Category: Fürstbistum Osnabrück

Categories: Heiliges Römisches Reich | German History

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Fürstbistum Osnabrück
This category should not be put on profiles, because the Germany Project does not support the use of historical categories except as parents for migrational categories Das Hochstift Osnabrück (auch als Fürstbistum Osnabrück bezeichnet) war ein reichsunmittelbares Territorium des Alten Reiches und gehörte zum Niederrheinisch-Westfälischen Reichskreis. Das Territorium umfasste rund 2700 km².
Karl der Große hatte um 783 das Bistum Osnabrück gegründet, dessen Sprengel von den Flüssen Ems und Hunte begrenzt wurde. Aus Stiftungen und Rechtstiteln wuchs dem Osnabrücker Bischofsstuhl im Hochmittelalter eine Landesherrschaft zu, deren Territorium sich nicht mit dem Diözesangebiet deckte: das Hochstift. Als Staat bestand es bis 1802 und wurde, da sich nach der Reformation keine der beiden Konfessionsparteien im Territorium durchsetzen konnte, nach dem Westfälischen Frieden abwechselnd von einem katholischen und einem lutherischen Landesherrn regiert (siehe die Liste der Bischöfe von Osnabrück). Es wurde nach den Beschlüssen des Wiener Kongresses dem Königreich Hannover einverleibt und bildete nach 1866 einen Bestandteil der preußischen Provinz Hannover.

Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück
The Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück[1]) (German: Hochstift Osnabrück; Fürstbistum Osnabrück, Bistum Osnabrück) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1225 until 1803. It should not be confused with the Diocese of Osnabrück (German: Bistum Osnabrück), which was larger and over which the prince-bishop exercised only the spiritual authority of an ordinary bishop. It was named after its capital, Osnabrück.
The still-extant Diocese of Osnabrück, erected in 772, is the oldest see founded by Charlemagne, in order to Christianize the conquered stem-duchy of Saxony. The episcopal and capitular temporal possessions of the see, originally quite limited, grew in time, and its prince-bishops exercised an extensive civil jurisdiction within the territory covered by their rights of Imperial immunity. The Prince-Bishopric continued to grow in size, making its status during the Reformation a highly contentious issue. The Peace of Westphalia left the city bi-confessional and had the Prince-Bishops alternate between Catholic and Protestant.
The bishopric was dissolved in the German Mediatisation of 1803, when it was incorporated into the neighboring Electorate of Hanover. The see, the chapter, the convents and the Catholic charitable institutions were secularized. The territory of the see passed to Prussia in 1806, to the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, to Napoleonic France in 1810, and back to Hanover in 1814.
With the end of the prince-bishopric, the future of the diocese became unclear. Klemens von Gruben, titular Bishop of Paros in Greece, was made vicar apostolic of Osnabrück, and as such cared for the spiritual interests of the Catholic population. The ordinary Latin (Roman) Catholic episcopacy was restored in 1824, but henceforth the bishops would no longer wield any temporal power.

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