Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck

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Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck
Hochstift Lübeck (German)
1180–1803
Protestant Reformation
1535
1803
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Duchy of Saxony
Duchy of Oldenburg

The Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck, (

Holstein-Gottorp line of the House of Oldenburg. The prince-bishops had seat and vote on the Ecclesiastical Bench of the College of Ruling Princes of the Imperial Diet
.

The Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck, a secular state, should not be confused with the Diocese of Lübeck, which was larger and over which the bishop exercised only pastoral authority.

History

Territory of the Prince-Bishopric of Lübeck

The original diocese was founded about 970 by

Schwerin
were split off from Oldenburg and no bishop was appointed after 1066.

After the

Imperial State (reichsunmittelbar). Quarrels arose after the City of Lübeck gained imperial immediacy in 1226 and as the territory of the state was centered on Eutin
, the town in 1309 became the residence of the bishops.

Holstein-Gottorp line of the House of Oldenburg. After the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, Lübeck was one of only two Protestant prince-bishoprics in the Empire (together with Osnabrück
, which however was alternately led by Protestant and Catholic bishops).

Principality and Region of Lübeck

With the

mediatized. It became the Principality of Lübeck and was given to the Duchy of Oldenburg, since the last prince-bishop (Peter I of Holstein-Gottorp) was also prince regent of Oldenburg. In 1803 the principality comprised 9.5 German square miles[notes 1] with 22,000 inhabitants. Its capital was Eutin
.

Oldenburg in Oldenburg
, thus shared its name with the town of Oldenburg in Holstein, the original seat of the Bishopric, only by coincidence.

The Oldenburgian exclaves: the Principality of Lübeck as of 1868 (top) and the Principality of Birkenfeld (bottom).

Following the Austro-Prussian War in 1867 the principality was enlarged by the prior Holsteinian bailiwick of Ahrensbök, as a compensation for hereditary claims of the ducal House of Oldenburg to Holstein. After Oldenburg became a republic in 1918 the area remained an exclave of the Free State of Oldenburg now named Region of Lübeck (German: Landesteil Lübeck).

Coat-of-arms of the District of Eutin.

In 1937 the region was incorporated into the Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein by a territorial redeployment according to the Greater Hamburg Act. The Region of Lübeck then became the District of Eutin, which was merged with the neighbouring District of Oldenburg in Holstein in the new district of Eastern Holstein in 1970.

The Lutheran Church, since the

land provost or bishop in Eutin) until it merged with neighbouring Landeskirchen in the new North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church
in 1977.

Geography

The state had an area of 541 km2 (209 sq mi); as the imperial city of Lübeck was not incorporated, its only city was Eutin.

Bishops of Oldenburg and Lübeck

Further information:
List of Bishops, Prince-Bishops and Administrators of Lübeck

Notes

  1. ^ One German sq. mile (Quadratmeile) = 21.25 Eng. sq. miles or 55.05 km2.

References

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