Bishop of Passau

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Bishop of Passau

The Diocese of Passau is a diocese

Diocese

In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglicanism, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a bishop. It is also referred to as a bishopric or Episcopal Area or episcopal see, though strictly the term episcopal see refers to the domain of ecclesiastical authority officially held by the bi...
of the Latin Rite

Latin Rite

The Latin Rite is one of the 23 sui iuris particular Churches within the Catholic Church. This particular Church developed in western Europe and north Africa, where, from classical antiquity to the Renaissance, Latin was the principal language of education and culture, and so also of the liturgy....
of the Roman Catholic church in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....

The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of München und Freising.

The diocese covers an area of 5,442 km². The current bishop is Wilhelm Schraml.

History
The Diocese of Passau may be considered the successor of the ancient Diocese of Lorch (Laureacum). At Lorch

Lorch

Lorch may refer to:*Lorch, Hesse, a town in Hesse, Germany*Lorch , a town in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany*Lorch, Austria, part of Enns in Upper Austria...
, a Roman station and an important stronghold at the junction of the Enns River

Enns River

The Enns is a southern tributary of the Danube River and 254 km long....
and the Danube

Danube

The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance...
, Christianity found a foothold in the third century, during a period of Roman domination, and a Bishop of Lorch certainly existed in the fourth.

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Encyclopedia

The Diocese of Passau is a diocese

Diocese

Latin Rite

Germany

History

The Diocese of Passau may be considered the successor of the ancient Diocese of Lorch (Laureacum). At Lorch

Lorch

Enns River

The Enns is a southern tributary of the Danube River and 254 km long....
and the Danube

Danube

Lech River

The Lech is a river in Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube and 264 km in length, with a drainage basin of 2,550 sq. miles....
and the Enns, the wandering Bajuvari were converted to Christianity in the seventh century, while the Avari

Avari

Avari is appointed to the Avari people who live in Azerbaijan. "Avari" dance is very popular in Azerbaijan. It consists of three parts. At first it is slow, and little by little becomes faster, and at the end part it changes to the quick rhythm of the Lezginka music....
, to the east, remained pagan. The ecclesiastical organization of Bavaria was brought about by St. Boniface, who, with the support of Duke Odilo, erected the four sees of Freising, Ratisbon, Passau, and Salzburg. He confirmed as incumbent of Passau, Bishop Vivilo, or Vivolus, who had been ordained by Pope Gregory III

Pope Gregory III

Gregory III was pope from 731 to 741.A Syriacs by birth, he succeeded Pope Gregory II in March 731. His pontificate, like that of his predecessor, was disturbed by the Iconoclasm controversy in the Byzantine Empire, in which he vainly invoked the intervention of Charles Martel....
, and who was for a long time the only bishop in Bavaria. Thenceforth, Vivilo resided permanently at Passau

Passau

Passau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany, known also as the Dreifl?ssestadt , because the Danube is joined there by the Inn River from the South, and the Ilz coming out of the Bavarian Forest to the North....
, on the site of the old Roman colony of Batavis. Here was a church, the founder of which is not known, dedicated to St. Stephen. To Bishop Vivilo's diocese was annexed the ancient Lorch, which meanwhile had become a small and unimportant place. By the duke's generosity, a cathedral was soon erected near the Church of St. Stephen, and here the bishop lived in common with his clergy.

The boundaries of the diocese extended westwards to the Isar River, and eastwards to the Enns. In ecclesiastical affairs Passau was probably, from the beginning, suffragan to Salzburg. Through the favour of Dukes Odilo and Tassilo

Tassilo

Tassilo may refer to:** Tassilo I of Bavaria ** Tassilo II of Bavaria ** Tassilo III of Bavaria ** Tassilone , an opera by Agostino Steffani ...
, the bishopric received many gifts, and several monasteries arose — e.g. Niederaltaich Abbey

Niederaltaich Abbey

Niederaltaich Abbey or Niederaltaich Monastery is a house of the Benedictine Order founded in 731 , situated in the village of Niederalteich on the Danube in Bavaria....
, Niedernburg Abbey, Mattsee Abbey, Kremsmünster Abbey

Kremsmünster Abbey

Kremsm?nster Abbey is a Benedictine Order monastery in Kremsm?nster in Upper Austria....
— which were richly endowed. Under Bishop Waltreich (774-804), after the conquest of the Avari, who had assisted the rebellious Duke Tassilo, the district between the Enns and the Raab River was added to the diocese, which thus included the whole eastern part (Ostmark

Ostmark

Ostmark is a German term meaning either Eastern march when applied to territories or Eastern Mark when applied to currencies.Ostmark may refer to the following historical territories:...
) of Southern Bavaria and part of what is now Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
. The first missionaries to the pagan Hungarians went out from Passau, and in 866 the Church sent missionaries to Bulgaria

Bulgaria

The state of Bulgaria , Scientific transliteration Balgarija, officially the Republic of Bulgaria has played a significant role in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe for over fourteen centuries....
.

Passau, the outermost eastern bulwark of the Germans, suffered most from the incursions of the Hungarians. At that time many churches and monasteries were destroyed. When, after the victory the battle of Lech, the Germans pressed forward and regained the old Ostmark, Bishop Adalbert (946-971) hoped to extend his spiritual jurisdiction over Hungary. His successor Piligrim

Piligrim

Piligrim was Bishop of Passau. Piligrim was ambitious, but also concerned with the Christianization of Hungary.He was educated at the Benedictine Niederaltaich Abbey, and was made bishop in 971....
(971-91), who worked successfully for the Christianization of Pannonia

Pannonia

Pannonia is an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia....
, aspired to free Passau from the metropolitan authority of Salzburg, but was completely frustrated in this, as well as in his attempt to assert the metropolitan claims which Passau was supposed to have inherited from Lorch, and to include all Hungary in his diocese. By founding many monasteries in his diocese he prepared the way for the princely power of later bishops. He also built many new churches and restored others from ruins. His successor, Christian (991-1002) received in 999 from Emperor Otto III the market privilege and the rights of coinage, taxation, and higher and lower jurisdiction. Emperor Henry II granted him a large part of the North Forest. Henceforward, indeed, the bishops ruled as princes of the empire, although the title was used for the first time only in a document in 1193. Under Berengar (1013-45) the whole district east of the Viennese forest as far as Letha

Letha

Letha is a supervillain in the Marvel Comics Universe and former member of the female villain team, the Grapplers ....
and March was placed under the jurisdiction of Passau. During his time the cathedral chapter made its appearance, but there is little information concerning its beginning as a distinct corporation with the right of electing a bishop. This right was much hampered by the exercise of imperial influence.

At the beginning of the Conflict of Investures, St. Altmann occupied the see (1065-91) and was one of the few German bishops who adhered to Pope Gregory VII

Pope Gregory VII

Pope Saint Gregory VII , born Hildebrand of Soana , was papacy from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal authority and the new canon law governing...
. Ulrich I, Count of Höfft (1092-1121), who was for a time driven from his see by Emperor Henry IV, furthered monastic reforms and the Crusades. Reginmar (1121-38), Reginbert, Count of Hegenau (1136-47) who took part in the crusade of Conrad III, and Conrad of Austria (1149-64), a brother of Bishop Otto of Freising

Otto of Freising

Otto von Freising was a Germany bishop and chronicler....
, were all much interested in the foundation of new monasteries and the reform for those already existing. Ulrich, Count of Andechs(1215-21), was formally recognized as a prince of the empire at the Reichstag of Nuremberg in 1217. The reforms which were begun by Gebhard von Plaien (1221-32) and Rüdiger von Rodeck (1233-1250) found a zealous promoter in Otto von Lonsdorf (1254-65), one of the greatest bishops of Passau. He took stringent measures against the relaxed monasteries, introduced the Franciscans and Dominicans

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic in the early 13th century in France....
into his diocese, promoted the arts and sciences, and collected the old documents which had survived the storms of the preceding period, so that to him we owe almost all our knowledge of the early history of Passau. (See Schmidt, "Otto von Lonsdorf, Bischof zu Passau", Würzburg, 1903.) Bishop Peter, formerly Canon of Breslau, contributed to the House of Habsburg by bestowing episcopal fiefs on the sons of King Rudolph.

Under Bernhard of Brambach (1285-1313) began the struggles of Passau to become a free imperial city. After an uprising in May, 1298, the bishop granted the burghers, in the municipal ordinance of 1299, privileges in conformity with what was called the Bernhardine Charter. The cathedral having been burned down in 1281, he built a new cathedral which lasted until 1662. Albert III von Winkel (1363-80) was particularly active in the struggle with the burghers and in resisting the robber-knights. The Black Death

Black Death

The Black Death, was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia pestis , but recently attributed by some factors to other diseases....
visited the bishopric under Gottfried II von Weitzenbeck (1342-62). George I von Hohenlohe (1388-1421), who, after 1418, was imperial chancellor, energetically opposed the Hussites. During the time of Ulrich III von Nussdorf (1451-79) the diocese suffered its first great curtailment by the formation of the new Diocese of Vienna (1468). This diocese was afterwards further enlarged at the expense of Passau by Pope Sixtus IV

Pope Sixtus IV

Pope Sixtus IV , born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. He founded the Sistine Chapel where the team of artists he brought together introduced the Early Renaissance to Rome with the first masterpiece of the city's new artistic age....
. Towards the close of the fifteenth century the conflict between an Austrian candidate for the see and a Bavarian brought about a state of war in the diocese.

The Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe. It is thought to have begun in 1517 with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses and may be considered to have ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648....
was kept out of all the Bavarian part of the diocese, except the Countship of Ortenburg, by the efforts of Ernest of Bavaria

Ernest of Bavaria

Ernest of Bavaria was Prince-elector archbishop of the Archbishopric of Cologne from 1583 to 1612 as successor of the expelled Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg....
who, though never consecrated, ruled the diocese from 1517 to 1541. Lutheranism found many adherents, however, in the Austrian portion. Wolfgang I Count of Salm (1540-55) and Urban von Trennbach (1561-98) led the counter-Reformation

Counter-Reformation

The Counter-Reformation denotes the period of Roman Catholic Church revival from the pontificate of Pope Pius IV in 1560 to the close of the Thirty Years' War, 1648....
. Under Wolfgang the Peace of Passau

Peace of Passau

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor had won a victory against Protestantism in the Schmalkaldic War of 1547. Many Protestant princes were unhappy with the religious terms of the Augsburg Interim imposed after this victory....
was concluded, in the summer of 1552. The last Bavarian prince-bishop was Urban, who in his struggles during the Reformation received substantial aid for the Austrian part of the diocese from Albert V, Duke of Bavaria

Albert V, Duke of Bavaria

Albert V, Duke of Bavaria , , was Duke of Bavaria from 1550 until his death. He was born in Munich to William IV, Duke of Bavaria and Marie of Baden-Sponheim....
, and, after 1576, from Emperor Rudolph II. All the successors of Urban were Austrians. Bishop Leopold I (1598-1625) (also Bishop of Strasburg after 1607) was one of the first to enter the Catholic League of 1609. In the Thirty Years' War

Thirty Years' War

The Thirty Years' War was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. The war was fought primarily in Germany and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe....
he was loyal to his brother, Emperor Ferdinand II. Leopold II Wilhelm (1625-62), son of Ferdinand II, a pious prince and a great benefactor of the City of Passau, especially after the great conflagration of 1662, finally united five bishoprics.

The Bishop-Prince Wenzelaus von Thun (1664-73) began the new cathedral which was completed thirty years later by his successor Cardinal John Philip von Lamberg. The Cardinal-Prince and his nephew, also Cardinal-Prince Joseph Dominicus von Lamberg, some time later successor to his uncle (1723-62), both became cardinals. They were brother and son to Franz Joseph I, landgraf of Leuchtenberg, 2d fürst von Lamberg, and both front-line diplomats for the Austrian court.

When Vienna was raised to an archdiocese in 1722, he relinquished the parishes beyond the Viennese Forest, hence was exempted from the metropolitan authority of Salzburg, and obtained the pallium for himself and his successors. Leopold Ernst, Count of Firmian (1763-83), created cardinal in 1772, established an institute of theology at Passau and, after the suppression of the Jesuits

Suppression of the Jesuits

The Suppression of the Jesuits in Portugal, France, the Two Sicilies, Parma and the Spain by 1767 was a result of a series of political moves rather than a theological controversy....
, founded a lyceum. Under Joseph, Count of Auersperg (1783-95), Emperor Joseph II took away two-thirds of the diocese to form the diocese of Linz and diocese of St. Pölten. The last prince-bishop, Leopold von Thun (1796-1826), saw the secularization of the old bishopric in 1803; the City of Passau and the temporalities on the left bank of the Inn River

Inn River

The Inn is a river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube and is approximately 500km long. The highest point of its drainage basin is the summit of Piz Bernina, at 4,049 metres....
and the right bank of the Ilz River went to Bavaria, while the territory on the left banks of the Danube and of the Ilz went to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany

Grand Duchy of Tuscany

The Grand Duchy of Tuscany 2 was a state in central Italy that existed from 1569 to 1859, replacing the Duchy of Florence, which had been created out of the old Republic of Florence in 1532, and which annexed the Republic of Siena in 1557....
and afterwards to Austria. On 22 February, 1803, when the Bavarians marched into Passau, the prince-bishop withdrew to his estates in Bohemia

Bohemia

History...
, and never revisited his former residence.

By the Concordat of 1818, the diocese was given new boundaries. After the death of the last prince-bishop, Passau's exemption from metropolitan power ceased, and the diocese became suffragan of Munich-Freising.

Ordinaries


No.	Name	from	to	comments
	Valentin von Rätien	?	475
	Vivilo	739	?
	Beatus	?	753/754
1	Sidonius	753	756
	Anthelm	?	?
2	Wisurich	770	777
3	Waldrich	777	804/805
4	Urolf	804/805	806
5	Hatto	806	817
6	Reginhar	818	838
	Vacancy	838	840
7	Hartwig	840	866
8	Ermanrich	866	874
9	Engelmar	875	897
10	Wiching	898	899
11	Richard	899	902
12	Burkhard	903	915
13	Gumpold	915	932
14	Gerhard	932	946
15	Adalbert	946	970/971
16	Pilgrim	971	991	Sieghardinger
17	Christian	991	1013	First bishop with secular authority
18	Berengar	1013	1045
19	Egilbert	1045	1065	Engelbert
20	Altmann	1065	1091
20a	Hermann von Eppenstein (Eppensteiner)	1085	1087	counter-bishop of Emperor Henry IV
21	Udalrich	1092	1121	Ulrich I.
22	Reginmar	1121	1138
23	Reginbert von Hagenau	1138	1147/1148
24	Konrad I. von Babenberg	1148/1149	1164	Son of Leopold III, Margrave of Austria Leopold III, Margrave of Austria Saint Leopold III was the Margrave of Margravate of Austria in 1095-1136. He is the patron saint of Austria, of the city of Vienna, of Lower Austria, and, jointly with Saint Florian, of Upper Austria.... and Agnes von Waiblingen
25	Rupert I.	1164	1165
	Albo(no)	1165	1169	vertrieben
	Heinrich I. von Berg	1169	1172	resigned, later Bishop of Würzburg
26	Diepold von Berg	1172	1190	Theobald
27	Wolfger von Erla	1191	1204
28	Poppo	1204	1206	Dompropst von Aquileia Aquileia Aquileia is an ancient history Roman Republic city in what is now Italy, at the head of the Adriatic Sea at the edge of the lagoons, about 10 km from the sea, on the river Natiso , the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times....
29	Manegold von Berg	1206	1215
30	Ulrich II.	1215	1221
31	Gebhard I. von Plain	1222	1232
32	Rüdiger von Bergheim	1233	1249	abgesetzt
33	Konrad II. von Schlesien	1249	1249
34	Berthold von Pietengau	1250	1254
35	Otto von Lonsdorf	1254	1265
36	Wladislaw von Schlesien	1265	1265
37	Petrus von Passau	1265	1280	Domherr von Breslau
38	Wichard von Pohlheim	1280	1282
39	Gottfried	1282	1285	Protonotary of Rudolf I of Habsburg
40	Bernhard von Prambach	1285	1313
	Vacancy wegen Doppelwahl	1313	1317
	Albert I. von Habsburg	1313	1313
	Gebhard II.	1313	1315
41	Henri de la Tour-du-Pin	1317	1319
42	Albert II. von Sachsen-Wittenberg	1320	1342
43	Gottfried von Weißeneck	1342	1362
44	Albert III. von Winkel	1363	1380
45	Johann von Scharffenberg	1381	1387
46	Hermann Digni	1387	1388
47	Ruprecht von Berg	1388	1390
48	Georg von Hohenlohe	1390	1423
49	Leonhard von Laiming	1423/1424	1451
50	Ulrich von Nußdorf	1451	1479
51	Georg Hessler	1480	1482	seit 1477 Kardinal
52	Friedrich Mauerkircher	1482	1485
53	Friedrich von Öttingen	1485	1490
54	Christoph von Schachner	1490	1500
56	Wiguleus Fröschl von Marzoll	1500	1517
57	Ernst von Bayern	1517	1541	Administrator
57	Wolfgang von Salm	1541	1555
58	Wolfgang von Closen	1555	1561
59	Urban von Trennbach	1561	1598
60	Leopold V, Archduke of Austria Leopold V, Archduke of Austria Leopold V, Archduke of Further Austria was the son of Archduke Charles II of Austria, and the younger brother of Emperor Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, father of Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria....	1598	1625
61	Leopold Wilhelm von Österreich	1625	1662
62	Karl Joseph von Österreich Archduke Charles Joseph of Austria Charles Joseph was an Archduke of Archduchy of Austria and Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights . He was also the bishop of List of bishops and archbishops of Olomouc, and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wroclaw, Roman Catholic Diocese of Passau....	1662	1664
63	Wenzeslaus von Thun	1664	1673
64	Sebastian von Pötting	1673	1689
65	Johann Philipp von Lamberg	1689	1712	Cardinal from 1700
67	Raymund Ferdinand Graf von Rabatta	1713	1722
68	Joseph Dominikus von Lamberg	1723	1761	Cardinal from 1737
69	Joseph Maria Graf von Thun	1761	1763
70	Leopold Ernst von Firmian Leopold Ernst von Firmian Leopold Ernst von Firmian was an Austrian bishop and Cardinal .He was bishop of Seckau from 1739 to 1763, campaigning against Protestantism....	1763	1783	Cardinal from 1772
71	Joseph Franz Anton von Auersperg	1783	1795	Cardinal from 1789
72	Thomas Johann Kaspar Graf von Thun-Hohenstein	1795	1796
73	Leopold Leonhard Reichsgraf von Thun	13 December 1796	22 October 1826	Last Prince-Bishop
74	Karl Joseph Freiherr von Riccabona	25 December 1826	25 May 1839
75	Heinrich von Hofstätter	6 July 1839	12 May 1875
76	Josef Franz von Weckert	04 October 1875	13 March 1889
77	Antonius von Thoma Antonius von Thoma Antonius von Thoma was Bishop and later Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising from 1889 until his death in 1897.Born 1 March 1829, Nymphenburg, he was ordained a priest on 29 June 1853 in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, aged 24....	24 March 1889	23 October 1889
78	Michael von Rampf	8 December 1889	29 March 1901
79	Anton von Henle	3 April 1901	18 October 1906
80	Sigismund Felix Freiherr von Ow-Felldorf	18 October 1906	11 May 1936
81	Simon Konrad Landersdorfer OSB	11 September 1936	27 October 1968
82	Antonius Hofmann	27 October 1968	15 October 1984
83	Franz Xaver Eder	15 October 1984	8 January 2001
84	Wilhelm Schraml	13 December 2001	incumbent

Leonhard von Laiming † (July 1423 Appointed - 24 June 1451 Died)
Ulrich von Nußdorf † (10 July 1451 Appointed - 2 September 1479 Died)
Georg Heßler † (28 January 1480 Appointed - 21 September 1482 Died)
Friedrich Mauerkircher † (30 October 1482 Appointed - 22 November 1485 Died)
Friedrich Graf von Öttingen † (2 December 1485 Appointed - 3 March 1490 Died)
Christoph Schachner † (11 March 1490 Appointed - 4 January 1500 Died)
Wiguläus Fröschl von Marzoll † (14 January 1500 Appointed - 6 November 1517 Died)
Wolfgang Graf von Salm † (11 November 1540 Appointed - 5 December 1555 Died)
Wolfgang von Closen † (20 December 1555 Appointed - 7 August 1561 Died)
Urban Trennbach † (18 August 1561 Appointed - 9 August 1589 Died)
Leopold Erzherzog von Österreich † (25 July 1605 Succeeded - 19 April 1626 Resigned)
Leopold Wilhelm Erzherzog von Österreich † (8 November 1625 Appointed - 2 November 1662 Died)
Karl Joseph Erzherzog von Österreich † (20 November 1662 Succeeded - 27 January 1664 Died)
Wenzeslaus Reichsgraf von Thun † (27 March 1664 Appointed - 8 January 1673 Died)
Sebastian Graf von Pötting-Persing † (11 March 1673 Appointed - 16 March 1689 Died)
Johann Philipp Reichsgraf von Lamberg † (24 May 1689 Appointed - 30 October 1712 Died)
Raymund Ferdinand Graf von Rabatta † (18 January 1713 Appointed - 25 October 1722 Died)
Joseph Dominikus Franz Kilian Reichsgraf von Lamberg † (2 January 1723 Appointed - 30 August 1761 Died)
Josef Maria Reichsgraf von Thun und Hohenstein † (19 November 1761 Appointed - 15 June 1763 Died)
Leopold Ernst Graf von Firmian † (1 September 1763 Appointed - 13 March 1783 Died)
Joseph Franz Anton Reichsgraf von Auersperg † (19 May 1783 Appointed - 21 August 1795 Died)