Lippe (district)

Lippe
District
Kreishaus (District office)
Flag Coat of arms
Coordinates: 52°00′N 8°55′E / 52.000°N 8.917°E / 52.000; 8.917
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Adm. region	Detmold
Capital	Detmold
Government
• District admin.	Axel Lehmann (SPD)
Area
• Total	1,246.4 km2 (481.2 sq mi)
Population  (31 December 2023)[1]
• Total	349,781
• Density	280/km2 (730/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Vehicle registration	LIP
Website	www.lippe.de

Lippe (German pronunciation: [ˈlɪpə]) is a Kreis (district) 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.

The district of Lippe is named after the Lords of Lippe, who originally lived on the river Lippe and founded Lippstadt there, and their Principality of Lippe. It was a state within the Holy Roman Empire and retained statehood until 1947, when it became a district of North Rhine-Westphalia.