The Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck, (german: Hochstift Lübeck; Fürstbistum Lübeck; Bistum Lübeck) was an

ecclesiastical principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall under ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

until 1803. Originally ruled by Roman-Catholic bishops, after 1586 it was ruled by lay administrators and bishops who were members of the Protestant

Holstein-Gottorp Holstein-Gottorp or Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp () is the historiographical name, as well as contemporary shorthand name, for the parts of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, also known as Ducal Holstein, that were ruled by the dukes of Schlesw ...

line of the

House of Oldenburg The House of Oldenburg is a Germans, German dynasty with links to Denmark since the 15th century. It has branches that rule or have ruled in Denmark, Iceland, Greece, Norway, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Duchy of Schleswig, Schleswig, Duchy ...

. The prince-bishops had seat and vote on the Ecclesiastical Bench of the College of Ruling Princes of the Imperial Diet. The Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck, a secular state, should not be confused with the Diocese of Lübeck, which was larger and over which the bishop exercised only pastoral authority.

History

The original diocese was founded about 970 by

Emperor Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...

in the Billung March at

Oldenburg in Holstein Oldenburg in Holstein () is a town at the southwestern shore of the Baltic Sea. The nearest city is Lübeck. The town belongs to the (historical) region of Holstein, today in the state Schleswig-Holstein of Germany. Oldenburg was the chief tow ...

(''Aldinborg'' or ''Starigard''), the former capital of the pagan

Wagri The Wagri, Wagiri, or Wagrians were a tribe of Polabian Slavs inhabiting Wagria, or eastern Holstein in northern Germany, from the ninth to twelfth centuries. They were a constituent tribe of the Obodrite confederacy. In the Slavic uprisings of 9 ...

tribe. Oldenburg was then a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

diocese of the Archbishopric of Bremen, meant to missionize the

Obotrites The Obotrites ( la, Obotriti, Abodritorum, Abodritos…) or Obodrites, also spelled Abodrites (german: Abodriten), were a confederation of medieval West Slavs, West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in norther ...

. However, in the course of the 983 Slavic uprising (''see

Lutici The Lutici or Liutizi (known by various spelling variants) were a federation of West Slavic Polabian tribes, who between the 10th and 12th centuries lived in what is now northeastern Germany. Four tribes made up the core of the federation: th ...

''), the Wagri shook off Imperial supremacy and in 1038, the bishops were barred from entering their diocese. In 1052, the dioceses of

Ratzeburg Ratzeburg (; Low German: ''Ratzborg'') is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the district Herzogtum La ...

and

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch dialect, Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germany, second-largest city of the northeastern States of Germany, German ...

were split off from Oldenburg and no bishop was appointed after 1066. After the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

count

Henry of Badewide Henry of Badewide (or Badwide) (german: Heinrich von Badewide) (died ca. 1164) was a Saxon Count of Botwide (after 1149) and Count of Ratzeburg (after 1156). Henry came from a knightly family from Lüneburg. He took his name from Bode near Ebst ...

had campaigned in the

Wagrian lands WagriaArnold, Benjamin (1991). ''Princes and territories in medieval Germany'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, p. 156. . (german: Wagrien, ''Waierland'' or ''Wagerland'') is the northeastern part of Holstein in the German state ...

east of the

Limes Saxoniae The Limes Saxoniae (Latin for "Limit of Saxony"), also known as the Limes Saxonicus or Sachsenwall ("Saxon Dyke"), was an unfortified limes or border between the Saxons and the Slavic Obotrites, established about 810 in present-day Schleswig ...

in 1138/39, a new Bishop of Oldenburg,

Vicelinus Vicelinus (also ''Vicelin'', german: Vizelin; 1086 – December 12, 1154) was a German bishop of Oldenburg in Holstein who was considered the apostle of Holstein. Also known as – Apostle of Obodriten, of the Wends, Vicelinus, Vincelin, Vizel ...

, was appointed in 1149. Duke

Henry the Lion Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180. Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

moved the seat of the diocese from Oldenburg to

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

in 1160. When the Duchy of Saxony was dissolved with Henry's deposition in 1180, the Bishopric gained the status of

Imperial State An Imperial State or Imperial Estate ( la, Status Imperii; german: Reichsstand, plural: ') was a part of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise si ...

(). Quarrels arose after the City of Lübeck gained

imperial immediacy Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular pri ...

in 1226 and as the territory of the state was centered on

Eutin Eutin () is the district capital of Ostholstein, Eastern Holstein county located in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As of 2020, the town had some 17,000 inhabitants. History The name Eutin (originally Utin) is of Slavic origin. I ...

, the town in 1309 became the residence of the bishops. Lübeck Dom-von-Westen 070311

The Bishopric did not attempt to fight the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. In 1531 the Free City of Lübeck, instanced by

Johannes Bugenhagen Johannes Bugenhagen (24 June 1485 – 20 April 1558), also called ''Doctor Pomeranus'' by Martin Luther, was a German theologian and Lutheran priest who introduced the Protestant Reformation in the Duchy of Pomerania and Denmark in the 16th ce ...

, had turned Protestant, further inhibiting Catholic pastoring in the part of the Lübeck diocese under city rule. And in 1535 the Lübeck

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

and subsequently all its diocesan territories adopted the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

confession. The Prince-Bishop was elected by the chapter; since 1586, all administrators of the prince-bishopric were members of the

line of the

. After the 1648

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought pea ...

, Lübeck was one of only two Protestant prince-bishoprics in the Empire (together with

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

, which however was alternately led by Protestant and Catholic bishops).

Principality and Region of Lübeck

With the of 1803, the Prince-Bishopric was

mediatized Mediatization or mediatisation may refer to: * German mediatisation German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by ...

. It became the Principality of Lübeck and was given to the

Duchy of Oldenburg The Duchy of Oldenburg (german: Herzogtum Oldenburg)—named after its capital, the town of Oldenburg—was a state in the north-west of present-day Germany. The counts of Oldenburg died out in 1667, after which it became a duchy until 1810, wh ...

, since the last prince-bishop ( Peter I of Holstein-Gottorp) was also prince regent of Oldenburg. In 1803 the principality comprised 9.5 German square milesOne German sq. mile () = 21.25 Eng. sq. miles or 55.05 km². with 22,000 inhabitants. Its capital was

Between 1810 and 1814 the principality was annexed to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

as part of the , before it was restituted to the Duchy of Oldenburg. The Duchy of Oldenburg, named after its capital Oldenburg in Oldenburg, thus shared its name with the town of Oldenburg in Holstein, the original seat of the Bishopric, only by coincidence. Karte-Oldenburg-Ex

Following the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

in 1867 the principality was enlarged by the prior Holsteinian bailiwick of

Ahrensbök Ahrensbök (Holsatian: ''Ahrensböök'') is a municipality in the district of Ostholstein, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated approximately 17 km northwest of Lübeck, and 45 km southeast of Kiel. History Ahrensbök came in ...

, as a compensation for hereditary claims of the ducal

to Holstein. After Oldenburg became a republic in 1918 the area remained an exclave of the

Free State of Oldenburg The Free State of Oldenburg (german: Freistaat Oldenburg) was a federated state of the Weimar Republic. It was established in 1918 following the abdication of the Grand Duke Frederick Augustus II following the German Revolution. In 1937, it l ...

now named Region of Lübeck (german: Landesteil Lübeck). Eutin Kreis Wappen

In 1937 the region was incorporated into the Prussian

Province of Schleswig-Holstein The Province of Schleswig-Holstein (german: Provinz Schleswig-Holstein ) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia (subsequently the Free State of Prussia after 1918) from 1868 to 1946. History It was created from the Duchies of Schleswig and H ...

by a territorial redeployment according to the

Greater Hamburg Act The Greater Hamburg Act (german: Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz), in full the Law Regarding Greater Hamburg and Other Territorial Readjustments (german: Gesetz über Groß-Hamburg und andere Gebietsbereinigungen), was passed by the government of Nazi Germa ...

. The Region of Lübeck then became the District of Eutin, which was merged with the neighbouring District of Oldenburg in Holstein in the new district of Eastern Holstein in 1970. The Lutheran Church, since the

comprising the majority of the inhabitants, remained a separate entity, named ''Evangelical Lutheran State Church of the Oldenburgian Region of Lübeck'' (german: Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche des oldenburgischen Landesteils Lübeck, link=no, chaired by a land provost or bishop in Eutin) until it merged with neighbouring Landeskirchen in the new

North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church The North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church (german: link=no, Nordelbische Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche; NEK) was a Lutheran regional church in Northern Germany which emerged from a merger of four churches in 1977 and merged with two more churc ...

in 1977.

Geography

The state had an area of ; as the imperial city of Lübeck was not incorporated, its only city was

Bishops of Oldenburg and Lübeck

Notes

References

At ''Meyers Konversationslexikon'', 4th ed., 1885-92
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubeck States and territories established in 1160 Prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire in Germany Lower Saxon Circle Roman Catholic dioceses in the Holy Roman Empire Former Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany History of Lübeck Dioceses established in the 10th century 1180s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1180 establishments in Europe 1803 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire Former states and territories of Schleswig-Holstein