Albert Bitter

Archbishop Albert Bitter

Albert Bitter (born August 15, 1848 in Melle ; † December 19, 1926 there ) was a German priest from the Osnabrück diocese who worked for thirty years as a Roman Catholic bishop in Protestant Sweden . Because of his merits, he was appointed archbishop . From October 9, 1922 until his death he was titular archbishop of the titular archbishopric of Soltania .

Live and act

Albert Bitter was the son of the doctor Johann Heinrich Bitter and his wife from Melle in Lower Saxony . His father was a secret medical councilor as well as a district physician and was awarded the honorary citizen of Melle in 1876 for his services to the health service. Albert Bitter attended the Catholic elementary school in Melle and the Carolinum grammar school in Osnabrück . He studied theology in Münster and Würzburg . As a student he was a member of the Catholic student associations KStV Germania Münster and KStV Walhalla Würzburg in the Cartel Association of Catholic German Student Associations .

Grave in the Meller Friedhof, motto: "per crucem ad lucem", "through the cross to the light"

In 1874 he received through the Osnabrücker Bishop Johann Heinrich Beckmann in Osnabrück Dom the priesthood . Shortly afterwards, Bitter went to Stockholm as a chaplain for a year and administered the Catholic mission station in Gothenburg for ten years .

In 1885 he was pastor in Ludwigslust ( Mecklenburg ) for eight months until Pope Leo XIII. appointed Vicar Apostolic in Sweden and Norway and Titular Bishop of Doliche . On September 24, 1893, the Osnabrück bishop Bernhard Höting donated him the episcopal ordination .

On March 25, 1903, St. Maria Elisabeth Hesselblad (1870–1957), a native of Sweden, confirmed by him in Rome.

During Bitter's time as bishop in Sweden, the number of Catholics rose from 1,100 to almost 4,000 scattered across the kingdom. The bishop therefore traveled a lot. During his tenure, the Catholic cathedral was built in Stockholm, which is dedicated to the Swedish King and Saint Erik . During the First World War , when children were starving in Germany, he provided several thousand recreational stays in Sweden. He also organized the exchange of German and Austrian prisoners of war. In 1923 his gout was so advanced that he had to give up his office as bishop. Pope Pius XI honored his work for the Catholic Church by making him Archbishop on the occasion of his retirement.

House of the Bitter family in Melle

Bitter returned to his hometown Melle and moved back to his parents' house on Grönenberger Straße. His golden jubilee as a priest was celebrated twice in 1924, once in Stockholm on September 19 and the second time on October 9 in his home parish of St. Matthew in Mell . The Osnabrück Bishop Wilhelm Berning gave the sermon.

Albert Bitter died on December 19, 1926 in his parents' house in Melle. On December 23, he was buried in the Meller cemetery after a pontifical requiem .

In the Grönegau Museum, the museum of the Meller Heimatverein, a replica of his pontifical ring is on display, as well as a number of his orders and awards, including the papal order " Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice " and the Cross of the Order of Malta .

The family property, the Bittersche Haus on Grönenberger Strasse in Melle, was demolished in the 1970s. Today there is a large residential complex on the property. A street along the residential complex was named after Archbishop Bitter. The descendants of the Bitter family continued to live there. The nephew held the office of cantor in Wellingholzhausen and the great-nephew was the founder of the music school in Melle.

literature

• Paul Burhoff: From Church Life: Bishop Bitter. In: St. Matthäus Melle. From the life of a parish. Melle 1983
• Wilhelm Knigge: Archbishop Dr. Albert Bitter - a picture of life. In: Heimatjahrbuch 2005 Osnabrücker Land. Edited by Heimatbund Osnabrücker Land e. V., Kreisheimatbund Bersenbrück eV 2004, ISSN  1618-5757 , pp. 219-223
• Rainer Kunze: Bishop Bitter - A portrait. In: The Grönegau. Meller Jahrbuch 1989. Melle 1988, ISSN  0724-6161 , pp. 86-92
• Uwe Plaß:  Albert Bitter. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 29, Bautz, Nordhausen 2008, ISBN 978-3-88309-452-6 , Sp. 177-180.
• Uwe Plaß: Archbishop Dr. Albert Bitter (1848-1926) - An Approach. In: The Grönegau. Meller Jahrbuch 2013. Osnabrück 2012, ISBN 978-3-939318-13-2 , pp. 129–163

Web links

• Entry on Albert Bitter on catholic-hierarchy.org ; Retrieved July 26, 2016.

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann Georg Huber	Vicar Apostolic of Sweden 1886–1922	Johann Evangelist Müller