by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2025
St. Martini Church, located in Stadthagen in the German state of Lower Saxony, is an Evangelical Lutheran church. The church was used as a burial place for the House of Schaumburg and the House of Schaumburg-Lippe.
A church at this location is mentioned in 1230, but it was demolished in 1318 due to its small size. However, the original church’s 138.7-foot/42.3-meter-high tower and part of the wall are still present today. From 1972 to 1974, St. Martini Church had a major renovation due to structural damage. During the renovation, the tomb of Otto IV, Count of Schaumburg and Holstein-Pinneberg, was moved to the tower area. After two arson attacks in 1992 and 1993, the nave and the windows were restored, and the south wall of the church was renovated.
The 14th-century church is a three-aisled hall church with a polygonal ambulatory choir. The interior is marked by ribbed vaults above octagonal pillars, as seen in the photo above.
The altarpiece was made in 1460 in a Flemish workshop. On the lower part of the altarpiece are medieval carved reliefs of the Passion of Christ. The upper part of the altarpiece shows the crucifixion, above it the resurrection of Christ, and God the Father.
The tomb of Otto IV, Count of Schaumburg and Holstein-Pinneberg; Otto’s two wives were also interred in the church; Credit – Wikipedia by Beckstet
In the tower passageway, behind a wrought-iron grille, is the stone grave monument of Otto IV, Count of Schaumburg and Holstein-Pinneberg, who stands between his two wives. Otto IV introduced the Protestant Reformation in his counties of Schaumburg and Holstein-Pinneberg and also had Stadthagen Castle (link in German) built. The tomb, constructed in 1581 by his second wife, Elisabeth Ursula of Brunswick-Lüneburg (link in German), originally stood in the choir of the church until it was moved in the 1970s, during the restoration of the church.
To the left of the tower passage is the Prince’s Box, built by Otto IV. It bears his coat of arms and those of his two wives as well as the coat of arms of Georg, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (reigned 1893 to 1911) and his wife, Marie Anna of Saxe-Altenburg, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe. The remaining fields show Jesus Christ and the apostles.
In the nave of the church, a life-size triumphal cross hangs from a chain. Next to the cross are the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist.
The Princely Mausoleum
At the back of St. Martini Church, accessible from the church, is the octagonal Princely Mausoleum, used as the burial place of the House of Schaumburg and the House of Schaumburg-Lippe. The Princely Mausoleum dates back to the early 1600s, when Ernst, Prince of Schaumburg, made Bückeburg his official residence. The mausoleum was designed by Giovanni Maria Nosseni, a sculptor and architect from the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. Construction on the mausoleum began in 1620 and was completed a few years after Ernst’s death by his widow, born Hedwig of Hesse and Kassel. The remains of Ernst’s father, Otto IV, Count of Schaumburg and Holstein-Pinneberg, and his second wife, Ernst’s mother Elisabeth Ursula of Brunswick-Luneburg, were moved to the mausoleum. The Princely Mausoleum remained the burial site of the House of Schaumburg and then the House of Schaumburg-Lippe until the early 20th century, when the Bückeburg Mausoleum (link in German) was constructed from 1911 to 1915 in the park surrounding Schloss Bückeburg (link in German).
Burials
- Maria of Pomerania-Stettin, Countess of Schaumburg and Holstein-Pinneberg (1527 – 1554), first wife of Otto IV, Count of Schaumburg and Holstein-Pinneberg, was interred in St. Martini Church; her remains were not moved to the Princely Mausoleum
- Otto IV, Count of Schaumburg and Holstein-Pinneberg (1517 – 1576)
- Elisabeth Ursula of Brunswick-Luneburg, Countess of Schaumburg and Holstein-Pinneberg – link in German – (1539 – 1586), second wife of Otto IV, Count of Schaumburg and Holstein-Pinneberg
- Adolf XI, Count of Holstein-Schaumburg – link in German – (1547 – 1601), was interred in St. Martini Church; his remains were not moved to the Princely Mausoleum
- Ernst I, (first) Prince of Schaumburg (1569 – 1622)
- Hermann of Holstein-Schaumburg (1575 – 1634)
- Otto V, Count of Holstein-Schaumburg – link in German – (1614 – 1640)
- Hedwig of Hesse-Kassel (1569 – 1644), wife of Ernst I, Prince of Schaumburg
- Elisabeth of Schaumburg-Lippe (born and died 1646), daughter of Philip I, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Katharina Sophia of Brunswick-Harburg (1577 – 1665), wife of Hermann of Holstein-Schaumburg
- Sophie of Hesse-Kassel, Countess of Schaumburg-Lippe (1615 – 1670), wife of Philip I, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Philip I, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe (1601 – 1681)
- Margarete Gertrud von der Schulenburg (1701 – 1726), an illegitimate daughter of King George I of Great Britain, first wife of Albrecht Wolfgang of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Friedrich Christian, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe (1655 – 1728)
- Johanna of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Countess of Schaumburg-Lippe (1673 – 1743), wife of Friedrich Christian of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Albrecht Wolfgang, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe (1699 – 1748)
- Elisabeth Philippine of Friesenhausen (1696 – 1764), wife of Friedrich Ernst of Lippe-Alverdissen
- Friedrich of Schaumburg-Lippe (1702 – 1776), son of Philip I, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Friedrich Ernst, Count of Lippe-Alverdissen (1694 – 1777)
- Karl Wilhelm of Schaumburg-Lippe, Count of Lippe-Alverdissen (1759 – 1780)
- Eleonore Louise of Schaumburg-Lippe (1781 – 1783), daughter of Philip II, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Charlotte Friederike of Nassau-Siegen, Countess of Schaumburg-Lippe (1702 – 1785), second wife of Albrecht Wolfgang, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Philip II Ernst, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe (1723 – 1787)
- Emma Auguste of Schaumburg-Lippe (1827 – 1828), daughter of Georg I Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Ernst of Schaumburg-Lippe (1822 – 1831), son of Georg I Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Hermann Otto of Schaumburg-Lippe (born and died 1839), son of Georg I Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Emma of Schaumburg-Lippe (1850 – 1855), daughter of Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Georg I Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (1784 – 1860)
- Emma of Schaumburg-Lippe (1865 – 1868), daughter of Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Ida of Waldeck-Pyrmont, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe (1796 – 1869), wife of Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (1817 – 1893)
- Ida Marie of Schaumburg-Lippe (1824 – 1894), daughter of Georg I Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Hermine of Waldeck-Pyrmont, Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe (1827 – 1910), wife of Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe
- Hermann of Schaumburg-Lippe (1848 – 1918), son of Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe
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Works Cited
- Autoren der Wikimedia-Projekte. (2006). Kirchengebäude in Stadthagen. Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St.-Martini-Kirche_(Stadthagen)
- Autoren der Wikimedia-Projekte. (2011). Mausoleum in Stadthagen (Niedersachsen). Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%BCrstliches_Mausoleum_(Stadthagen)
- Home – Ev.-luth. St.-Martini-Kirchengemeinde Stadthagen. (2025). Ev.-Luth. St.-Martini-Kirchengemeinde Stadthagen. https://stmartini-stadthagen.de/
- Mausoleum an der St. Martini-Kirche in Stadthagen, Lower Saxony – Find a Grave Cemetery. (2024). Findagrave.com. https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2299356/mausoleum-an-der-st.-martini-kirche
- Mehl, Scott. (2018). Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe Burial Sites. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/former-monarchies/german-royals/principality-of-schaumburg-lippe/schaumburg-lippe-royal-burial-sites/
- St. Martini Church in Stadthagen | Visit A City. (2024). Visitacity.com. https://www.visitacity.com/en/stadthagen/attractions/st-martini-church
- St.-Martini-Kirche – Ev.-luth. St.-Martini-Kirchengemeinde Stadthagen. (2025). Ev.-Luth. St.-Martini-Kirchengemeinde Stadthagen. https://stmartini-stadthagen.de/angebote/st-martini-kirche-2/
