Leopold III, Prince of Lippe

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Leopold III, Prince of Lippe (1 September 1821-8 December 1875) was a Prince of Lippe.

He was born in Detmold the eldest child of Leopold II, Prince of Lippe (1796-1851) and Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (1800-1867). He succeeded his father on his death on the 1 January 1851. In 1854 Prince Leopold granted Catholics the right to found their own parishes, and build their own churches in Lippe. On his ascension Lippe was a member of the German Confederation, and he supported Prussia during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Following the war and the dissolution of the German Confederation, Lippe joined the North German Confederation in 1867. It remained a member of the North German Confederation until the creation of the German Empire in 1871.

Leopold was married to Princess Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1833-1896) on the 17 April 1852 in Rudolstadt but the marriage was childless and his brother Woldemar succeeded him as Prince of Lippe following his death on the 8 December 1875 in Detmold.