Diocese and prince-bishopric of Schwerin


The Diocese and Prince-bishopric of Schwerin was a Catholic diocese in Schwerin, Mecklenburg, in Germany. The first registered bishop was ordained in the diocese in 1053, and the diocese ceased to exist in 1994.

Pre-Reformation Catholic (prince-)bishopric

The bishops of the Roman Catholic diocese of Schwerin, a suffragan of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bremen, were simultaneously secular rulers of princely rank in the Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin, an imperially immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire. Schwerin was the seat of the chapter, Schwerin Cathedral and residence of the bishops until 1239. In 1180 a prince-episcopal residence was established in Bützow, which became the main residence in 1239.

Titulature of the Schwerin bishops

Not all incumbents of the Schwerin see were imperially invested with princely temporal power as Prince-Bishops and not all were papally confirmed as bishops. In 1180 part of the Schwerin diocesan territory was disentangled from the Duchy of Saxony and became an own territory of imperial immediacy called Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin, an imperially immediate feudal member state of the Holy Roman Empire like many prince-prelatures.
The prince-bishopric was an elective monarchy, with the ruling prince being the respective bishop usually elected by the Cathedral chapter, and confirmed by the Holy See, or exceptionally only appointed by the Holy See. Papally confirmed bishops were then invested by the emperor with the princely regalia, thus the title prince-bishop. However, sometimes the respective incumbent of the see never gained a papal confirmation, but was still invested the princely regalia. Also the opposite occurred with a papally confirmed bishop, never invested as prince. A number of incumbents, elected by the chapter, neither achieved papal confirmation nor imperial investiture, but as a matter of fact nevertheless de facto held the princely power. From 1532 to 1648 all incumbents were Lutherans.
The respective incumbents of the see bore the following titles:
  • [Bishop in the Catholicism|Catholic Church|Bishop] of Mecklenburg until 1162
  • Bishop of Schwerin 1162 to 1181
  • Prince-Bishop of Schwerin from 1181 to 1516, except o the years of 1474 to 1479 and 1506 to 1508
  • Administrator of the Prince-Bishopric of Schwerin 1474 to 1479, 1506 to 1508, and again 1516 to 1648. Either simply de facto replacing the Prince-Bishop or lacking canon-law prerequisites the incumbent of the see would officially only hold the title administrator.

Catholic Administrators and Prince-bishops (1474–1532)

Due to the Reformation, the Catholic diocese was suppressed in 1555, without a formal successor.

Lutheran Schwerin

Lutheran Regional Bishops of Mecklenburg since 1921

When the Grand dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz abdicated, the Lutheran state churches became independent and adapted their new Church Orders, providing for a function called Landesbischof. In 1934 the regional churches merged into the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg.
  • 1921–1933: Gerhard Tolzien
  • 1921–1930: Heinrich Behm
  • 1930–1934: Heinrich Rendtorff
  • 1934–1945: Walter Schultz
  • 1946–1971: Niklot Beste
  • 1971–1984: Heinrich Rathke
  • 1984–1996: Christoph Stier
  • 1996–2007: Hermann Beste
  • 2007 to date: Andreas von Maltzahn, since the merger of 2012 for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany

New Catholic hierarchy in Schwerin from the 20th century

After a century and a half of abandonment, the Catholics on the territory were merely taken care of as missionary, part of the vast Apostolic Vicariate of the Northern Missions of Northern Germany, the first post-Reformatory parish having been established in 1709.
Since 1930, the Catholic parishes in the former diocese of Schwerin were part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Osnabrück.
However, Mecklenburg Soviet occupation zone, whereas Osnabrück was in the British occupation zone, so the Bishop of Osnabrück appointed an episcopal commissary. Since 1959, the Osnabrück diocese posted an auxiliary bishop in Schwerin, responsible for Mecklenburg's Catholic parishes :
  • Bernhard Schräder, first 1946 – 1959 episcopal commissary for the episcopal commissariate of Schwerin, then 1959 – 1971 auxiliary bishop of Osnabrück diocese for the episcopal commissariate in Schwerin.
  • 1971 – 1973 : Heinrich Theissing, coadjutor of Osnabrück diocese for the episcopal commissariate in Schwerin
On July 23, 1974, the jurisdiction was restored as pre-diocesan 'permanent' Apostolic Administration of Schwerin, its territory being formally split off from the Diocese of Osnabrück. It got two episcopal incumbents :
The apostolic administration was suppressed on October 10, 1994, its territory reassigned to the already established Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hamburg, thus the Catholic parishes of Mecklenburg became part of the new Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hamburg.