Graf von Schaumburg-Lippe Wilhelm

Wilhelm, Graf von Schaumburg-Lippe (London, 1724-77, Bergleben), was educated partly in England and partly abroad, studying successively at Montpellier, Geneva, and Leyden, where he combined military and mathematical studies. In 1743 he joined his father, the commander-in-chief of the Dutch army, and fought beside the British at Dettingen on 17 June (see Österreichischer Erbfolgekrieg and Pragmatische Armee). In 1748 he acceded to the throne of his tiny state, which he governed with skill and humanity. In the Seven Years War (see Siebenjähriger Krieg) he was again in the field, serving in Italy and commanding with success an Anglo-Portuguese force in Portugal in 1762. From 1764 he devoted himself entirely to the welfare of his state. He was an efficient administrator, and also an early advocate of national service as a substitute for the deception and brutality practised by recruiting officers. He sought to gather promising young men for service in the state, appointing Th. Abbt as Konsistorialrat (supervising schools and the Church) in 1765. Abbt unfortunately died in the following year; one of his successors (1771) was J. G. Herder. Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732-95) was appointed director of music by Count Wilhelm in 1756 and spent the rest of his life in Bückeburg (see Bach, J. S.).