The Diocese of Linz ( la, Dioecesis Linciensis) is 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 ...

of the Archdiocese of Vienna,

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 ...

History

Early history

In the early

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 a ...

the greater part of the territory of the present Diocese of Linz was subject to the bishops of Lauriacum ( Lorch); at a later date it formed part of the great Diocese of Passau, which extended from the

Isar The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria, and Bavaria, Germany, which is not navigable for watercraft above raft size. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Bad Tölz, Munic ...

to the Leitha. 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, a ...

, 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 ca ...

, 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 Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's popu ...

, who were also princes of the Empire, Joseph II 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

(1785-8),

Ernest Johann Nepomuk Ernest Johann Nepomuk (20 April 1731 – 17 March 1788), Imperial Count von Herberstein, was the first bishop of the diocese of Linz from 1785 to 1788. Life Ernest Johann Nepomuk was born on 20 April 1731 in Vienna, Austria. He was ordained a pri ...

, Imperial Count von Herberstein and formerly

titular Bishop of Eucarpia Eucarpia or Eukarpia ( grc, Εὐκαρπία) was a city in Phrygia and a bishopric in the late Roman province of Phrygia Salutaris, in Asia Minor. Location Eukarpia, mentioned by Strabo (XII, 576) and several other geographers, was situate ...

, had been the Official of the Prince-Bishop of Passau and Vicar-General of Lower Austria. The next bishop,

Joseph Anton Gall Joseph Anton Gall (1748–1807) was the bishop of Linz from 1788 to 1807. He had been of great service to the Austrian school system as cathedral scholasticus and chief supervisor of the normal schools. He was an adherent of Josephinism Jose ...

(1788–1807), was a political ally of Joseph II and of josephinism. 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 Gregorius Thomas Ziegler, bishop of Linz (March 7, 1770 – April 15, 1852), was born at Kirchheim in Schwaben near Augsburg. He joined the Benedictines at Wiblingen Abbey in 1788 and was ordained priest on 25 May 1793. He taught in various ...

(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 ''Katholikentag'' () is a festival-like gathering in German-speaking countries organized by laity of the Catholic Church. ''Katholikentag'' festivals occur approximately every 2–4 years in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. ''Katholikentag'' ...

, 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 Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (1975- ...

, 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 denomination ...

of the Immaculate Conception, built from the plans of the

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

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 The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, was built in the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

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

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

(1783–1788) *

(1789–1807) *

(1809–1825) *

(1827–1852) * Franz-Josef Rudigier (1853–1884) * Ernest Maria Müller (1885–1888) * Franz Maria Doppelbauer (1889–1908) *

Rudolph Hittmair Rudolph Hittmair (born 1859 in Mattighofen) was an Austrian clergyman and bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Linz The Diocese of Linz ( la, Dioecesis Linciensis) is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Vienna, Austria. History Early hi ...

(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 and ...

, appointed Bishop of Austria, Military in 1833 *

Kurt Krenn Kurt Krenn (28 June 1936 – 25 January 2014) was an Austrian Roman Catholicism, 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 Neusti ...

, 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 of ...

Linz

Religious organizations established in 1785 Linz, Roman Catholic Diocese of