The Würzburg Bishops' Conference of 1848 was a four-week workshop of the German Catholic bishops in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

. It can be regarded as the birth of the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

bishops' conferences.

History

The hastily called meeting began on 21 October 1848, just three weeks after the Cologne Archbishop

Johannes von Geissel Johannes von Geissel (5 February 1796 – 8 September 1864) was a German Catholic Archbishop of Cologne and Cardinal from the Electorate of the Palatinate. Life Gessel was born in Gimmeldingen in the Electorate of the Palatinate. After co ...

had issued the invitations. It ended unexpectedly after lengthy deliberations on 16 November. Twenty-five diocesan bishops or their representatives, and selected theological advisers, participated. However, no laymen participated. The venue was the Würzburg seminary, for the last three days of the Franciscan monastery of

. It was hosted by the Bishop of Würzburg . The bishops had a strict work discipline with eight hours of daily conferences. The liturgical high point was a Pontifical Mass in the

Würzburg Cathedral Würzburg Cathedral (german: Würzburger Dom) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany, dedicated to Saint Kilian. It is the seat of the Bishop of Würzburg and has served as the burial place for the Prince-Bishops of Würzb ...

under the direction of the Primate Germaniae of Archbishop

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Friedrich Johannes Jacob Celestin von Schwarzenberg Friedrich Prince zu Schwarzenberg, or in Czech Bedřich prince ze Schwarzenberg (April 6, 1809 in Vienna, Austria – March 27, 1885 in Vienna, Austria) was a Catholic Cardinal of the nineteenth century in Austria and the Kingdom of Bohemia and a ...

. A noteworthy sign was the charitable feeding of 300 poor citizens of Würzburg. The bishops worked at the tables serving the poor. The shortness of the advance notice, the high number of participants and the long duration of the meeting are evidence of the urgency of the issues at hand. The end of the ecclesiastical order with their spiritual territories was less than 50 years ago and the reorganization of the German dioceses only 25 years. Since 18 May 1848, in the

Frankfurt Parliament The Frankfurt Parliament (german: Frankfurter Nationalversammlung, literally ''Frankfurt National Assembly'') was the first freely elected parliament for all German states, including the German-populated areas of Austria-Hungary, elected on 1 Ma ...

there was a controversial discussion about the future government and constitutional order in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the bishops didn't want to be bystanders only. They formulated policy statements on the relationship between church and state, the church school inspection, the legal status of the clergy and on issues of societal and social order. They adopted three memoranda: one to all the faithful, one to the government and one to the clergy. However, the intended official national synod did not follow, because for it a papal authorization was required, and the Curia was afraid of national church tendencies, because the Bavarian bishops in the

Freising Bishops' Conference The Freising Bishops' Conference was founded in 1850. In it the bishops of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising in southern Bavaria, with the suffragans of Regensburg, Passau and Augsburg as well as the Franconia Archdiocese of Bamberg with th ...

and the bishops of the Habsburg monarchy in the

Episcopal Conference of Austria The Austrian Bishops' Conference (german: Österreichische Bischofskonferenz) is the official assembly of the Roman Catholic bishops of Austria. It is the supreme authority of the Roman Catholic Church in Austria, established as a formal body unde ...

went their own ways.

Participants

The lithography above shows from left to right in the... first row: * Karl August von Reisach (1800–1869), Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Cardinal later * Maximilian Joseph Gottfried von Sommerau Beeckh (1769–1853),

Archbishop of Olomouc The following is a list of diocesan bishops and archbishops of Olomouc. Not much is known about the beginnings of the Diocese of Olomouc. It was reestablished in 1063 and in 1777 it was elevated to an archdiocese. Bishops of Olomouc *''89 ...

* Bonifaz Kaspar von Urban (1773–1858), Archbishop of

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castle. C ...

(1809–1885), archbishop of

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

, and later Cardinal Archbishop of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

(1796–1864), Archbishop of

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 ...

, Cardinal later *

Hermann von Vicari Hermann von Vicari (13 May 1773 at Aulendorf in Württemberg – 14 April 1868 at Freiburg) was a German Catholic churchman, who became Archbishop of Freiburg, in Baden. Life In 1789 he received tonsure at Konstanz, Constance and obtained a ...

(1773–1868), Archbishop of

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

* Galura Bernhard (1764–1856), Bishop of

Brixen Brixen (, ; it, Bressanone ; lld, Porsenù or ) is a town in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography First mentioned in 901, Brixen is the third largest city and oldest town in the province, and the artistic and ...

second row: * Melchior von Diepenbrock (1798–1853), prince bishop of Breslau, later Cardinal, also a member of the Frankfurt National Assembly * Carl Anton Lüpke (1775–1855), senior bishop of

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 ...

and titular bishop of Anthedon * Peter von Richarz (1783–1855), Bishop of

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

* Peter Leopold Kaiser (1788–1848), Bishop of

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

* Henry of Hofstätter (1805–1875), Bishop 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 ...

* Georg Anton von Stahl (1805–1870), Bishop of

third row: * Johann Georg Müller (1798–1870), Bishop of

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

, also a member of the Frankfurt National Assembly * Valentine of Riedel (1802–1857),

Bishop of Regensburg The Bishops of Regensburg (Ratisbon) are bishops of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany.

Nicholas Weis Nicolaus von Weis (born Rimling, Moselle, France, 8 March 1796 - died Speyer, 13 December 1869) was from 1842 to 1869 Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Speyer, in the Palatinate (in that time a district of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Lif ...

(1796–1869),

Bishop of Speyer The Bishop of Speyer is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Speyer, which is a suffragan see of the Archdiocese of Bamberg.Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the Lei ...

* William Arnoldi (1798–1864), Bishop of

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

* Peter Josef Blum, (1808–1884), Bishop of

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

* Franz Drepper (1787–1855), Bishop of

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

Anastasius Sedlag Anastasius (Latinized) or Anastasios ( el, Αναστάσιος, translit=Anastasios) is a masculine given name of Greek origin derived from the Greek word (''anastasis'') meaning "resurrection". Its female form is ''Anastasia'' ( el, Αναστ ...

(1787–1856), Bishop of Kulm (

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

) * George von Oettl (1794–1866), Bishop of

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese ...

* Josef von Lipp (1794–1869),

Bishop of Rottenburg The Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Freiburg in Baden-Württemberg, '' B ...

* Joseph Dittrich († 1853), Titular Bishop of

Corycus Corycus ( el, Κώρυκος; also transliterated Corycos or Korykos; hy, Կոռիկոս, translit=Koṙikos; tr, Kız Kalesi, lit. "maiden castle") was an ancient city in Cilicia Trachaea, Anatolia, located at the mouth of the valley called ...

, Apostolic Vicar in the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Saxon ...

Not shown in the picture is Franz Grossmann of the

Prince-Bishopric of Warmia The Prince-Bishopric of Warmia ( pl, Biskupie Księstwo Warmińskie; german: Fürstbistum Ermland) was a semi-independent ecclesiastical state, ruled by the incumbent ordinary of the Warmia see and comprising one third of the then diocesan area ...

who represented Bishop Joseph Ambrose Geritz. Also, other clerics took part as consultants, e.g. the Cathedral Provost of Cologne

Eduard Herzog Eduard Herzog (August 1, 1841 – March 26, 1924) was a Swiss Catholic theologian and cleric who was a native of Schongau, Canton Lucerne. He was the first Christian Catholic bishop of Switzerland. He studied theology under Karl Joseph von ...

References

Catholic Würzburg Sonntagsblatt B 7432 No. 6 of 10 February 2008, Volume 155

External links

* http://www.wuerzburg.de/de/themen/kultur-bildung-kulturangebot/stadtarchiv/veranstaltungenundpublikati {{DEFAULTSORT:Wurzburg Bishops' Conference Defunct episcopal conferences Catholic Church in Germany 1848 in Germany 1848 in Christianity 19th-century Catholicism 1848 conferences