In the County of Lippe no theses were nailed to the church door, there were no dramatic quarrels, and Luther never visited the region. And yet here, too, the Reformation took place. The County of Lippe is a very unusual example of the Reformation. The reorganisation of the Roman Catholic Church took a very particular path here. The ruling count decided the religion of his subjects by decree. Suddenly, indulgences became worthless, images of Mary and the saints were removed from churches, the once important pilgrimage to Wilbasen lost its appeal, and monks and nuns left their monasteries.

The County of Lippe received its first Protestant church decree in 1538, 20 years after Luther's famous theses. Count Simon V zur Lippe (* 1471, † 1536) fought vigorously against Protestantism. When he died, his son Bernhard VIII (* the 6th of December 1527, † the 15th of April 1563) was only eight years old and too young to lead the county. Philipp von Hessen became his guardian and introduced a new religion. Only a few decades after the introduction of Lutheranism, another change took place. Count Simon VI (* the 15th of April 1554, † the 7th of December 1613) introduced Protestantism to the county, leaving only the town of Lemgo Lutheran. Today, the two Protestant churches, the Reformed Evangelical Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church, exist in harmony in the province of Lippe.