Waldecr, a principality in N. W. Germany, embracing Waldeck proper, which is situated between the Prussian provinces of Hesse-Nassau and Westphalia, and the county of Pyrmont, between Lippe-Detmold, Brunswick, and the Prussian provinces of Westphalia and Hanover; total area, 438 sq. m.; pop. in 1871, 56,224, of whom 49,136 were in Waldeck and the rest in Pyrmont, and chiefly Protestants. Waldeck proper is mountainous and woody, drained by the Eder and other small tributaries of the Weser, and possessing a poor and stony but carefully cultivated soil, and yields sufficient grain and potatoes for home consumption. Large flocks of sheep producing fine wool are raised, and butter and cheese are exported. There are mines of iron and copper, marble and alabaster quarries, and salt springs. Pyrmont consists of a small valley watered by the Emmer, and tolerably productive, but is principally noteworthy for the mineral springs at the fashionable watering place of that name. Waldeck is a constitutional principality, its present constitution dating from 1852. It has been since Jan. 1, 1868, under Prussian administration, to continue for a term of ten years, in accordance with the treaty of "accession" concluded July 18, 1867, and ratified by the principality on Oct. 22. The executive power is vested in the prince alone; the legislature consists of a single chamber of 15 members.

Its revenue and expenditures were each estimated in 1875 at 1,571,690 marks; more than half of the total revenue is absorbed by the civil list of the reigning prince, George Victor (born Jan. 14, 1831). The public debt amounted in 1875 to 2,596,800 marks. The paper money (630,000 marks) was in process of withdrawal from circulation. The diet meets annually at Arolsen, the residence of the prince. - The princes of Waldeck trace their origin to Witikind. They were originally counts, but became princes in 1682. George Frederick (1664-'92) took service under the emperor Leopold I. in Holland, who made him prince of the empire and field marshal. He commanded the Franconian troops at the siege of Vienna by the Turks in 1683. Returning to Holland, he was appointed marshal general of the army of the United Provinces, and was defeated by Marshal Luxembourg at the battle of Fleurus in 1690. Christian Augustus (born in 1744, died near Lisbon in 1798) early entered the service of Austria, rose rapidly in the army, distinguished himself against the Turks, was appointed lieutenant general in the war against France in 1792, lost an arm at the siege of Thionville, took part in 1793 in the attack on the lines of Weissenburg, and captured Fort Louis. In 1794 he became quartermaster general of Flanders, and in 1797 chief commander of the Portuguese army.