This list records the bishops of the Roman Catholic diocese of Bremen (german: link=no, Bistum Bremen), supposedly a suffragan of the Archbishopric of Cologne, then of the bishops of Bremen, who were in

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more State (polity), states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some e ...

archbishops of Hamburg (simply titled Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen), later simply titled archbishops of Bremen, since 1180 simultaneously officiating as rulers of princely rank (prince-archbishop) in the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (german: link=no, Erzstift Bremen; est. 1180 and secularised in 1648), a state of imperial immediacy within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie H ...

and

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

were the seats of the chapters at Bremen Cathedral and Hamburg Concathedral, while the incumbents used to reside in their castle in Vörde since 1219. Wappen Erzbistum Bremen

Titles of the incumbents of the Bremian See

Not all incumbents of the Bremian See were imperially invested princely power as Prince-Archbishops and not all were papally confirmed as bishops. In 1180 part of the Bremian diocesan territory and small parts of the neighbouring Diocese of Verden were disentangled from the

Duchy of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settlement geography, settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and in ...

and became an own territory of imperial immediacy called Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (german: link=no, Erzstift Bremen), a vassal of the

. The prince-archbishopric was an elective monarchy, with the monarch being the respective archbishop usually elected by the Bremian Chapters at Bremen Cathedral and Hamburg Concathedral, with the latter enfranchised to three capitular votes, and confirmed by 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 ...

, or exceptionally only appointed by the Holy See. Papally confirmed archbishops were then invested by the emperor with the princely regalia, thus the title prince-archbishop. However, sometimes the respective incumbent of the see never gained a papal confirmation, but was still invested the princely regalia. Also the opposite occurred with a papally confirmed archbishop, never invested as prince. A number of incumbents, elected by the chapter, neither achieved papal confirmation nor imperial

investiture Investiture (from the Latin preposition ''in'' and verb ''vestire'', "dress" from ''vestis'' "robe") is a formal installation or ceremony that a person undergoes, often related to membership in Christian religious institutes as well as Christian k ...

, but as a matter of fact nevertheless de facto held the princely power. The respective incumbents of the see bore the following titles: *

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 ...

of Bremen from 787 to 845 * Archbishop of Hamburg and Bishop of Bremen in

(colloquially also Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen) from 848 to 1072 * Archbishop of Bremen (colloquially also Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen) from 1072 to 1179 * Prince-Archbishop of Bremen from 1180 to 1566, paralleled by the de facto rule of Catholic Administrators from 1316 to 1327 and again 1348 to 1360 *

Administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen 1316 to 1327, 1348 to 1360, and again 1568 to 1645. Either simply de facto replacing the Prince-Archbishop or lacking canon-law prerequisites the incumbent of the see would officially only hold the title administrator (but nevertheless colloquially referred to as Prince-Archbishop). Between 1568 and 1645 all administrators were Lutherans, while else they were Roman Catholics. * The last, but only provisional incumbent of the See, Francis of Wartenberg, therefore bore the title

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pr ...

(1645–1648)

Catholic Bishops of Bremen till 845

Catholic Archbishops of Hamburg in personal union Bishops of Bremen (848–1072)

Catholic Archbishops of Bremen (1072–1179)

Catholic Prince-Archbishops of Bremen (1180–1316)

Catholic Administrators (1316–1327; 1345–1362) and Prince-Archbishops of Bremen (1327–1348)

Catholic Prince-Archbishops and Administrator of Bremen (1348–1496)

Catholic Prince-Archbishops of Bremen (1497–1568)

Lutheran Administrators of the Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (1568–1645)

Roman Catholic Administrators and Vicars Apostolic, 1635/1645–Secularisation

{, width=100% class="wikitable" , colspan="6" bgcolor=red align=center, Roman Catholic Administrators and Vicars Apostolic, 1635/1645-Secularisation , - !Reign or vicariate !Picture !Name !Birth and death
with places !Reason for
end of office !Notes , - , align=center, 1635, papal appointment, imperial investiture, lacking the capitular elective mandate , align=center,

Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria by Pieter Thijs

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Leopold William of Austria Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (5 January 1614 – 20 November 1662), younger brother of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor Ferdinand III, was an Austrian soldier, administrator and patron of the arts. He held a number of military ...

as Administrator Leopold William
(

House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

) , align="center",

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 D ...

,
*5 January 1614 – 20 November 1662*,

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

, align="center", due to the Swedish occupation of the Prince-Archbishopric he never gained de facto power , align="center",

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

provided him as administrator (he lacked any clerical qualification to be bishop) of Bremen,
his father Emperor Ferdinand II invested him with the princely regalia
also administrator of the prince-bishoprics of Halberstadt (1628–48), Olomouc (1637–62), Passau (1625–62), Strasbourg (1626–62), and Wrocław (1656–62), as well as of the Prince-Archbishopric of Magdeburg (1631–38). , - , align=center, 1645, papal appointment, lacking the capitular elective mandate , align=center, Kardinal Franz Wilhelm von Wartenberg

, align="center", Francis of Wartenberg
Vicar Apostolic Franz Wilhelm , align="center",

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

,
*1 March 1593 –
1 December 1661*,
Ratisbon , align="center", he never gained pastoral influence, let alone power as prince-archbishop due to the Swedish occupation of the prince-archbishopric , align="center", Pope Innocent X appointed him vicar apostolic, i.e. provisional head of see,
also prince-bishop of Osnabrück (1625–1634 and again 1648–1661), of Ratisbon (1649–1661) and of Verden (1630–1631) , - , align=center, 1645–1648 , align=center, , align="center", rule by the Swedish occupants due to

sede vacante ''Sede vacante'' ( in Latin.) is a term for the state of a diocese while without a bishop. In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the term is used to refer to the vacancy of the bishop's or Pope's authority upon his death or resignation. H ...

, align="center", , align="center", , align="center", , - , align=center, After 15 May 1648 , align=center, , align="center", The Prince-Archbishopric was converted into a heritable monarchy, the Duchy of Bremen, first ruled in

by the Swedish crown. See List of Dukes of Bremen (1648–1823). , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", , -

Bremen, Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen, Prince-Archbishopric of