Archdiocese of Vienna The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna ( la, Archidioecesis Viennensis) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Austria. It was erected as the Diocese of Vienna on 18 January 1469 out of the Diocese of Passau, and elevated to an archdio ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

Diocese of Passau The Diocese of Passau is a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany that is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.Isar to the

Leitha The Leitha (; or , formerly ; Czech and sk, Litava) is a river in Austria and Hungary, a right tributary of the Danube. It is long ( including its source river Schwarza). Its basin area is . Etymology The ''Lithaha'' River in the Carolingia ...

. The

Prince-Bishop of Passau The Diocese of Passau is a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany that is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.Upper Austria Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, an ...

, while an auxiliary

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

, having his residence in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and called the Official, administered for him the eastern part or

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

. To do away with the political influence in his territories of the bishops of Passau, who were also princes of the Empire,

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

decided to found two new dioceses. These were in Linz and

St. Pölten ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...

, which in a certain measure were to renew the old Lauriacum, and the emperor only awaited the death of

Cardinal Firmian Leopold Ernst von Firmian (1708–1783) was an Austrian bishop and cardinal. He was Bishop of Seckau from 1739 to 1763, campaigning against Protestantism. He also acted as coadjutor bishop or administrator of the Bishopric of Trento, from 1748 ...

, then Bishop of Passau, to carry out his plans. The cardinal's eyes were scarcely closed (d. 13 March 1783), before the emperor on 16 March seized all the landed property of the Diocese of Passau in his territories. By an agreement of 4 July 1784, the confiscation of all the properties and rights belonging to the Diocese of Passau in Austria was annulled, and the tithes and revenues were restored to it. The first

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

(1785-8), Ernest Johann Nepomuk, Imperial Count von Herberstein and formerly titular Bishop of Eucarpia, had been the Official of the Prince-Bishop of Passau and Vicar-General of Lower Austria. The next bishop, Joseph Anton Gall (1788–1807), was a political ally of

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

and of

josephinism Josephinism was the collective domestic policies of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (1765–1790). During the ten years in which Joseph was the sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy (1780–1790), he attempted to legislate a series of drastic reforms ...

. The third Bishop of Linz,

Sigismund Ernst Hohenwart Sigismund Ernst Hohenwart (1745–1825) was the third bishop of Linz from 1809 to 1825. He had been a cathedral canon of Gurk and Vicar-General of Klagenfurt. He was appointed by the emperor on 10 January 1809, but the appointment did not rec ...

had been a cathedral canon of Gurk and Vicar-General of Klagenfurt. His successor was the Benedictine Gregorius Thomas Ziegler (1827–52), formerly Bishop of Tarnov.

Revolution of 1848

The Revolution of 1848 not only increased political liberty, but also gave to the Church greater independence in its own province. The session of the Third German Catholic Congress, held at Linz in 1850, also strengthened the Church in the diocese. A great development of religious life in the diocese resulted from the restored liberties of the Church. Much of the credit for this growth is due to the vigorous and unwearied labours of the fifth bishop, the Franz-Josef Rudigier (1853–84), who opposed the Interconfessional laws of 1868. His successor, Ernst Maria Müller, had only a short episcopate (1885-8). In the next bishop, Franz Maria Doppelbauer (1889–1908), the diocese received a truly apostolic head, whose influence extended far beyond his own sphere of work. The present bishop is Manfred Scheuer.

Churches

The

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

of the Immaculate Conception, built from the plans of the

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

,

Vincenz Statz Vincenz Statz (9 April 1819, Cologne – † 21 August 1898, Cologne) was a Neo-Gothic German architect, mainly active in the Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ...

, was begun in 1862 and consecrated in 1905; the tower, high, was finished in 1902. The Old Cathedral, originally the church of the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

, was built in the Baroque style between 1669 and 1682. There are several old collegiate churches (St. Florian, Kremsmünster, Mondsee, Lambach, Garsten, Reichersberg, Wilhering, etc.), originally built in the Romanesque period and nearly all rebuilt in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the Baroque style. The most important churches in the Baroque style of architecture are the collegiate churches of St. Florian (1636–1745), and of Baumgartenberg (rebuilt 1684-1718). The most important buildings of the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

period are the parish church at Steyr (begun in 1443), with a tower high, and the church of the hospital at Braunau on the Inn (1439–92), with a tower 300 feet high. A work of sculpture celebrated in the history of art is the high altar at St. Wolfgang carved by Michael Pacher in 1481.

Bishops

Ordinaries

* Ernest Johann Nepomuk (1783–1788) * Joseph Anton Gall (1789–1807) *

Sigismund Ernst Hohenwart Sigismund Ernst Hohenwart (1745–1825) was the third bishop of Linz from 1809 to 1825. He had been a cathedral canon of Gurk and Vicar-General of Klagenfurt. He was appointed by the emperor on 10 January 1809, but the appointment did not rec ...

(1809–1825) * Gregorius Thomas Ziegler (1827–1852) * Franz-Josef Rudigier (1853–1884) * Ernest Maria Müller (1885–1888) * Franz Maria Doppelbauer (1889–1908) * Rudolph Hittmair (1909–1915) * Johannes Maria Gföllner (1915–1941) * Josephus Calasanz Fließer (1946–1955) * Franz Salesius Zauner (1956–1980) * Maximilian Aichern (1981–2005) *

Ludwig Schwarz Ludwig Schwarz, S.D.B. (born 4 June 1940) is the Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Linz, Austria. Life Ludwig Schwarz was the first of nine children and grew up in Most pri Bratislave. After the expulsion of his family from Slovakia in 1945, ...

(2005–2015) * Manfred Scheuer (2015– )

Coadjutor bishop

* Franz Sales Zauner (1949-1956)

Auxiliary bishops

* Joseph Calasanz Fließer (Fliesser) (1941-1946), appointed Bishop here * Alois Wagner (1969-1981), appointed Vice President of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum” *

Gerhard Maria Wagner Gerhard Maria Wagner (born 17 July 1954, Wartberg ob der Aist, Austria) is an Austrian Roman Catholic priest. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Linz by Pope Benedict XVI on 31 January 2009, but amidst controversy over his views that sin cause ...

(2009); did not take effect

Other priests of this diocese who became bishops

*

Michael Johann Wagner Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

, appointed Bishop of Austria, Military in 1833 *

Kurt Krenn Kurt Krenn (28 June 1936 – 25 January 2014) was an Austrian Roman Catholic prelate and Bishop of Sankt Pölten, near Vienna, from 1991 to 2004. Childhood and youth Kurt Krenn was in Rannariedl, in the municipality of Neustift im Mühlkreis i ...

, appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Wien in 1987

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roman Catholic Diocese Of Linz

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...

Linz