The city archives of the old Lippean residence Detmold is held in high esteem by the public. This is due to the fact that Detmold played a special role among the Lippe municipalities until 1947 because of its former function as the capital of the state of Lippe. While the records of the state authorities of the former principality are held in the state archives of North Rhine-Westphalia (Landesarchiv NRW, Abt. OWL), the archival records on social life in the former capital of the principality and later Free State of Lippe are kept at Detmold City Archives.