The archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically the archbishop was ex officio one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne.
Since the early days of the Catholic Church, there have been ninety-four bishops and archbishops of Cologne. Seven of these ninety-four retired by resignation, including four resignations which were in response to impeachment. Eight of the bishops and archbishops were coadjutor bishops before they took office. Seven individuals were appointed as coadjutors freely by the pope. One of the ninety-four moved to the Curia, where he became a cardinal. Additionally, six of the archbishops of Cologne were chairmen of the German Bishops' Conference.
Cardinal Rainer Woelki has been the archbishop of Cologne since his 2014 transfer from Berlin, where he was also cardinal archbishop.
All names before Maternus II are to be approached with considerable skepticism, as little contemporary evidence is available. Maternus was present at a council in Rome in 313. The bishops between Severinus and Charentius are also apocryphal. Domitianus was the Bishop of Maastricht (Mosa Traiectum). The given dates of office before Gunther are also conjectural, at best.
Image | Name | From | To | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Konrad von Hochstaden | 1238 | 1261 | ||
Engelbert II von Falkenburg | 1261 | 1274 | ||
Siegfried II of Westerburg | 1274 | 1297 | ||
Wikbold I von Holte | 1297 | 1304 | ||
Heinrich II von Virneburg | 1304 | 1332 | ||
Walram von Jülich | 1332 | 1349 | ||
Wilhelm von Gennep | 1349 | 1362 | First Elector of Cologne under the Golden Bull of 1356 | |
Adolf II von der Marck | 1363 | 1363 | ||
Engelbert III von der Marck | 1364 | 1369 | ||
Kuno von Falkenstein | 1370 | 1371 | ||
Friedrich III von Saarwerden | 1372 | 1414 | ||
Dietrich II von Moers | 1414 | 1463 | ||
Ruprecht of the Palatinate | 1463 | 1480 | ||
Hermann IV of Hesse | 1480 | 1508 | ||
Philip II of Daun-Oberstein | 1508 | 1515 | ||
Hermann V von Wied | 1515 | 1546 | Sought to reform religious practice in the Electorate; converted to Protestantism; deposed and excommunicated. | |
Adolf III of Schauenburg | 1546 | 1556 | ||
Anton of Schauenburg | 1556 | 1558 | ||
Gebhard I von Mansfeld-Vorderort | 1558 | 1562 | A founding member of the Schmalkaldic League | |
Friedrich IV of Wied | 1562 | 1567 | ||
Salentin von Isenburg-Grenzau | 1567 | 1577 | Upon the deaths of his younger and older brothers, there were no more brothers to carry on the family name; he left Church administration in 1577, married, had two sons and conducted a successful military career. He died in 1610. | |
Gebhard II Truchsess von Waldburg | 1577 | 1583 | Converted to Calvinism in 1582; married Agnes von Mansfeld-Eisleben (cousin once removed of the archbishop and Prince-Elector Gebhard I von Mansfeld-Vorderort); Competing archbishop elected; Cologne War decides the outcome. | |
Ernest of Bavaria | 1583 | 1612 | Brother of William V, Duke of Bavaria; Papal Nunciature established permanently in Cologne. | |
Ferdinand of Bavaria | 1612 | 1650 | Brother of Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, nephew of Ernest of Bavaria. Principle of Secundogeniture. | |
Maximilian Henry of Bavaria | 1650 | 1688 | First cousin of Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria | |
Joseph Clemens of Bavaria | 1688 | 1723 | Brother of Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. Put under Imperial ban for siding with France in the War of the Spanish Succession. | |
Clemens Augustus I of Bavaria | 1723 | 1761 | Brother of Charles, Elector of Bavaria and Emperor. Last Wittelsbach to hold the office. | |
Maximilian Frederick of Königsegg-Rothenfels | 1761 | 1784 | ||
Maximilian Franz of Austria | 1784 | 1801 | The electorate's left-bank territories were seized and annexed by France in 1795 | |
Anton Viktor of Austria | 1801 | 1803 | The electorate's remaining territories were secularized and given to the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1803. |
The Diocese of Mainz, historically known in English as Mentz as well as by its French name Mayence, is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It was founded in 304, promoted in 780 to Metropolitan Archbishopric of Mainz and demoted back in 1802 to bishopric. The diocese is suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Freiburg. Its district is located in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. The seat of the diocese is in Mainz at the Cathedral dedicated to Saints Martin and Stephen.
The Diocese of Osnabrück is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany. The diocese was originally founded circa 800. It should not be confused with the smaller Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück–an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire until 1803–over which the bishop, as prince-bishop, exercised both temporal and spiritual authority.
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Paderborn is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Germany; its seat is Paderborn. It was a diocese from its foundation in 799 until 1802, and again from 1821 until 1930. In 1930, it was promoted to an archdiocese. From 1281 until 1802, the Bishopric of Paderborn was also a state of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Diocese of Münster is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It is a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Cologne. Bishop Felix Genn is the current bishop of the Diocese of Münster. He was ordained to the priesthood on 11 July 1976 and was appointed to the See of Münster on 19 December 2008.
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Ljubljana is a Latin ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Slovenia.
The Diocese of Trier, in English historically also known as Treves from French Trèves, is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany. When it was the archbishopric and Electorate of Trier, it was one of the most important states of the Holy Roman Empire, both as an ecclesiastical principality and as a diocese of the church. Unlike the other Rhenish dioceses—including Mainz and Cologne–Trier was the former Roman provincial capital of Augusta Treverorum. Given its status, Trier has continuously been an episcopal see since Roman times and is one of the oldest dioceses in all of Germany. The diocese was elevated to an archdiocese in the time of Charlemagne and was the metropolitan for the dioceses of Metz, Toul, and Verdun. After the victory of Napoleon Bonaparte of France, the archdiocese was lowered to a diocese and is now a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the Archdiocese of Cologne. The diocesan cathedral is the Cathedral of Saint Peter. The Cathedral Chapter retains the right to elect the bishop, rather than selection by papal appointment.
Johann Nopel der Jüngere was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne (1601-1605).
Johann Nopel der Ältere was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne (1539–1556).
Johann Spenner also Johann Spender was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne (1482–1503).
Johann von Blatten, O.F.M. was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Auxiliary Bishop of Konstanz (1441–1461).
Giuliano Maffei, O.F.M. or Giuliano Matteis was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Dubrovnik (1505–1510) and Bishop of Bertinoro (1477–1505).
Quirin op dem Veld von Willich was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne (1521–1537).
Johann Pennarius, O.F.M. was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne (1557–1563).
Gereon Otto von Gutmann zu Sobernheim was a Catholic prelate who served as Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne (1616–1638).
Georgius Pauli-Stravius or Georg Pauli-Stravius (1593–1640) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne (1640–1661) and Titular Bishop of Ioppe.
Antonio Albergati was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Bisceglie (1609–1627), Apostolic Nuncio to Germany (1610–1621), and Apostolic Collector to Portugal (1621–1624).
Álvaro de Mendoza, O.F.M. or Alvaro Mendoza was a Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Jaca (1628–1631) and earlier as Bishop of L'Aquila (1622–1628).
Johann Schlecht, O.S.A. was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Auxiliary Bishop of Regensburg (1481–1500) and Titular Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia. (1481–1500)
Giovanni Francesco Nicolai, O.F.M. was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Vicar Apostolic of Houkouang (1696–1737), Titular Archbishop of Myra (1712–1737), and Titular Bishop of Berytus (1696–1712).
Johann Heinrich von Anethan (1618–1693) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Auxiliary Bishop of Cologne (1680–1693), Auxiliary Bishop of Trier (1676–1680), and Auxiliary Bishop of Hildesheim (1665–1676).