Leopold Ernst von Firmian

Leopold Ernst von Firmian as Cardinal (painting from 1772)

Leopold Ernst Graf von Firmian (born September 22, 1708 in Trient ; † March 13, 1783 in Passau ) was Prince-Bishop of Passau and cardinal . On the one hand, he is considered to be the last "Baroque prince" on the Passau bishop's throne, on the other hand, pioneering decisions as a spiritual and secular ruler are due to him.

Life

Firmian, from the Tyrolean noble family of Firmian , became Bishop of Seckau at the age of 31 and was also the administrator of the suffragan diocese of Trento for ten years.In 1763 he finally took possession (as it is canonically called) of the Diocese of Passau , which at that time no longer existed as it once reached to Hungary , but still included almost all of Upper Austria and part of Lower Austria .

As an advisor to Empress Maria Theresa , he initiated the school reform of 1769/74 (introduction of compulsory schooling). He also set up a seminar for the training of secular priests in Passau .

In 1772 he was created cardinal by Pope Clement XIV and appointed cardinal priest of the titular church of San Pietro in Montorio .

Even Emperor Joseph II, who was critical of the Church, held him in high regard. With the separation of the Austrian territories from the diocese of Passau (through the establishment of the dioceses of Linz and Sankt Pölten ) he waited until Firmian's death.

New residence Passau to Passau

In his worldly sphere of influence, the completion of the Neue Residenz zu Passau with its facade by Melchior Hefele falls under his aegis , as well as the reclamation of parts of the Bavarian Forest (there, among other things, the villages of Vorder- , Mitter- and Hinterfirmiansreut (h) are still close the Czech border to his work).

In 1765 he bought the Sieben Künischen Villages , an area around Wollaberg , back from Austria for 137,787 guilders , which had fallen to the Habsburgs in a warlike way in 1506 .

Grave of Cardinal Firmian in Passau

Unlike his relative Count Leopold Anton von Firmian in Salzburg, he tried to promote religious tolerance ; so he allowed z. B. as early as 1777, the burial of Protestants in the Catholic cemetery. He also tried to suppress “superstitious forms of religious life”.

Prince-Bishop Leopold was sponsor and sponsor of Karl Joseph von Riccabona , who was Bishop of Passau from 1826 to 1839.

Firmian died on March 13, 1783 and was buried in the Passau bishop's crypt. As already mentioned, after Firmian's death all Austrian areas were separated from the diocese; 20 years later, the secular rule of the Passau bishops ended.

literature

• August Leidl:  Leopold Ernst von Firmian. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 14, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-428-00195-8 , p. 293 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Alessandro Cont: Leopoldo Ernesto Firmian (1708-1783) e l'arcidiocesi di Salisburgo. In: Annali dell'Istituto storico italo-germanico in Trento , 32 (2006), pp. 71-126.

Web links

Commons : Leopold Ernst Graf von Firmian  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Firmian, Leopold Ernest von. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed April 27, 2017.
• Entry on Leopold Ernst von Firmian on catholic-hierarchy.org ; Retrieved April 27, 2017.
• Entry on Leopold Ernst von Firmian in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )