Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Princess of Schaumberg-Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe: In 1647, the County of Schaumburg-Lippe was formed through the division of the County of Schaumburg by treaties between the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and the Count of Lippe. In 1808, the County of Schaumburg-Lippe was raised to a Principality and Georg Wilhelm, Count of Schaumburg became the first Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Adolf II, the last Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 15, 1918, and lived out his life in exile. In 1936, Adolf II and his wife were killed in an airplane crash in Mexico. Today, the land encompassing the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe is in the German state of Lower Saxony.

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Princess Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont was the wife of Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. Born in Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont, now in the German state of Hesse, on September 29, 1827, Hermine was the third of the five children and the second of the two daughters of Georg II, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Emma of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym. Her paternal grandparents were Georg I, Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont and Augusta of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (Unofficial Royalty article coming soon). Hermine’s maternal grandparents were Viktor II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym and Amalie of Nassau-Weilburg.

Princess Hermine, on the left, with her elder sister Princess Augusta; Credit – Wikipedia

Hermine had four siblings:

Hermine’s father died in 1845 when she was 18 years old. Her mother Emma served as Regent of the Principality of Waldeck-Pyrmont until her 14-year-old son Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck-Pyrmont reached his majority in 1852. Through her brother Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Hermine was the aunt of Princess Marie who married the future King Wilhelm II of Württemberg, Princess Emma who married King Willem III of the Netherlands, and Princess Helena who married Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, Queen Victoria’s hemophiliac, youngest son.

Hermine with her husband Adolf; Credit – Wikipedia

On October 20, 1844, at Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in the German state of Hesse, Hermine married her first cousin, the future Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, son of Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Ida of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

Hermine and Adolf had eight children including two daughters named Emma who both died young:

Schaumburg Costume; Credit – Von © Michael Gäbler / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=42356047

On November 21, 1860, upon the death of his father Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, Hermine’s husband Adolf became the reigning Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. While Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe, Hermine was a supporter of the Schaumburg Costume (link in German), the traditional form of clothing for Schaumburg women noted by a red skirt, usually worn at festivals.

After a reign of 33 years, Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe died at the age of 75, on May 8, 1893, at Bückeburg Castle (link in German) in Bückeburg, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, now in the German state of Lower Saxony. He was buried in the Princely Mausoleum (link in German) at the St. Martini Church (link in German) in Stadthagen, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, now in the German state of Lower Saxony.

Hermine as a widow; Credit – Wikipedia

Before he died in 1893, Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe arranged for the building of the Palais Bückeburg, (link in German) also known as the Hermine Palais, which would serve as Hermine’s home while Princess Dowager. An enthusiastic hunter, Hermine acquired a hunting ground in Steyrling, Austria and several years later acquired farms in the nearby towns of Höbach and Laberg. Along with spending time at her palace in Bückeburg, Hermine spent much time at her properties in and near Steyrling, Austria.

The Princely Mausoleum at the St. Martini Church in Stadthagen. photo: By losch – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17674154

Hermine survived her husband by seventeen years, dying on February 16, 1910, at the age of 82, at Bückeburg Castle, and was buried with her husband in the last place in the crypt in Princely Mausoleum at the St. Martini Church. After the death of Hermine’s son Georg, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe in 1911, his son Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe had the Bückeburg Mausoleum (link in German) constructed between 1911-1915 in the park surrounding Bückeburg Castle.

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Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2020) Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/adolf-i-prince-of-schaumburg-lippe/ (Accessed: 29 August 2023).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2021) Georg II, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Unofficial Royalty. Available at https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/georg-ii-prince-of-waldeck-and-pyrmont/ (Accessed: 29 August 2023).
  • Hermine zu Waldeck und Pyrmont (2023) Wikipedia (German). Available at: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermine_zu_Waldeck_und_Pyrmont (Accessed: 29 August 2023).
  • Princess Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Hermine_of_Waldeck_and_Pyrmont (Accessed: 29 August 2023).