The Evangelical-Lutheran Church
of the Region of Schaumburg-Lippe

The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of the Region of Schaumburg-Lippe can be traced back to the Reformation. Schaumburg-Lippe, a principality since 1807 and free state since 1918, has belonged to the Land of Lower Saxony since 1946, with the exception of one parish in North Rhine Westphalia. The establishment of the Diocese of Minden ca. 800 by Charles the Great at the end of the War of the Saxons near Porta Westfalica is the origin of the systematic Christianisation of the region between the rivers Weser and Leine.

The Diocese developed quickly as the Saxon nobility pushed it forward. On 5th May 1559 Count Otto IV (1544-1576) declared the Church Order of Mecklenburg of 1552 to be the only legitimate one in the County of Schaumburg. Thus he officially introduced the Reformation only four years after the Augsburg Religious Peace. Immediately following the introduction of the Reformation a period of bloom for Schaumburg during the reign of Prince Ernst, Count of Holstein-Schaumburg.

Benedictines from Hameln and Corvey occupied the foundations and monasteries of the County of Schaumburg and attempted to re-catholicise the religious community. Not until after the Battle of (Hessisch-)Oldendorf did Protestantism begin to consolidate. The appointment of J. G. Herder by Count Wilhelm between 1771 and 1776 brought to Bückeburg a sage of European dimensions.

After the abdication of the Prince the Synod took over the Episcopal rights in 1918. In 1936 an ecclesiastical council was formed, unique in Germany, which was bound only to the confession and which also survived the Third Reich. Around 67,000 parishioners currently belong to the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of the Region of Schaumburg-Lippe, which is divided into 22 parishes and under the auspices of 44 ecclesiastical staff, of which 37 are parish priests.