Bamberg is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in 2022. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby Babenberch castle. Cited as one of Germany's most beautiful towns, with medieval streets and buildings, the old town of Bamberg with around 2,400 timber houses has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.
An incunable or incunabulum is a book, pamphlet, or broadside that was printed in the earliest stages of printing in Europe, up to the year 1500. Incunabula were produced before the printing press became widespread on the continent and are distinct from manuscripts, which are documents written by hand. Some authorities on the history of printing include block books from the same time period as incunabula, whereas others limit the term to works printed using movable type.
The Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire located in Lower Franconia, west of the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg. Würzburg had been a diocese since 743. As established by the Concordat of 1448, bishops in Germany were chosen by the canons of the cathedral chapter and their election was later confirmed by the pope. Following a common practice in Germany, the prince-bishops of Würzburg were frequently elected to other ecclesiastical principalities as well. The last few prince-bishops resided at the Würzburg Residence, which is one of the grandest Baroque palaces in Europe.
The House of Schönborn is the name of an ancient noble and formerly sovereign family of the Holy Roman Empire. As a former ruling and mediatized family, it belongs to the Hochadel.
Johann Philipp von Schönborn was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz (1647–1673), the Bishop of Würzburg (1642–1673), and the Bishop of Worms (1663–1673).
Lothar Franz von Schönborn-Buchheim was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1694 to 1729 and the Bishop of Bamberg from 1693 to 1729. As Archbishop of Mainz, he was also Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire. Lothar Franz von Schönborn is known for commissioning a number of Baroque buildings, such as the palace Schloss Weissenstein.
Friedrich Karl von Schönborn was the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg and Prince-Bishop of Bamberg from 1729 to 1746. He also served as Reichsvizekanzler (Vice-Chancellor) of the Holy Roman Empire from 1705 to 1734.
The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bamberg is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Bavaria, one of 27 in Germany. In 2015, 32.9% of the population identified as Catholic, and 15.6% of those reported that they attend Mass on Sunday—a relatively high number in Germany. The archdiocese comprises the majority of the administrative regions of Upper Franconia and Middle Franconia, as well as a small part of Lower Franconia and the Upper Palatinate. Its seat is Bamberg. The dioceses of Speyer, Eichstätt, and Würzburg are subordinate to it. The diocese was founded in 1007 out of parts of the dioceses of Eichstätt and Würzburg. In 1817, the diocese was raised to an archdiocese.
Bamberg State Library, Msc.Bibl.44 is an early 10th century Psalter made for Salomo III, the Abbot of St. Gall in 909. The Psalter has parallel texts with texts in two Latin versions, a Hebrew version, and a Greek version. In 972, the future Otto II when he, at the age of about seventeen, visited the monastery with his father, Otto I, had found a locked chest in the Abbey treasury, which he had demanded opened. When he found that it was full of manuscripts, he took those manuscripts he found interesting, including this one. Although many of the manuscripts were later returned, this one apparently was not.
The Bavarian State Library in Munich is the central "Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the biggest universal and research library in Germany and one of Europe's most important universal libraries. With its collections currently comprising around 10.89 million books, it ranks among the leading research libraries worldwide. The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek furthermore is Europe's second-largest journals library. Furthermore, its historical holdings encompass one of the most important manuscript collections of the world, the largest collection of incunabula worldwide, as well as numerous further important special collections. Its collection of historical prints before 1850 totals almost one million units.
The Franconian Circle was an Imperial Circle established in 1500 in the centre of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the eastern part of the former Franconian stem duchy—roughly corresponding with the present-day Bavarian Regierungsbezirke of Upper, Middle and Lower Franconia—while western Rhenish Franconia belonged to the Upper Rhenish Circle. The title of a "Duke of Franconia" was claimed by the Würzburg bishops.
The Duchy of Franconia was one of the five stem duchies of East Francia and the medieval Kingdom of Germany emerging in the early 10th century. The word Franconia, first used in a Latin charter of 1053, was applied like the words Francia, France, and Franken, to a portion of the land occupied by the Franks.
Schloss Weißenstein is a Schloss or palatial residence in Pommersfelden, Bavaria, southern Germany. It was designed for Lothar Franz von Schönborn, Prince-Bishop of Bamberg and Archbishop of Mainz, to designs by Johann Dientzenhofer and Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt. Weißenstein, built as a private summer residence, remains in the Schönborn family. It is considered a masterwork of Baroque architecture.
The Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg was an ecclesiastical State of the Holy Roman Empire. It goes back to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bamberg established at the 1007 synod in Frankfurt, at the behest of King Henry II to further expand the spread of Christianity in the Franconian lands. The bishops obtained the status of Imperial immediacy about 1245 and ruled their estates as Prince-bishops until they were subsumed to the Electorate of Bavaria in the course of the German Mediatisation in 1802.
Adam Friedrich Graf von Seinsheim (1708–1779) was the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg from 1755 to 1779 and Prince-Bishop of Bamberg from 1757 to 1779.
The Baden State Library is a large universal library in Karlsruhe. Together with the Württembergische Landesbibliothek, the BLB is the legal deposit and regional library for Baden-Württemberg.
Schloss Seehof is a Schloss (palace) in Memmelsdorf, Bamberg, Germany. It was built from 1684 to 1695 as a summer residence and hunting lodge for Marquard Sebastian Schenk von Stauffenberg, Prince-bishop of Bamberg.
Franconia is a region that is not precisely defined, but which lies in the north of the Free State of Bavaria, parts of Baden-Württemberg and South Thuringia and Hesse in Germany. It is characterised by its own cultural and linguistic heritage. Its history began with the first recorded human settlement about 600,000 years ago. Thuringii, Alemanni and Franks, who gave the region its name, settled the area in the Early Middle Ages. From the mid-9th century, the Stem Duchy of Franconia emerged as one of the five stem duchies of the Empire of East Francia. On 2 July 1500, during the reign of Emperor Maximilian I, as part of the Imperial Reform, the empire was divided into Imperial Circles. The Franconian Circle, which was formed as a result of this restructuring, became decisive in the creation of a Franconian national identity. A feature of Franconia in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period was its Kleinstaaterei, an extreme fragmentation into little states and territories. In the 19th century under Napoleon, large parts of Franconia were incorporated into the newly created Kingdom of Bavaria.
The Universitätsbibliothek Würzburg is the central library of the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. As a regional library of Lower Franconia, it collects Lower Franconian literature. The Universitätsbibliothek Würzburg is maintained by the Free State of Bavaria. With 3.6 million media, it is one of the largest libraries in Bavaria.
Count Rudolf Franz Erwein von Schönborn, was a German politician and diplomat who was also active as a composer and a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
