Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Germany

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The Vicariate Apostolic of Northern Germany (

On 7 August 1868, the occasion of completing separate jurisdictions for all of Scandinavia, the vicariate only continued to comprise small areas in Northern Germany and was thus renamed. With the integration of these areas into other Catholic dioceses, the vicariate ceased to exist on 13 August 1930.

History

The

Following the organisational structure of the Church the apostolic vicariate included the diocesan areas of bishoprics, where Roman Catholic jurisdiction had effectively been abolished (see the list in section

So while the area under the jurisdiction of the vicar apostolic followed originally the diocesan boundaries of the de facto defunct bishoprics, the boundaries of new jurisdictions followed mostly the political borders relevant at the time of their establishment (See the list in the section States and territories covered by the vicariate below).

The scattered Catholics in Northern Europe were placed under the pastoral care of the Jesuits, Franciscans and Dominicans. Catholics in many places had at their disposal only the chapels established in the houses of the diplomatic representatives of the Holy Roman (becoming – as of 1806 – the Austrian) Emperor and of other Catholic Powers, France and Spain. Sometimes admission even to these chapels was rendered difficult, or entirely prohibited to native Catholics.

In some districts the conversion of the monarchs, e.g. Duke

In summer the Catholic population in the vicariate of Northern Germany and prefecture of Schleswig-Holstein was increased by 17,000 to 20,000 labourers (chiefly Poles) from other parts of Germany, who returned to their homes at the beginning of the winter. The spiritual interests of the faithful were inadequately attended to owing to the extent of the parishes, the lack of priests, the poverty of the majority of the Catholics and in many places the hostility of the Protestant state or municipal governments. A more encouraging picture was presented by the numerous Catholic societies and by the maintenance of private Catholic schools, despite the fact that the Catholics were often obliged to contribute also to the support of the state and Protestant parish schools. A very fruitful activity has been developed in these missions by the Boniface Association.

The French Revolution and the Napoleonic regime brought great relief to Catholics in many cities and states; but the equality granted them by law in some countries was often merely theoretical.

At the reorganisation of Catholic affairs in Germany after the Napoleonic era (see

In 1839 Pope

Also Brunswick (succeeding Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel) and meanwhile only tripartite Anhalt left the Nordic Missions in 1825, but without a persisting domestic Catholic diocese and only few domestic Catholics they formed an Apostolic Vicariate of their own, also acceded by Saxe-Gotha, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. In 1834 Brunswick, leaving Anhalt apostolic vicariate, merged into the jurisdiction of neighbouring Hanoveran Hildesheim diocese and Norway, leaving the Nordic Missions, became part of the Swedish vicariate the same year. In 1855 northern Norway switched to the Apostolic Prefecture of the North Pole [no], while the rest of Norway remained with Sweden until 1868. At this time all of Northern Europe formed separate Roman Catholic jurisdictions and had left the Nordic Missions:

• Apostolic Vicariate of Sweden
  (already est. on 23 September 1783)
• Metropolitan Archdiocese of Mohilev
  (competent for Finland since the Russian takeover in 1809)
• Lübeck principality
  ),
• Apostolic Prefecture of Denmark (est. on 7 August 1868; with Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland)
• Apostolic Prefecture of Norway (est. on 7 August 1868)

Simultaneously with the establishment of the Danish and Norwegian apostolic prefectures the Nordic Missions had been reduced to small member states in the

The table below shows the territories and states at the beginning of the 18th century and how new jurisdictions developed over the centuries. The table can be sorted by the territories and states, the empires they used to belonged to, the years they belonged to the Apostolic Vicariate of the Nordic Missions, and the names of the present jurisdictions by clicking on the buttons.

Vicars Apostolic

• Archdiocese of Bremen
  only)

Vicars Apostolic for the Nordic Missions

• 1667–1676: Valerio Maccioni [de]
• 1677–1686: Nicolas Steno
  • 1680–1683:
    Prince-Bishop of Paderborn (1661–1683) and Münster
    (1678–1683, died)
• 1687–1696: Friedrich von Tietzen called Schlüter
• 1697–1702:
  Prince-Bishop of Hildesheim
  (1688–1702, died)
• 1702–1713: Otto von Bronckhorst zu Gronsfeldt [de]
• 1713–1715: Sede vacante
• 1715–1716: Johann Hugo von Gärtz [sv]
• 1716–1718: Sede vacante
• 1718–1719:
  of Osnabrück and bishop of the titular see
  of Heliopolis in Augustamnica
• 1719–1722: Sede vacante
• 1722–1761: Johann Friedrich Adolf von Hörde [de], simultaneously canon at Osnabrück's St. Peter's Cathedral and bishop of the titular see of Flaviopolis (1723–1761, died)
• 1761–1774: Franz Josef von Gondola [sv]
• 1775–1789:
  Paderborn
  (1782–1789)
• 1789–1825: Franz Egon von Fürstenberg [de], simultaneously Prince-Bishop of Hildesheim (1789–1825) and Paderborn (1825–1839)
• 1825–1839: Sede vacante
• 1839–1841: Jean-Théodore Laurent (resigned after Prussian obstruction), simultaneously bishop of the titular see of Chersonesus in Creta, Vicar Apostolic of Luxembourg (1841–1848, deposed after Luxembourgian pressure, resigned in 1856)
• 1841–1921: Sede vacante
  • 1858–1895:
    Paulus Melchers as provicar per pro^[2]
  • 1899–1914:
    Bishop of Osnabrück
    (1899–1914, died)
  • 1914–1921: Wilhelm Berning as provicar per pro
• 1921–1930: Wilhelm Berning, simultaneously Bishop of Osnabrück (1914–1955, died)

Vicars Apostolic for Upper and Lower Saxony

In 1709 the Apostolic Vicariate for Upper and Lower Saxony [de] was disentangled from the Nordic Missions.

• 1709–1722: Agostino Steffani (resigned in protest of lacking financial support from the Vatican)
• 1722–1726: Sede vacante
  • 1722–1723: Ludolf Wilhelm von Majus as provicar per pro
• 1726–1728: Agostino Steffani (returned after fulfillment of his claims)
• 1730–1745: Leopold Heinrich Wilhelm von Schorror (resigned)
• 1745–1757: Johann Wilhelm von Twickel (died in 1757)
• 1757–1760: Sede vacante
  • 1757–1759: Volradus Christian Müller as provicar per pro
  • 1759–1760: Jodokus Joseph Walmer as provicar per pro
• 1760–1779: Johann Theodor von Franken-Siersdorf [de] (died in 1779)
• 1779–1780: Sede vacante

The remainder of the vicariate, after secession of Apostolic Vicariate in the Hereditary Lands of Saxony in 1743, remerged into the Nordic Missions in 1780.

Vicars Apostolic for the Saxon Hereditary Lands

In 1743 the Vicariate Apostolic for Saxon Hereditary Lands (or simply Apostolic Vicariate of Saxony) was disentangled from the Upper and Lower Saxony vicariate.

• 1743–1749: Ludwig Li(e)geritz
• 1749–1763: Leo Rauch
• 1763–1764: Augustin Eggs
• 1764–1800: Franz Herz (died in 1800)
• 1801–1818: Johann Alois Schneider [de], bishop of the titular see of Argos (1816–1818, died)
• 1819–1841:
  Apostolic Prefect of Upper Lusatia
  (1831–1841, died; i.e. the Upper Lusatian share of defunct ancient Meissen diocese)
• 1841–1845: Franz Laurenz Mauermann [de] (died in 1845; brother of the former), simultaneously bishop of the titular see of Rama
• 1846–1853: Joseph Dittrich [de] (died in 1853), simultaneously Apostolic Prefect of Upper Lusatia, and bishop of the titular see of Corycus.
• 1854–1875: Ludwig Forwerk [de] (died in 1875), simultaneously Apostolic Prefect of Upper Lusatia, and bishop of the titular see of Leontopolis in Augustamnica.
• 1876–1890: Franz Bernert [de] (died in 1890), simultaneously Apostolic Prefect of Upper Lusatia, and bishop of the titular see of Azotus (Ashdod)
• 1890–1900: Ludwig Wahl [de] (resigned), simultaneously Apostolic Prefect of Upper Lusatia, and bishop of the titular see of Cucusus
• 1900–1903: Sede vacante
  • 1900–1903: Carl Maaz as provicar per pro
• 1903–1905: Georg Wuschanski [de], simultaneously bishop of the titular see of Samos, further Apostolic Prefect of Upper Lusatia (1904–1905, died)
• 1906–1914: Aloys Schäfer [de] (died in 1914)
• 1915–1920: Franz Löbmann [de] (died in 1920)
• 1920–1921: Sede vacante
  • 1920–1921: Jakub Skala [de] as provicar per pro (resigned), simultaneously Apostolic Prefect of Upper Lusatia

In 1921 the Holy See elevated the Apostolic Prefecture of Upper Lusatia to the modern

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lins, Joseph (1909). "Vicariate Apostolic of Northern Germany". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

• Lins, Joseph (1909). "Vicariate Apostolic of Northern Germany" . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company.