Albrecht Sigismund of Bavaria

Albrecht Sigismund of Bavaria, painting by Benjamin von Block , 1675

Albrecht Sigismund of Bavaria on a painting in the Fürstengang Freising

The coat of arms of Albrecht Sigismund of Bavaria in the prince passage Freising

Albrecht Sigismund of Bavaria , as bishop also Albert Sigismund or Albert Sigmund , (born August 5, 1623 in Munich , † November 4, 1685 in Freising ) was Prince-Bishop of Freising from 1652 until his death and from 1668 also Prince-Bishop of Regensburg .

biography

origin

Albrecht Sigmund was born as a Wittelsbach prince. His parents were Duke Albrecht VI. von Bayern (1584–1666) and Mechthilde von Leuchtenberg (1588–1634), daughter of Landgrave Georg Ludwig von Leuchtenberg .

Bishop of Freising

He became canons of Augsburg and Salzburg as well as provost of the cathedral in Constance and provost of the Altötting monastery . Under pressure from his uncle, the Bavarian Elector Maximilian I , Albrecht Sigmund first became coadjutor of Freising Prince-Bishop Veit Adam von Gepeckh in 1640 . After his death in 1651 he followed him to the bishop's seat without ever having received the ordination of priests. Albrecht Sigmund's reign is not considered to be very beneficial for the Hochstift Freising, despite some accents that he set from an artistic point of view: an increase in the stables; baroque cathedral portal; Construction of the Belvedere and the Princely Walk; Foundation of the Marian column in the center of Freising and creation of a courtyard garden outside the city fortifications.

Bishop of Regensburg

Wörth Castle on the Danube : The Rondellzimmer at Wörth Castle was created under Albrecht Sigismund von Bayern

The Regensburg monastery, which was still heavily indebted, was nevertheless of interest to the Bavarian Wittelsbachers, as the ruling house tried to implement its ecclesiastical interests in this area in the sense of comprehensive state supervision. Nonetheless, Albrecht Sigmund tried to take responsibility for the diocese and bishopric towards his relatives.

The burial place of Albrecht Sigmund is in the Freising Cathedral in front of the stairs to the high choir; his heart was buried in the Gnadenkapelle von Altötting zur Erde according to the custom that has meanwhile become a tradition in the Wittelsbach house .

literature

• Karl Hausberger : History of the diocese of Regensburg. 2nd volume, Regensburg 1989, 13f.

Web links

Commons : Albrecht Sigismund von Bayern  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Publications by and about Albrecht Sigismund von Bayern in VD 17 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Veit Adam von Gepeckh	Prince-Bishop of Freising 1652–1685	Joseph Clemens of Bavaria
Guidobald von Thun	Prince-Bishop of Regensburg 1668–1685	Joseph Clemens of Bavaria