The former Roman Catholic Diocese of Wiener Neustadt in

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 ...

existed from 1469 to 1785. In 1990, it was re-established as a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbis ...

which is held by the bishop for the Military Services in Austria.

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

Wiener Neustadt, cathedral, detail of the pulpit

Upon the request of the Emperor Frederick III, the diocese was created by

Pope Paul II Pope Paul II ( la, Paulus II; it, Paolo II; 23 February 1417 – 26 July 1471), born Pietro Barbo, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 August 1464 to his death in July 1471. When his maternal uncle Eugene IV ...

on 14 January 1469, and was immediately subject to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

. At first it was coterminous with the town of

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...

. In 1769 the new

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

of Theresienfeld was added and in 1784 its territory was extended from Wiener-Neustadt to the boundary of Styria. On 21 April 1785, the see was incorporated in the

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 ...

Emperor 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 ...

. Its last bishop, Johann Heinrich von Kerens, S.J. (1775–1785), and his cathedral chapter were transferred to the newly erected Diocese of Sankt Pölten.

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 ...

The Late- Romanesque ''Dom'' or

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 ...

was consecrated in 1279 and remained the cathedral from 1469 to 1785. The

choir stalls A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the sanctuary, which houses the altar and Church tab ...

and

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

, in

Gothic style 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 ...

, are from the 14th century. In the late 15th century 12 statues of the

Apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...

s were added in the apse, while the bust of Cardinal

Melchior Klesl Melchior Khlesl (Klesl,Klesel,CleseliusHe uses the spelling Khlesl himself in his German-language correspondence: Victor Bibl, Klesl's Briefe an K. Rudolfs II. Obersthofmeister Adam Freiherrn von Dietrichstein (1583-1589). Ein Beitrag zur Geschic ...

is attributed to Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Diocesan Bishops

Škof Johann Moritz Gustav Manderscheid Blankenheim (sr

* ''Michael Altkind (

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic adm ...

1469–1475)'' * Petrus Engelprecht (1476–1491) * Augustin Kiebinger (1491–1495) * Theoderich Kammerer (1521–1530) * '' Johann Fabri ( Coadjutor bishop 1524–1530)'' * Gregor Angerer (1531–1548) * Heinrich Muelich (1549–1550) * ''Christoph Wertwein (Apostolic Administrator 1550–1553)'' * Franz Abstemius (1555–1558) * Martin Durlacher (1558–1559) * Kaspar von Logau (1560–1562) * Christian Napponäus (1564–1571) * Lambert Gruter (1572–1582) * Martin Radwiger (1587–1588) * '' Melchior Khlesl (Apostolic Administrator 1588–1630; also Bishop of Vienna and cardinal (1598–1630)'' * Matthias Geißler (1631–1639) * Johannes Thuanus (1639–1666) * Laurenz Aidinger (1666–1669) *

Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch Leopold Karl von Kollonitsch (also spelt ''Collonicz'', ''Colonitz'', ''Kollonitz'', ''Kolonits'' and ''Kolonić''; 26 October 1631 – 20 January 1707) or Lipót Kollonich was a cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Archbishop of Kalocsa and lat ...

(1669–1686), later Bishop of Raab * Christoph de Rojas y Spinola (1685–1695) * Franz Anton von Puchheim (1695–1718) * Ignaz von Lovina (1718–1720) * Joseph Ignaz della Rovere (1720–1721) *

Johann Moritz Gustav von Manderscheid-Blankenheim Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

(1721–1734), later

Archbishop of Prague The following is a list of bishops and archbishops of Prague. The bishopric of Prague was established in 973, and elevated to an archbishopric on 30 April 1344. The current Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague is the continual successor of the bi ...

* Johann Franz Anton von Khevenhüller (1734–1740) * Ferdinand Michael Cyriakus von Hallweil (1741–1773) * Johann Heinrich von Kerens (1773–1785), became first Bishop of Sankt Pölten

Titular Bishops

* Alfred Kostelecky (1990-1994), bishop of the Military Ordinariate of Austria *

Christian Werner Christian Werner (May 19, 1892 in Stuttgart – June 17, 1932 in Stuttgart-Cannstatt) was a German racecar driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobi ...

(1997–present), bishop of the Military Ordinariate of Austria

References

* Wiedermann, ''Beitrage zur Gesch. des Bis. Wiener Neustadt'', in Oesterreich, Vierteljahrsschrift fur kath. Theol. (Vienna, 1864-9).
Catholic-Hierarchy: Diocese of Wiener Neustadt (Suppressed)
*

External links

{{authority control Wiener Wiener Wiener Neustadt