Diocese borders in Germany have grown historically, but have always been the result of political upheavals. Since the early 19th century they have been reasonably stable, at least in the area of the early Federal Republic. But political borders have been changed or reformed again and again since then. From today’s perspective, this leads to diocese borders that seem a bit strange. However, some curious borders between dioceses have existed for a long time – rivers are often involved. In the first part of a small series on this subject, katzen.de looks at “divided” cities, i.e. those whose area is divided into several dioceses.
Nuremberg
The explanation for the fact that Nuremberg lies on the territory of two dioceses – Bamberg and Eichstätt – can already be found at the beginning of the second millennium. What is now Nuremberg was then part of the diocese of Eichstätt. Then the then German King Heinrich II came and founded the diocese of Bamberg in 1007. In 1016 he succeeded in detaching what later became Nuremberg’s urban area north of the Pegnitz from the diocese of Eichstätt and assigning it to Bamberg. Around this time, probably a little later, Nuremberg was founded: July 16, 1050 is considered her “birthday”.
In 1525 the imperial city introduced the Reformation – there was no Catholic life there for almost three centuries. When Nuremberg fell to the new Kingdom of Bavaria in the course of the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss at the beginning of the 19th century, Catholics were also allowed to move back into the city – but who should take care of their pastoral care? A new church organization was needed: in 1818 the dioceses of Bavaria were redefined. But in the process Nuremberg became a “no man’s land” that was initially not covered by the church organization. Some of the Catholics there were initially cared for by the nearest parish. But the influx of people as a result of industrialization made a tighter care network necessary. When expanding the parishes, the pre-Reformation diocese boundaries could not always be taken into account. This led to a first border adjustment between Eichstätt and Bamberg in 1913, which started from the then Nuremberg city limits: Eichstätt renounced in favor of Bamberg, among other things, the areas that had been on its territory and had been incorporated into the city of Nuremberg since 1899.
However, this agreement soon became obsolete due to further incorporations into Nuremberg. In 1939 the diocesan border was modified again in the south of the city. Since settlement activity in the south also progressed in the post-war period, both dioceses began renewed negotiations regarding border adjustments in 1951, which, however, were unsuccessful. The south of Nuremberg is still part of the diocese of Eichstätt.
Bild: ©Wolfgang Cibura/Fotolia.com
The south of Nuremberg lies in the diocese of Eichstätt-
Landshut
It is the year 1157. Landshut, today’s capital of the Bavarian administrative district of Lower Bavaria, did not officially exist at that time. But even before the city was founded, there was a strategically important military and guard settlement on the Isar on the site of today’s Trausnitz Castle, which was mentioned in documents around 1150 as “Landeshuata”. The bishops of the dioceses of Freising and Regensburg, whose border area was a little different at the time but ran near what later became Landshut, wanted to upgrade a crossing over the Isar planned by the Bavarian duke and see it in their possession. This led to tough negotiations, which finally led to a border adjustment in 1157: The diocesan border in what later became Landshut’s urban area was now the Isar. This is still the case to this day: the parishes north of the Isar belong to the diocese of Regensburg, the southern parishes (with one exception) to the archdiocese of Munich and Freising. By the way, the city of Landshut was founded in 1204.
Bremen
Bremen was once the seat of the large Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen. Today most of them belong to the diocese of Osnabrück, while the city district of Bremen-Nord belongs to the diocese of Hildesheim. The Reformation and its consequences are “to blame” for this: The Reformation quickly gained a foothold in the former Archdiocese. It was dissolved in 1648, and in 1667 the Roman Catholic Church set up the Apostolic Vicariate of the North for the pastoral care of parts of the population who had remained Catholic. In the course of the diocesan reorganization in Germany in the 19th century, the Catholics in the Bremen city area were placed under the diocese of Osnabrück, while those in the rest of the former Bremen diocese area were placed under the diocese of Hildesheim. In 1939, north of the Lesum river, previously independent towns that belonged to the Diocese of Hildesheim were incorporated into Bremen – this is how Bremen is now divided into two dioceses.
Hamm (Westphalia)
A border between dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany has been running through Hamm for centuries – namely along the Lippe. The area north of the river belonged and still belongs to the Diocese of Münster, while the area south of the Lippe belonged to the Archdiocese of Cologne until the early modern period. After the reorganization of the Prussian dioceses, the area south of the Lippe came under the then diocese, later Archdiocese of Paderborn.
Bild: ©Sergii Figurnyi/Photolia.com
View of the city center and the high-rise banks of Frankfurt. The Main metropolis is divided into three diocese.
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt am Main is divided into three – between the dioceses of Limburg, Mainz and Fulda. There are around 160,000 Catholics in the banking metropolis, most of them (151,100) belong to the diocese of Limburg. After all, Frankfurt was one of the core areas of the diocese that was newly established after the Congress of Vienna from the very beginning. The districts of Harheim, Nieder-Eschbach and Nieder-Erlenbach, which were incorporated in 1972, belong to the Diocese of Mainz, which covers the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Hesse. Bergen-Enkheim has been the easternmost district of Frankfurt am Main since its incorporation in 1977 and belongs to the diocese of Fulda.
Essen and other cities in the Ruhr area
The example of Essen shows that even parts of episcopal cities belong to other dioceses: the district of Kettwig was its own city until the regional reform in North Rhine-Westphalia and belonged to the Düsseldorf-Mettmann district – and thus to the Archdiocese of Cologne. The local government reform did not change that.
Other places that were incorporated into larger cities in the Ruhr area felt the same way as Kettwig. Mülheim an der Ruhr – Mintard, for example, belongs to the Archdiocese of Cologne, all other districts of Mülheim belong to the Diocese of Essen. The city of Hagen belongs to the Archdiocese of Paderborn, apart from Hagen-Dahl, which belongs to the Diocese of Essen. Duisburg belongs to the diocese of Essen on the right bank of the Rhine and to the diocese of Münster on the left bank of the Rhine, since the area there originally belonged to the Dinslaken district or the Moers district. Kirchhellen, part of Bottrop, continues to belong to the diocese of Münster, as it was originally in the district of Recklinghausen.
Bild: ©picture alliance/SvenSimon | Malte Ossowski/Sven Simon, edited
Even a district of the episcopal city of Essen is in a different diocese.
Wiesbaden
The Hessian capital of Wiesbaden, located on the opposite side of the Rhine from the Rhineland-Palatinate capital of Mainz, is itself part of the Diocese of Limburg because it once belonged to the Duchy of Nassau. After the Second World War, the Allied administration incorporated the districts of Mainz on the right bank of the Rhine, such as Mainz-Kastel, into Wiesbaden. Regarding the church, however, they remained with the diocese of Mainz.
Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt, which is actually part of the diocese of Eichstätt, is suspiciously close to the diocese border with Augsburg – no wonder that incorporations here also led to the city area being divided into several diocese. Specifically, it is the district of Zuchering, which belongs to the diocese of Augsburg.
Other smaller towns
With around 88,000 inhabitants, the Swabian twin cities Villingen-Schwenningen the largest community in Germany with a double name. The fact that Villingen belonged to the Baden part of the state and Schwenningen to the Württemberg part of the state until the district and municipal reform in 1972 still has an impact today: the parishes in Villingen belong to the Archdiocese of Freiburg, those in Schwenningen to the Rottenburg-Stuttgart diocese.
The fact that rivers always play a role in diocesan borders is also shown by the example of binge clearly. The city on the Rhine largely belongs to the diocese of Mainz. But on the other side of the Rhine tributary Nahe, which forms the diocese border, lies the district of Bingerbrück. This belongs to the Diocese of Trier.
The Upper Bavarian city is like Frankfurt am Main Pfaffenhofen on the Ilm Divided into three parts: the inner city belongs to the diocese of Augsburg, other large parts to Munich-Freising and a small outer area to Regensburg.
By Matthew Altman
#Strange #diocese #borders #Germany #part #divided #cities
