Louise, died shortly after birth on 17 July 1800.
Leopold I died on 4 April 1802 and on 18 May Pauline took up the regency for her minor son, the later prince Leopold
. In the marriage contract between Leopold and Pauline from 1795, it had been agreed that Pauline, as the future mother, should take both the guardianship and the regency of a minor prince. The Estates of Lippe fiercely opposed this rule. However, no appropriate male male guardian was available and Pauline had also already demonstrated that she would be a suitable regent. Her reign lasted nearly two decades, and is regarded as a happy chapter in the history of Lippe.
Pauline held from 1818 until her death in 1820 the office of Mayor
of Lemgo
, overlapping the period she ruled Lippe. After the Napoleonic Wars
, the city was heavily indebted. When mayor Overbeck in 1817, no suitable new mayor could be found, and the magistrates and citizens decided on 4 January 1818 to ask Pauline ... to take a period the police and financial posts of the government of the city under her immediate direction for a period of six years .... Pauline answered on the same day and, contrary to everyone's expectations, she accepted the invitation. Locally, she was represented by the talented and dedicated lawyer
Kestner, acting as Commissioner
. She managed to improve the financial and social situation by taking some unpopular measures, but always with respect for the parliamentary rules of the city. Like in Detmold in 1801, she founded a workhouse
for the poor and a service club
under her own direction.
She planned to retire to the Lippehof, a baroque
palace built in Lemgo in 1734, but she died on 29 December 1820, a few month after she had handed over government business to her son Leopold II on 3 July 1820.
Pauline has in the historic context
not been glorified as idealistic. She held her position publicly and privately, and often reacted quite violently when she disagreed. This led to quite a few angry and ironic commentaries during her lifetime.
Her biographer Hans Kiewning
has described her as the regent of Lippe, who was far superior to all those around her, who would also have been an unusual phenomenon in a larger context. The historian Heinrich von Treitschke
called her "one of the cleverest women of her time. Her contemporary Ferdinand Weerth
described her in his sermons as Princely in her whole being, an unusual degree of mental strength, the clear light mind, [...] and her tireless work.
Pauline was challenging her two sons, especially Leopold, the heir apparent
. She carefully seelcted teachers, however, she considered herself to be too impatient in dealing with their sons, which sometimes led to violent confrontations.
The Prince and the state government had to agree with the Estates, the nobility as landowners and representatives of the cities, on important political issues. Before Pauline's rule, the sovereign, the government and the Estates had usually been able to work out a compromise, despite their often conflicting interests. Pauline, however, was accustomed to the absolute monarchy as practiced in Anhalt-Bernburg, where the Prince ultimately takes the decision. She did not want to allow the Estates to talk her out of realizing her well-intentioned social plans. She felt that she knew what was best for the country and its inhabitants. In 1805, the Estates rejected her plan to introduce a tax on liquor to finance a hospital for the insane. After that, she rarely summoned the Estates and mostly ruled by decree.
The government of Lippe had been presided by a chancellor or prime minister since the 18th Century. Their weight grew over time. They rarely came into conflict with Princess Pauline, since their reform ideas of both sides were largely compatible with hers. Pauline regularly participated in meetings of the cabinet or the parliament and made her decisions there. Such sessions were often dominated by her impatience and her desire to lead. Her main focus was on foreign policy, however, because she spoke and wrote better French than any of her officials. She broke through the male monopoly, which in those days was only possible due to her Princely rank. No other females were active in the Lippe government, until some female Councillors were elected after 1945. She took over the foreign ministry in 1810 and in 1817 the Princess also took up the management of the "madhouse" (as it was called at the time), the house of correction and the distribution of subdidies. In the relationship to her subjects, she was often close to the people, but ultimately, she had an autocratic style of government.
Pauline inspired to put into practice her ideas on the state organization of the poor relief. She believed the cause of poverty and begging in her country was mainly to be found in the Lippe national character with his penchant for laziness and idleness. From the scientific literature on poor relief available to her, she gathered that real improvement could only be achieved through labor, voluntary or otherwise, and not through financial handouts.
Inspired by this, Pauline continued the policies introduced by her late stepmother-in-law Casimire of Anhalt-Dessau
, (1749–1778), in accordance with the socio-political beliefs of their time. Among the institutions founded by Pauline were a vocational school (1799), a day care center (1802), the hospital (1801–1802), the voluntary workhouse (1802). An orphanage already existed since 1720, and a teacher training college had been founded in 1781. She grouped these six institutions under the term nursing homes and housed them in a former convent. They formed the nucleus of today's Princess Pauline Foundation
in Detmold. The nursing home claimed that they could provide assistance "from the cradle to the grave". It was considered unique and was often visited by foreign guests, who praised especially the day care center. The services were, however, only available to residents of Detmold.
The people liked Pauline mainly because of her social institutions. The integrated charitable institutions were viewed as a model at home and abroad and were visited by foreign delegations, most of them British. Her care for the poor was evident. She relieved the famine in the years 1802 to 1804, by creating granaries. She was personally responsible for the softening the impact of military activities, such as quarterting and positioning of troops.
She was also responsible for the improvement of the infrastructure of the country. She built new roads and introduced street lighting in Detmold, using 26 oil lamps. She did not build any important monuments herself, but the construction of the neo-classical houses on the avenue in Detmold began during her reign. She initiated the merger in 1819 of several existing collections of books into a public library
. Today's Lippe State Library at Detmold
is a direct continuation of this library.
, children should learn the theoretical knowledge but also practical skills. Leopold I
agreed and the new school was opened in the orphanage
at Bruchtor in Detmold. Here, Krücke taught the children of poor people together with the orphans. Legally, the school became equivalent to an elementary school.
Some of the lesson was filled with practical work. Among the practical skills tought was knitting. The Princess visited knitting classes and gave small rewards to the children. The knitted goods were sold and the children receiveded a part of the proceeds. This was meant to counter the objections of the parents, who would rather send their children to beg. A year later, the school was handed over to the Country during a school festival. It was officially inaugurated on 28 June 1799. Sixty children who had not attended school before this school began, showed the knowledge and skills they had acquired in that year. Nevertheless, problems continued with parents who sent their children to the field in summer, to herd cattle or gather ears of corn, or sent them begging dureing the Christmas season. Economic conditions were harsh; the parents' income was never secure; the economy was evolving into a money economy and this made it difficult for them to do without the money earned by their children even seasonally.
, the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was still First Consul of France at that point in time. In Paris, however, only unmarried mothers were allowed to use the center, while in Detmold, the offering was also to married couples, if they both had to work. A circular from Princess Pauline Detmold ladies with the title
("Proposal to transplant is a Parisian fashion to Detmold") is viewed as a starting point for the creation of a day care center:
Pauline used the circular to find educated ladies willing to supervise the center one day each week, for free. The princely house would finance the center. Older girls from the vocational school and the orphanage would look after the children and be trained to care for them. In 1801, Pauline purchased a suitable building for the institution: the so-called "Schwalenberg Cout" on Süsterstraße (now called Schülerstraße) in Detmold. The first day care center opened on 1 July 1802. The building was a three story nobel court; it was demolished at the end of the 19th Century. The "Gymnasium Leopoldinum" (a secondary school, which still exists) developed from a school that was already housed in the building when Pauline bought it. The day care center was soon imitated all over Germany. The city of Detmold, however, saw the project as a royal hobby and provided no financial support.
Up to 20 children were cared for in the first years. They were required to have been weaned from their mother's breast of and no older than four years of age. Four-year-old children, it was believed, could stay at home alone or accompany their parents in the gardens or the fields, until they were old enough to go to the vocational school. The child-care institution was open from 24 June until late October when the harvest and garden work were completed.
Based on a report published by inspector
Krücke in 1813, the center was open from 06:00 to 18:00 or 20:00. In the morning adolescent girls from the orphanage and older pupils from the vocational school would wash the children and put on a clean shirt and woolen jackets. On weekends, the clothing worn during the week was washed. The clothes were donated to the children when center closed at the end of the season. Pauline mostly financed the center using her own money, and the rest was paid out of the hospital fund. She managed to find twelve wealthy middle class women willing to act as supervisors. They had to record certain events in a journal, so that the princess was always well informed.
and was ambassador at the court of the Kingdom of Westphalia
in Kassel
. Until the end, Pauline believed in that Napoleon would win the war. The news of Napoleon's defeat in Russia
could not change their beliefs. She was opposed to Lippe seceding from the Confederation of the Rhine and Lippe prosecuted soldiers who had deserted from Napoleon's army.
The Prussian lieutenant Haxthausen, who worked as a Russian diplomat, had behaved unduly toward her. She responded by having him locked up in the madhouse. He could only be released when Lippe was declared a hostile country after the Battle of Leipzig
and was occupied by Prussian troops. The Prussian commander, Colonel von der Marwitz, described the incident in a letter to his wife and wrote about Pauline: The Princess-Regent is a rascal, and she has always served Napoleon faithfully [...].
Next to Pauline's for social reform, the preservation of the Lippe's independence was her greatest foreign policy success. She felt obliged, as guardian, to act in her son's best interest and to keep his rights intact as far as possible. The small country was wedged between the warring powers France
, Prussia
and Hesse
and under threat of being occupied by one or the other of its neighbors. At the beginning of her reign, Lippe was part of a neutral protection zone established by treaty, which all the warring parties respected. To ensure the neutrality, Prussian observation troops of there were stationed in Lippe. In 1806 Napoleon initiated the so-called Confederation of the Rhine
. Prussia responded with the North German Confederation
and solicited members.
Pauline saw that Lippe's independence was threatened and sought to join the Confederation of the Rhine. Napoleon confirmed Lippe's affiliation with the Confederation on 18 April 1807 with a certificate, and Pauline traveled to Paris to negotiate some special arrangements for Lippe. She was known as an admirer of Napoleon, an attitude that earned her much criticism later. In justifying her decision, she stated that she preferred to submit to a distant France than to neighboring Hesse or Prussia.
The inclusion in the Confederation of the Rhine had the consequence that Lippe had to provide troops for Napoleon's army. The citizens of Lippe resisted and there were riots. Many young men evaded the recruitment or deserted
during the French campaigns. After Napoleon's defeat in October 1813 in the Battle of Leipzig
, the citizens of Lippe flogged the French officials in Lippe, to Pauline's dismay. Until then she had believed in Napoleon's victory. Lippe was occupied by the Prussians, who regarded it as a hostile country and as Pauline as a collaborator
. As a result, Lippe resigned from the Confederation of the Rhine. Counsellor Preuss signed treaties of alliance with Austria and Russia on 29 November 1813. A Lippe volunteer corps was formed and was equipped by donations from Lippe citizens. Pauline invited her citizens to contribute and every gift, regardless of size, was published with the name of the donor in the newspaper of record
.
That Lippe came out of the political disaster of 1813 intact, was due to the tendency of the rulers in Austria and Russia to restore the . The South German members of the Confederation had been accepted as allies and it was felt that Lippe coud not be treated differently.
After these, Pauline suffered a nervous breakdown from which she recovered only slowly. She therefore took no part in the Congress of Vienna
1814–15, when Europe was reorganized after the victory over Napoleon. Many small states disappeared from the map, but Lippe's sovereignty was confirmed at the Congress of Vienna. The last entry in the list of sovereign princes in the preamble
of the constitution
of the German Confederation
of 8 July 1815 reads:
in Lippe, against the will of the Estates
, who had been side-lined since 1805. The decree came into force on 1 January 1809. She followed the example of most other states from the Confederation of the Rhine. In the era after the French Revolution
, serfdom was widely seen as a "relic of the Middle Ages", and firmly rejected.
In the preamble to the decree, the Princess Regent, explained her humanistic and, above all, economic motives. Her words were read from the pulpits and published through posters and printed in the :
The decree of 27 December 1808 abolished the and rules, which had been applied until then. The Weinkauf rule stipulated that when a serf sold his (his right to use a certain parcel of land), a transfer fee had to be paid to the landlord. Under the Sterbfall rule, when a serf died, his heirs had to deliver his best set of clothes or his or the most valuable piece of cattle (the so-called to the landlord.
This Regulation initially affected only Paulines own serfs and their relatives. Within a short time, however, it was extended to the landed gentry, the landowners, the church and the wealthy citizens. This gave the Lippe farmers and their families a noticeable improvement of their previously modest social status. However, the Lippe variant of serfdom was by no means comparable with the Prussian or the Russian serfdom. It was only a mild obligation and its abolition posed no particular event and sparked no celebrations among those affected. The farmers were more hindered by the numerous banalities and payments in cash and in kind they wre required to make, which would only be abolished by law in Lippe in the 1830.
were made up of representatives of the knighthood and the cities and convened each year at a Landtag
in order to discuss the affairs of Lippe and to make decisions. With the membership of Lippe in the Confederation of the Rhine, these rights were suspended and the Princess was appointed to Sovereign
. Pauline took her new authority to the mean that she would no longer need the consent of the Estates now:
Pauline did not resolved the Estates but largely ruled without them, like the absolutist Frederick Adolph a century earlier. Her relationship to the Estates had already been tarnished when the Estates refused the duty on spirits that she had proposed in 1805 to finance the asylum for the insane she was planning.
After the Confederation of the Rhine was dissolved, the Estates demanded their old rights be reinstated and it came to a bitter dispute with the Princely House.
In the Vienna Final Act, the final document of the Congress of Vienna
, paragraph 13 states: In all German states will a Constitution of the Estates will be established [...]. Pauline had a Constitution for Lippe drafted along the lines of some southern German states; she wrote the final version personally. This Constitution was adopted by the Government on 8 June 1819 and subsequently published under cheers of the population. The Estates protested against the restriction of their traditional rights and asked the Emperor to counter the Princess's subversive and the democratic spirit of the times. At the instigation of Metternich, the so-called Carlsbad Decrees
were taken against democratic agitation. These coincided with the bitter confrontation about the Constitution in Lippe. The Federal Assembly of the German Confederation
asked Pauline to immediately repeal the Constitution.
After Pauline's death, Leopold II and the Lippe government tried to maintain her Legacy, with the necessary changes. After long and difficult negotiations with the estates, including the nobility, this proved impossible. Eventually a compromise was found in which some of the ancient privileges of the nobility were restored. The new Constitution came into force in 1836.
and believed she could not hand over government to him with cear conscience. She postponed the date of the transfer several times, until critical voices became too loud. Finally, she surprised her son by announcing her resignation on 3 July 1820. At first, Leopold needed her assistance in the affairs of government, but he made sure this was not visible to outsiders. Pauline planned to end this situation by moving from Detmold to her widow seat Lippehof at Lemgo. However, before she could move, she died on 29 December 1820 of a painful lung ulceration. She was buried in the Reformed Church at the market square in Detmold, today's Church of the Redeemer.
On 5 March 1822 an obituary of Pauline by Helmina von Chézy
was published in the . It condemned her anti-Prussian policy and cited as an excuse:
Pauline's personality, politics and reforms have been the subject of numerous studies and publications. The Lippe Bibliography
lists some 170 titles are currently only about personal. Historical research in the second half of the 20th Century began to question the uncritical historical view of Pauline. Elizabeth Stolle asked in her contribution to Lippischen Mitteilungen aus Geschichte und Landeskunde, 1969 questions about the Pauline's religious stance, in order to obtain a better understanding of her diaconal
interests.
In a survey conducted by the at the end of 2009, Princess Pauline was elected as the most significant figure in the history of Lippe, with 28 percent of the votes cast. Former state president Heinrich Drake
finished second with 22 percent, the third place was tied between Arminius
, winner of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, and ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder
, with 9 percent of the votes each.
Statues of Pauline can be found on the grounds of the Lindenhaus in Lemgo and in park of Bad Meinberg. A plaque is attached to a building at the Castle Square in Detmold. An association name Pauline's daughters, a mineral spring at Bad Salzuflen
name Pauline spring, and a number of street names in several towns in Lippe, all remind us of the Princess. The Princess Pauline Foundation
in Detmold still exists and focusses on assisting young people and the elderly. The foundation runs a number of day care centers and strives help people in need in the spirit of the Princess.
|-
Ballenstedt
Ballenstedt is a town in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated at the northern rim of the Harz mountain range, about 10 km southeast of Quedlinburg. The municipality includes the villages of Badeborn and Oppenrode...
– 29 December 1820, Detmold
Detmold
Detmold is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of about 74,000. It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947...
) was a princess consort of Lippe
Lippe
Lippe is a Kreis in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe....
, married in 1796 to Leopold I, Prince of Lippe
Leopold I, Prince of Lippe
Leopold I of Lippe was a Prince of Lippe.He was born in Detmold the son of Simon August, Count of Lippe-Detmold and his second wife Princess Leopoldine of Anhalt-Dessau ....
. She served as the regent of Lippe
Principality of Lippe
Lippe was a historical state in Germany. It was located between the Weser River and the southeast part of the Teutoburg forest.-History:...
during the minority of her son from 1802 to 1820. She is regarded as one of the most important rulers of Lippe. On 1 January 1809, she abolised serfdom
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
by princely decree. She managed to keep the principality independent during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. She wrote a constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
, in which the power of the estates
Estates of the realm
The Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian Europe; they are sometimes distinguished as the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners, and are often referred to by...
was reduced. In the collective historical consciousness of the Lippe population, however, she is best remembered for her social goals. She founded the first day care center in Germany, a labor school for neglected children, a voluntary work camp for adult charity recipients and a health care institution with first aid center.
Life
Frederick Albert, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg
Frederick Albert of Anhalt-Bernburg , was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Bernburg....
of Anhalt-Bernburg and his wife Louise of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön. A few days after her birth, her mother died of the measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
. She had an elder brother, Alexius Frederick Christian
Alexius Frederick Christian, Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg
Alexius Frederick Christian of Anhalt-Bernburg , was a German prince of the House of Ascania, ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Bernburg, and from 1807 the first "Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg."...
(1767–1834), who was Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg from 1807. It was noticed at an early age that Pauline had an alert mind. Her father, Prince Frederick Albert personally took over the upbringing of his daughter Pauline and his son and heir Alexei. She was a good student and learned French in addition to Latin, history and political sciences. Already at 13 years of age, she assisted her father in the business of government. First she took over the French correspondence, and later the entire correspondence between the residence in Ballenstedt Castle and the government offices in Bernburg. Her education was strongly influenced by Christian ethics
Christian ethics
The first recorded meeting on the topic of Christian ethics, after Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Great Commandment, and Great Commission , was the Council of Jerusalem , which is seen by most Christians as agreement that the New Covenant either abrogated or set aside at least some of the Old...
and the ideas of the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
. Later Pauline continued to practice what she had learned in her youth, such as the teachings of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was a Swiss pedagogue and educational reformer who exemplified Romanticism in his approach....
and Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
.
On 2 January 1796 Princess Pauline of Anhalt-Bernburg married Prince Leopold I
Leopold I, Prince of Lippe
Leopold I of Lippe was a Prince of Lippe.He was born in Detmold the son of Simon August, Count of Lippe-Detmold and his second wife Princess Leopoldine of Anhalt-Dessau ....
of Lippe. The wedding was celebrated in Ballenstedt, and on 21 January 1796 the couple returned to Detmold, under great cheers of the population. Leopold of Lippe had been asking for her hand for years, but Pauline had repeatedly rejected his suits. The marriage took place only after Leopold's health improved. Previously, he had been put under guardianship for a short time because of mental confusion. In the following years, Pauline spoke positively about their marriage and her "loving" husband. She confessed in a letter to her trusted cousin Frederick Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg:
Pauline gave birth to two sons, Leopold
Leopold II, Prince of Lippe
Leopold II of Lippe was the sovereign of the Principality of Lippe. Succeeding to the throne in 1802 he assumed control of the government in 1820 from his mother who had been acting as regent due to his age at ascension.-Biography:Leopold II was born in Detmold the eldest child of Leopold I the...
(born November 6, 1796) and Frederick (born December 8, 1797). A third child, a girl named Louise, died shortly after birth on 17 July 1800.
Leopold I died on 4 April 1802 and on 18 May Pauline took up the regency for her minor son, the later prince Leopold
Leopold II, Prince of Lippe
Leopold II of Lippe was the sovereign of the Principality of Lippe. Succeeding to the throne in 1802 he assumed control of the government in 1820 from his mother who had been acting as regent due to his age at ascension.-Biography:Leopold II was born in Detmold the eldest child of Leopold I the...
. In the marriage contract between Leopold and Pauline from 1795, it had been agreed that Pauline, as the future mother, should take both the guardianship and the regency of a minor prince. The Estates of Lippe fiercely opposed this rule. However, no appropriate male male guardian was available and Pauline had also already demonstrated that she would be a suitable regent. Her reign lasted nearly two decades, and is regarded as a happy chapter in the history of Lippe.
Pauline held from 1818 until her death in 1820 the office of Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Lemgo
Lemgo
Lemgo is a city in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of c. 42,000.It was founded in the 12th century by Bernhard II at the crossroad of two merchant routes. Lemgo was a member of the Hanseatic League, a medieval trading association of free cities in several...
, overlapping the period she ruled Lippe. After the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, the city was heavily indebted. When mayor Overbeck in 1817, no suitable new mayor could be found, and the magistrates and citizens decided on 4 January 1818 to ask Pauline ... to take a period the police and financial posts of the government of the city under her immediate direction for a period of six years .... Pauline answered on the same day and, contrary to everyone's expectations, she accepted the invitation. Locally, she was represented by the talented and dedicated lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Kestner, acting as Commissioner
Commissioner
Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission ....
. She managed to improve the financial and social situation by taking some unpopular measures, but always with respect for the parliamentary rules of the city. Like in Detmold in 1801, she founded a workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
for the poor and a service club
Service club
A service club or service organization is a voluntary non-profit organization where members meet regularly to perform charitable works either by direct hands-on efforts or by raising money for other organizations. A service club is defined first by its service mission...
under her own direction.
She planned to retire to the Lippehof, a baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
palace built in Lemgo in 1734, but she died on 29 December 1820, a few month after she had handed over government business to her son Leopold II on 3 July 1820.
Character, personality and theory of government
In comparison with her contemporary Queen Louise of SwedenPrincess Louise of Prussia (1770-1836)
Princess Frederica Dorothea Louise Philippine of Prussia was a member of the House of Hohenzollern. She was the second daughter and third child of Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia, younger brother of Frederick the Great, by his wife and niece Margravine Elisabeth Louise of...
Pauline has in the historic context
Context
Context may refer to:* Context , the relevant constraints of the communicative situation that influence language use, language variation, and discourse summary...
not been glorified as idealistic. She held her position publicly and privately, and often reacted quite violently when she disagreed. This led to quite a few angry and ironic commentaries during her lifetime.
Her biographer Hans Kiewning
Hans Kiewning
Hans Johann Karl Kiewning was a German archive director, library director, historian, writer and painter....
has described her as the regent of Lippe, who was far superior to all those around her, who would also have been an unusual phenomenon in a larger context. The historian Heinrich von Treitschke
Heinrich von Treitschke
Heinrich Gotthard von Treitschke was a nationalist German historian and political writer during the time of the German Empire.-Early life and teaching career:...
called her "one of the cleverest women of her time. Her contemporary Ferdinand Weerth
Ferdinand Weerth
Ferdinand Weerth was a German theologian and school-reformer in Lippe. One of his sons was the writer Georg Weerth....
described her in his sermons as Princely in her whole being, an unusual degree of mental strength, the clear light mind, [...] and her tireless work.
Pauline was challenging her two sons, especially Leopold, the heir apparent
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
. She carefully seelcted teachers, however, she considered herself to be too impatient in dealing with their sons, which sometimes led to violent confrontations.
The Prince and the state government had to agree with the Estates, the nobility as landowners and representatives of the cities, on important political issues. Before Pauline's rule, the sovereign, the government and the Estates had usually been able to work out a compromise, despite their often conflicting interests. Pauline, however, was accustomed to the absolute monarchy as practiced in Anhalt-Bernburg, where the Prince ultimately takes the decision. She did not want to allow the Estates to talk her out of realizing her well-intentioned social plans. She felt that she knew what was best for the country and its inhabitants. In 1805, the Estates rejected her plan to introduce a tax on liquor to finance a hospital for the insane. After that, she rarely summoned the Estates and mostly ruled by decree.
The government of Lippe had been presided by a chancellor or prime minister since the 18th Century. Their weight grew over time. They rarely came into conflict with Princess Pauline, since their reform ideas of both sides were largely compatible with hers. Pauline regularly participated in meetings of the cabinet or the parliament and made her decisions there. Such sessions were often dominated by her impatience and her desire to lead. Her main focus was on foreign policy, however, because she spoke and wrote better French than any of her officials. She broke through the male monopoly, which in those days was only possible due to her Princely rank. No other females were active in the Lippe government, until some female Councillors were elected after 1945. She took over the foreign ministry in 1810 and in 1817 the Princess also took up the management of the "madhouse" (as it was called at the time), the house of correction and the distribution of subdidies. In the relationship to her subjects, she was often close to the people, but ultimately, she had an autocratic style of government.
Social Policies
The publications of Count RumfordBenjamin Thompson
Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford , FRS was an American-born British physicist and inventor whose challenges to established physical theory were part of the 19th century revolution in thermodynamics. He also served as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Loyalist forces in America during the American...
Pauline inspired to put into practice her ideas on the state organization of the poor relief. She believed the cause of poverty and begging in her country was mainly to be found in the Lippe national character with his penchant for laziness and idleness. From the scientific literature on poor relief available to her, she gathered that real improvement could only be achieved through labor, voluntary or otherwise, and not through financial handouts.
Inspired by this, Pauline continued the policies introduced by her late stepmother-in-law Casimire of Anhalt-Dessau
Casimire of Anhalt-Dessau
Casimire of Anhalt-Dessau was a princess of Anhalt-Dessau by birth and Countess of Lippe-Detmold by marriage.- Life :...
, (1749–1778), in accordance with the socio-political beliefs of their time. Among the institutions founded by Pauline were a vocational school (1799), a day care center (1802), the hospital (1801–1802), the voluntary workhouse (1802). An orphanage already existed since 1720, and a teacher training college had been founded in 1781. She grouped these six institutions under the term nursing homes and housed them in a former convent. They formed the nucleus of today's Princess Pauline Foundation
Princess Pauline Foundation
The Princess Pauline Foundation is an independent Lutheran foundation in Detmold, wholly devoted to charitable purposes and to childcare, youth work and care of the elderly. Previously known as the Paulinenanstalt, it is named after its founder Princess Pauline of Anhalt-Bernburg....
in Detmold. The nursing home claimed that they could provide assistance "from the cradle to the grave". It was considered unique and was often visited by foreign guests, who praised especially the day care center. The services were, however, only available to residents of Detmold.
The people liked Pauline mainly because of her social institutions. The integrated charitable institutions were viewed as a model at home and abroad and were visited by foreign delegations, most of them British. Her care for the poor was evident. She relieved the famine in the years 1802 to 1804, by creating granaries. She was personally responsible for the softening the impact of military activities, such as quarterting and positioning of troops.
She was also responsible for the improvement of the infrastructure of the country. She built new roads and introduced street lighting in Detmold, using 26 oil lamps. She did not build any important monuments herself, but the construction of the neo-classical houses on the avenue in Detmold began during her reign. She initiated the merger in 1819 of several existing collections of books into a public library
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
. Today's Lippe State Library at Detmold
Lippe State Library at Detmold
Lippe State Library is the universal and regional library for Ostwestfalen-Lippe in Germany. It is based at Detmold.- External links :**...
is a direct continuation of this library.
Vocational School
In the summer of 1798, Pauline had turned to the social tasks. There was great poverty in Lippe and the Princess accepted that this was due to a lack of education of the population. Many parents did not sent their children to school out of economic necessity, instead letting the children work or beg. Simon Ernst Moritz Krücke, the inspector of the teacher seminary, was Pauline's closest advisor on social questions. He recommended the establishment of a Vocational SchoolVocational school
A vocational school , providing vocational education, is a school in which students are taught the skills needed to perform a particular job...
, children should learn the theoretical knowledge but also practical skills. Leopold I
Leopold I, Prince of Lippe
Leopold I of Lippe was a Prince of Lippe.He was born in Detmold the son of Simon August, Count of Lippe-Detmold and his second wife Princess Leopoldine of Anhalt-Dessau ....
agreed and the new school was opened in the orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
at Bruchtor in Detmold. Here, Krücke taught the children of poor people together with the orphans. Legally, the school became equivalent to an elementary school.
Some of the lesson was filled with practical work. Among the practical skills tought was knitting. The Princess visited knitting classes and gave small rewards to the children. The knitted goods were sold and the children receiveded a part of the proceeds. This was meant to counter the objections of the parents, who would rather send their children to beg. A year later, the school was handed over to the Country during a school festival. It was officially inaugurated on 28 June 1799. Sixty children who had not attended school before this school began, showed the knowledge and skills they had acquired in that year. Nevertheless, problems continued with parents who sent their children to the field in summer, to herd cattle or gather ears of corn, or sent them begging dureing the Christmas season. Economic conditions were harsh; the parents' income was never secure; the economy was evolving into a money economy and this made it difficult for them to do without the money earned by their children even seasonally.
Day care center
Pauline worried about the welfare of small children, whose parents had to leave the house for work during the day. She read in a Paris newspaper of an initiative by Joséphine de BeauharnaisJoséphine de Beauharnais
Joséphine de Beauharnais was the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte, and thus the first Empress of the French. Her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais had been guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she had been imprisoned in the Carmes prison until her release five days after Alexandre's...
, the wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was still First Consul of France at that point in time. In Paris, however, only unmarried mothers were allowed to use the center, while in Detmold, the offering was also to married couples, if they both had to work. A circular from Princess Pauline Detmold ladies with the title
("Proposal to transplant is a Parisian fashion to Detmold") is viewed as a starting point for the creation of a day care center:
Pauline used the circular to find educated ladies willing to supervise the center one day each week, for free. The princely house would finance the center. Older girls from the vocational school and the orphanage would look after the children and be trained to care for them. In 1801, Pauline purchased a suitable building for the institution: the so-called "Schwalenberg Cout" on Süsterstraße (now called Schülerstraße) in Detmold. The first day care center opened on 1 July 1802. The building was a three story nobel court; it was demolished at the end of the 19th Century. The "Gymnasium Leopoldinum" (a secondary school, which still exists) developed from a school that was already housed in the building when Pauline bought it. The day care center was soon imitated all over Germany. The city of Detmold, however, saw the project as a royal hobby and provided no financial support.
Up to 20 children were cared for in the first years. They were required to have been weaned from their mother's breast of and no older than four years of age. Four-year-old children, it was believed, could stay at home alone or accompany their parents in the gardens or the fields, until they were old enough to go to the vocational school. The child-care institution was open from 24 June until late October when the harvest and garden work were completed.
Based on a report published by inspector
Inspector
Inspector is both a police rank and an administrative position, both used in a number of contexts. However, it is not an equivalent rank in each police force.- Australia :...
Krücke in 1813, the center was open from 06:00 to 18:00 or 20:00. In the morning adolescent girls from the orphanage and older pupils from the vocational school would wash the children and put on a clean shirt and woolen jackets. On weekends, the clothing worn during the week was washed. The clothes were donated to the children when center closed at the end of the season. Pauline mostly financed the center using her own money, and the rest was paid out of the hospital fund. She managed to find twelve wealthy middle class women willing to act as supervisors. They had to record certain events in a journal, so that the princess was always well informed.
Napoleon and Pauline
There are numerous indications that Pauline admired Napoleon. She was grateful for allowing Lippe to remain independent. Pauline was reinforced in her opinion by her correspondence with the highly educated diplomat Karl Friedrich Reinhard, who was in the service of France and was a friend of Goethe. Reinhard was an enthusiast for the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and was ambassador at the court of the Kingdom of Westphalia
Kingdom of Westphalia
The Kingdom of Westphalia was a new country of 2.6 million Germans that existed from 1807-1813. It included of territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the First French Empire, ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte...
in Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
. Until the end, Pauline believed in that Napoleon would win the war. The news of Napoleon's defeat in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
could not change their beliefs. She was opposed to Lippe seceding from the Confederation of the Rhine and Lippe prosecuted soldiers who had deserted from Napoleon's army.
The Prussian lieutenant Haxthausen, who worked as a Russian diplomat, had behaved unduly toward her. She responded by having him locked up in the madhouse. He could only be released when Lippe was declared a hostile country after the Battle of Leipzig
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine...
and was occupied by Prussian troops. The Prussian commander, Colonel von der Marwitz, described the incident in a letter to his wife and wrote about Pauline: The Princess-Regent is a rascal, and she has always served Napoleon faithfully [...].
Confederation of the Rhine
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
and under threat of being occupied by one or the other of its neighbors. At the beginning of her reign, Lippe was part of a neutral protection zone established by treaty, which all the warring parties respected. To ensure the neutrality, Prussian observation troops of there were stationed in Lippe. In 1806 Napoleon initiated the so-called Confederation of the Rhine
Confederation of the Rhine
The Confederation of the Rhine was a confederation of client states of the First French Empire. It was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria's Francis II and Russia's Alexander I in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the...
. Prussia responded with the North German Confederation
North German Confederation
The North German Confederation 1866–71, was a federation of 22 independent states of northern Germany. It was formed by a constitution accepted by the member states in 1867 and controlled military and foreign policy. It included the new Reichstag, a parliament elected by universal manhood...
and solicited members.
Pauline saw that Lippe's independence was threatened and sought to join the Confederation of the Rhine. Napoleon confirmed Lippe's affiliation with the Confederation on 18 April 1807 with a certificate, and Pauline traveled to Paris to negotiate some special arrangements for Lippe. She was known as an admirer of Napoleon, an attitude that earned her much criticism later. In justifying her decision, she stated that she preferred to submit to a distant France than to neighboring Hesse or Prussia.
The inclusion in the Confederation of the Rhine had the consequence that Lippe had to provide troops for Napoleon's army. The citizens of Lippe resisted and there were riots. Many young men evaded the recruitment or deserted
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
during the French campaigns. After Napoleon's defeat in October 1813 in the Battle of Leipzig
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine...
, the citizens of Lippe flogged the French officials in Lippe, to Pauline's dismay. Until then she had believed in Napoleon's victory. Lippe was occupied by the Prussians, who regarded it as a hostile country and as Pauline as a collaborator
Collaborator
Collaborator or collaborators may refer to:* Collaboration, working with others for a common goal* Collaboration: Japanese Agents and Local Elites in Wartime China, a 2005 history book by Timothy Brook...
. As a result, Lippe resigned from the Confederation of the Rhine. Counsellor Preuss signed treaties of alliance with Austria and Russia on 29 November 1813. A Lippe volunteer corps was formed and was equipped by donations from Lippe citizens. Pauline invited her citizens to contribute and every gift, regardless of size, was published with the name of the donor in the newspaper of record
Newspaper of record
Newspaper of record is a term that may refer either to any publicly available newspaper that has been authorized by a government to publish public or legal notices , or any major newspaper that has a large circulation and whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered professional and...
.
That Lippe came out of the political disaster of 1813 intact, was due to the tendency of the rulers in Austria and Russia to restore the . The South German members of the Confederation had been accepted as allies and it was felt that Lippe coud not be treated differently.
After these, Pauline suffered a nervous breakdown from which she recovered only slowly. She therefore took no part in the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
1814–15, when Europe was reorganized after the victory over Napoleon. Many small states disappeared from the map, but Lippe's sovereignty was confirmed at the Congress of Vienna. The last entry in the list of sovereign princes in the preamble
Preamble
A preamble is an introductory and expressionary statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite historical facts pertinent to the subject of the statute...
of the constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
of the German Confederation
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
of 8 July 1815 reads:
Abolition of serfdom
On 27 December 1808, Princess Pauline issued a decree to abolish serfdomSerfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
in Lippe, against the will of the Estates
Estates of the realm
The Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian Europe; they are sometimes distinguished as the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners, and are often referred to by...
, who had been side-lined since 1805. The decree came into force on 1 January 1809. She followed the example of most other states from the Confederation of the Rhine. In the era after the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, serfdom was widely seen as a "relic of the Middle Ages", and firmly rejected.
In the preamble to the decree, the Princess Regent, explained her humanistic and, above all, economic motives. Her words were read from the pulpits and published through posters and printed in the :
The decree of 27 December 1808 abolished the and rules, which had been applied until then. The Weinkauf rule stipulated that when a serf sold his (his right to use a certain parcel of land), a transfer fee had to be paid to the landlord. Under the Sterbfall rule, when a serf died, his heirs had to deliver his best set of clothes or his or the most valuable piece of cattle (the so-called to the landlord.
This Regulation initially affected only Paulines own serfs and their relatives. Within a short time, however, it was extended to the landed gentry, the landowners, the church and the wealthy citizens. This gave the Lippe farmers and their families a noticeable improvement of their previously modest social status. However, the Lippe variant of serfdom was by no means comparable with the Prussian or the Russian serfdom. It was only a mild obligation and its abolition posed no particular event and sparked no celebrations among those affected. The farmers were more hindered by the numerous banalities and payments in cash and in kind they wre required to make, which would only be abolished by law in Lippe in the 1830.
Constitutional dispute
The EstatesEstates of the realm
The Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian Europe; they are sometimes distinguished as the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners, and are often referred to by...
were made up of representatives of the knighthood and the cities and convened each year at a Landtag
Landtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
in order to discuss the affairs of Lippe and to make decisions. With the membership of Lippe in the Confederation of the Rhine, these rights were suspended and the Princess was appointed to Sovereign
Sovereign
A sovereign is the supreme lawmaking authority within its jurisdiction.Sovereign may also refer to:*Monarch, the sovereign of a monarchy*Sovereign Bank, banking institution in the United States*Sovereign...
. Pauline took her new authority to the mean that she would no longer need the consent of the Estates now:
Pauline did not resolved the Estates but largely ruled without them, like the absolutist Frederick Adolph a century earlier. Her relationship to the Estates had already been tarnished when the Estates refused the duty on spirits that she had proposed in 1805 to finance the asylum for the insane she was planning.
After the Confederation of the Rhine was dissolved, the Estates demanded their old rights be reinstated and it came to a bitter dispute with the Princely House.
In the Vienna Final Act, the final document of the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
, paragraph 13 states: In all German states will a Constitution of the Estates will be established [...]. Pauline had a Constitution for Lippe drafted along the lines of some southern German states; she wrote the final version personally. This Constitution was adopted by the Government on 8 June 1819 and subsequently published under cheers of the population. The Estates protested against the restriction of their traditional rights and asked the Emperor to counter the Princess's subversive and the democratic spirit of the times. At the instigation of Metternich, the so-called Carlsbad Decrees
Carlsbad Decrees
The Carlsbad Decrees were a set of reactionary restrictions introduced in the states of the German Confederation by resolution of the Bundesversammlung on 20 September 1819 after a conference held in the spa town of Carlsbad, Bohemia...
were taken against democratic agitation. These coincided with the bitter confrontation about the Constitution in Lippe. The Federal Assembly of the German Confederation
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the loose association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to coordinate the economies of separate German-speaking countries. It acted as a buffer between the powerful states of Austria and Prussia...
asked Pauline to immediately repeal the Constitution.
After Pauline's death, Leopold II and the Lippe government tried to maintain her Legacy, with the necessary changes. After long and difficult negotiations with the estates, including the nobility, this proved impossible. Eventually a compromise was found in which some of the ancient privileges of the nobility were restored. The new Constitution came into force in 1836.
Resignation
Pauline was often disappointed because of Leopold's phlegmPhlegm
Phlegm is a liquid secreted by the mucous membranes of mammalians. Its definition is limited to the mucus produced by the respiratory system, excluding that from the nasal passages, and particularly that which is expelled by coughing . Phlegm is in essence a water-based gel consisting of...
and believed she could not hand over government to him with cear conscience. She postponed the date of the transfer several times, until critical voices became too loud. Finally, she surprised her son by announcing her resignation on 3 July 1820. At first, Leopold needed her assistance in the affairs of government, but he made sure this was not visible to outsiders. Pauline planned to end this situation by moving from Detmold to her widow seat Lippehof at Lemgo. However, before she could move, she died on 29 December 1820 of a painful lung ulceration. She was buried in the Reformed Church at the market square in Detmold, today's Church of the Redeemer.
On 5 March 1822 an obituary of Pauline by Helmina von Chézy
Helmina von Chézy
Helmina von Chézy , born Wilhelmine von Klencke, was a German journalist, poet and playwright, most famous for writing the libretto for Carl Maria von Weber's opera Euryanthe and the play Rosamunde, for which Franz Schubert provided incidental music.This article uses material from the German...
was published in the . It condemned her anti-Prussian policy and cited as an excuse:
Reception
The historian Hans Kiewning wrote a biography of Pauline in the 1930s entitled: Princess Pauline of Lippe, 1769 to 1820. It is the most influential positive biography until today. Kiewning expressed his admiration for Pauline in the following words:Pauline's personality, politics and reforms have been the subject of numerous studies and publications. The Lippe Bibliography
Bibliography
Bibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
lists some 170 titles are currently only about personal. Historical research in the second half of the 20th Century began to question the uncritical historical view of Pauline. Elizabeth Stolle asked in her contribution to Lippischen Mitteilungen aus Geschichte und Landeskunde, 1969 questions about the Pauline's religious stance, in order to obtain a better understanding of her diaconal
Diakonisches Werk
The Diakonisches Werk is a charitable organization of Protestant churches in Germany , Austria as well as numerous free churches. Its Roman Catholic equivalent is the Caritas....
interests.
In a survey conducted by the at the end of 2009, Princess Pauline was elected as the most significant figure in the history of Lippe, with 28 percent of the votes cast. Former state president Heinrich Drake
Heinrich Drake
Heinrich Drake was a German politician . He was Minister-President of the Free State of Lippe from 1920-1933 and again from 1945-1947, until Lippe was incorporated into the new state of North Rhine-Westphalia...
finished second with 22 percent, the third place was tied between Arminius
Arminius
Arminius , also known as Armin or Hermann was a chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci who defeated a Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest...
, winner of the Battle of Teutoburg Forest, and ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder is a German politician, and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor...
, with 9 percent of the votes each.
Statues of Pauline can be found on the grounds of the Lindenhaus in Lemgo and in park of Bad Meinberg. A plaque is attached to a building at the Castle Square in Detmold. An association name Pauline's daughters, a mineral spring at Bad Salzuflen
Bad Salzuflen
Bad Salzuflen is a town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. At the end of 2006 it had 54415 inhabitants.-Details:Bad Salzuflen is a spa town and is known for its saltwater springs and thermal baths. In former times the town profited from the salt trade...
name Pauline spring, and a number of street names in several towns in Lippe, all remind us of the Princess. The Princess Pauline Foundation
Princess Pauline Foundation
The Princess Pauline Foundation is an independent Lutheran foundation in Detmold, wholly devoted to charitable purposes and to childcare, youth work and care of the elderly. Previously known as the Paulinenanstalt, it is named after its founder Princess Pauline of Anhalt-Bernburg....
in Detmold still exists and focusses on assisting young people and the elderly. The foundation runs a number of day care centers and strives help people in need in the spirit of the Princess.
Issue
- Leopold II, Prince of LippeLeopold II, Prince of LippeLeopold II of Lippe was the sovereign of the Principality of Lippe. Succeeding to the throne in 1802 he assumed control of the government in 1820 from his mother who had been acting as regent due to his age at ascension.-Biography:Leopold II was born in Detmold the eldest child of Leopold I the...
(1796–1851) - Prince Frederick (1797–1854)
- Princess Louise (1800-1800)
Titles and styles
Titles and styles
- 23 February 1769 – 2 January 1796: Her Serene Highness Princess Pauline of Anhalt-Bernburg
- 2 January 1796 – 5 November 1802: Her Serene Highness The Princess of Lippe
- 5 November 1802 – 29 December 1820: Her Serene Highness The Dowager Princess of Lippe
- 5 November 1802 – 3 July 1820: Her Serene Highness The Regent of Lippe
Ancestry
|-
External links
- Princess Pauline Foundation (in German)
- Online-Biography of Pauline of Lippe (in German)