A Landesbischof () is the head of some

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

regional churches in Germany. Based on the principle of '' summus episcopus'' (german: landesherrliches Kirchenregiment), after the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

each

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

assumed the position of supreme governor of the

state church A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a t ...

in his territory. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, all the

German monarchies This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (''Regnum Teutonicum''), from the division of the Frankish Empire in 843 and the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 until the collapse of the German Empir ...

were abolished and in some regional churches a member of the clergy was elected as ''Landesbischof''. Regional churches not using the term Landesbischof for their chairpersons, and often also allowing laypersons to take that office, use titles such as bishop (Bischof, only clergy), church president (Kirchenpräsident),

praeses ''Praeses'' (Latin ''praesides'') is a Latin word meaning "placed before" or "at the head". In antiquity, notably under the Roman Dominate, it was used to refer to Roman governors; it continues to see some use for various modern positions. ...

(Präses), state

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

(Landessuperintendent, only clergy) or secretary (Schriftführer).

Churches with chairpersons titled Landesbischof

Protestant Church in Baden The Protestant Church in Baden (german: link=no, Evangelische Landeskirche in Baden; i.e. Evangelical Regional Church in Baden) is a United Protestant member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), and member of the Conference of Church ...

, title used since 1933 *

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (german: Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern) is a Lutheran member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany in the German state of Bavaria. The seat of the church is in Munich. The ''Landesbischof' ...

, title used since 1933 * Evangelical Lutheran State Church in Brunswick, title used since 1923 * Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Eutin (1921–1976, merged in the

NEK Filippo Neviani (born 6 January 1972), known by his stage name Nek, is an Italian singer-songwriter and musician. Nek is popular in Italy and throughout the Spanish-speaking world, and has performed and released most of his albums in both Italian ...

), title used since 1961 * Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Hamburg State (1529–1976, merged in the NEK), title used since 1933 *

Evangelical-Lutheran State Church of Hanover The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover (german: Evangelisch-lutherische Landeskirche Hannovers) is a Lutheran church body ''(Landeskirche)'' in the northern German state of Lower Saxony and the city of Bremerhaven covering the territory of th ...

, title used since 1925 * Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Lübeck State (merged in the NEK in 1976), title used since 1934 * Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Mecklenburg (ELLM) (1933–2012, merged in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany), title used since 1933 * Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1850–1933, merged in the ELLM), title used since 1921 * Mecklenburg-Strelitz State Church (merged in the ELLM in 1933), title used since 1921 * Evangelical State Church in Nassau (1817–1934/1947, merged in the

Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau The Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau (german: Evangelische Kirche in Hessen und Nassau, EKHN) is a United Protestant church body in the German states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. There is no bishop and therefore no cathedral. One of it ...

), title used from 1827 to 1882, and again from 1922 to 1934 * Evangelical Church in Middle Germany (EKM), title used since 2009 *

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany (Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Norddeutschland) is a Lutheran member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, EKD). It was established on 27 May 2012 ...

, Landesbischof since 2013 * Evangelical Church of the (old-Prussian) Union (1817–2003), title used between 1933 and 1935 * Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Saxony, title used since 1922 *

Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Schaumburg-Lippe The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe (german: Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Schaumburg-Lippe) is a Lutheran member church ( Landeskirche) of the Evangelical Church in Germany. It covers the former principality of Schaumburg-L ...

, title used since 1949 * Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Schleswig-Holstein (1866–1976; merged in the NEK), title used between 1933 and 1945 *

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia (''Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Thüringen'') was a Lutheran member church of the umbrella Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). The seat of the church was in Eisenach. The church covered those part ...

(1920–2008; merged in the EKM), title used since 1933 *

Evangelical State Church in Württemberg Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...

, title used since 1934

References

{{Reflist Protestantism in Germany