He was born at Rinteln the son of Friedrich Ernst, Count of Lippe-Alverdissen (1687-1777) and his wife Elisabeth Philippine von Friesenhausen (1696-1764).

His father was the son of Count Philipp Ernest I, the founder of the Lippe-Alverdissen line of the House of Lippe and his wife Duchess Dorothea Amalia of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (1656-1739).

He succeeded his father as Count of Lippe-Alverdissen in 1749 and ruled until he inherited the Schaumburg-Lippe territories following the death of his cousin William on the 10 September 1777.

He reigned as Count until his death on the 13 February 1787 when he was succeeded by his only surviving son Georg Wilhelm.

This article about a member of the German nobility is a stub.