Background
He was born at Rinteln the son of Friedrich Ernst, Count of Lippe-Alverdissen (1694-1777) and his wife Elisabeth Philippine von Friesenhausen. His father was the son of Count Philip Ernest I, the founder of the Lippe-Alverdissen line of the House of Schaumburg-Lippe and his wife Duchess Dorothea Amalia of Schlesvig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (1656-1739).