The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the

prince-elector The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops. From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince- ...

s of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

and ruled the Electorate of Cologne. Since the early days of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, there have been 94 bishops and archbishops of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. roue of them resigned n response to

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

. Eight were

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

s before they took office. Seven were appointed as coadjutors freely by the

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

. One moved to the

Curia Curia (: curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally probably had wider powers, they came to meet ...

, where he became a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

. Additionally, six were chairmen of the German Bishops' Conference. Cardinal Rainer Woelki has been Archbishop of Cologne since his 2014 transfer from

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he was also cardinal-archbishop.

Bishops and archbishops of Cologne

Bishops of Colonia Agrippina, 88–784

All names before Maternus II are to be approached with considerable skepticism, as little contemporary evidence is available. Maternus was present at a council in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in 313. The bishops between Severinus and Charentius are also

apocrypha Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

l. Domitianus was the Bishop of Maastricht (Mosa Traiectum). The given dates of office before Gunther are also conjectural, at best. *Maternus I –128 *Paulinus *Marcellinus *Aquilinus *Levoldus –285 * Maternus II –315 *Euphrates –348 * Severinus –403 *Ebergisil I ? –440 *Solatius –470 *Sunnovaeus –500 *Domitianus fl. *Charentinus fl. * Eberigisil II ? –600 ? *Remedius ? –611 ? *Solatius ? –622 * Cunibert –663 *Bodatus –674 *Stephen 674–680 *Adelwin 680–695 *Giso 695–708 *Anno I 708–710 *Faramund 710–713 * Agilolf 713–717 *Reginfried 718–747 * Hildegar 750–753 *Bertholm 753–763 *

Rikulf Ricolf was bishop of Cologne in the eighth century, from 763 to 784. There was also a lord Ricolf in Flanders, who settled Ricolvingahem (now the Rijkeghem kouter near Tielt), during the reign of Louis the Pious, the successor of Charlemagne betwee ...

763–784

Archbishops of Cologne, 784–1238

* Hildebold 784–818 * Hadbold 818–842 * 842–849 * Günther 850–864 * Hugo Welf 864 * Wilbert 870–889 * Hermann I 890–924 * Wigfried 924–953 * Bruno I 953–965 * Volkmar 965–969 *

Gero Gero I ( 900 – 20 May 965), sometimes called the Great (),Thompson, 486. Also se was a nobleman from East Francia who ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg in the south of the present German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which he ...

969–976 * Warin 976–984 * Ebergar 984–999 * Heribert 999–1021 *

Pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

1021–1036 * Hermann II 1036–1056 * Anno II 1056–1075 * Hildholf 1076–1078 * Sigwin 1078–1089 * Hermann III 1089–1099 * Friedrich I 1100–1131 Solingen - Schloss Burg - Engelbert 01 ies

Solingen - Schloss Burg - Engelbert 01 ies

* Bruno II von Berg 1131–1137 * Hugo von Sponheim 1137 * Arnold I 1138–1151 * Arnold II von Wied 1152–1156 * Friedrich II von Berg 1156–1158, nephew of Bruno II von Berg above *

Rainald of Dassel Rainald of Dassel (c. 1120 – 14 August 1167) was Archbishop of Cologne and Archchancellor of Italy from 1159 until his death. A close advisor to the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick Barbarossa, he had an important influence on Imperial p ...

1159–1167 * Philipp von Heinsberg 1167–1191, he gained the title of Duke of Westphalia and Angria in 1180, from then on held in

personal union A personal union is a combination of two or more monarchical states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, involves the constituent states being to some extent in ...

by all incumbents of the Cologne see until 1803. * Bruno III von Berg 1191–1192, brother of Friedrich II above * Adolf I von Berg 1192–1205, nephew of Bruno III above * Bruno IV von Sayn 1205–1208 (in opposition) * Dietrich I von Hengebach 1208–1215 (in opposition) * Engelbert II von Berg 1216–1225, nephew of Bruno III above * Heinrich I von Mulnarken 1225–1237

Archbishop-electors of Cologne, 1238–1803

Modern archbishops of Cologne: 1824 to date

* Ferdinand August von Spiegel 1824–1835 * Clemens August II Droste zu Fischering 1835–1845 *Cardinal Johannes von Geissel 1845–1864 *Cardinal Paul Melchers 1866–1885 *Cardinal Philipp Krementz 1885–1899 * Hubert Theophil Simar 1899-1902 *Cardinal Anton Hubert Fischer 1902–1912 *Cardinal Felix von Hartmann 1912–1919 *Cardinal Karl Joseph Schulte 1920–1941 *Cardinal Josef Frings 1942–1969 *Cardinal

Joseph Höffner Joseph Höffner (24 December 1906 – 16 October 1987) was a German Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the Archbishop of Cologne from 1969 to 1987 and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1969. Biography ...

1969–1987 *Cardinal Joachim Meisner 1988–2014 *Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki since 2014

Auxiliary bishops

References

External links

List of Bishops and Archbishops of Cologne
''Archdiocese of Cologne (Erzbistum Köln)''

''Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom)'' {{Electors of the Holy Roman Empire after 1356