Leopold Maximilian von Firmian

Prince Archbishop Leopold Maximilian von Firmian (lithograph by Josef Lanzedelli the Elder around 1830)

Coat of arms of the Archbishop of Salzburg

Coat of arms of the Archbishop of Vienna

Memorial plaque in the Salzburg Cathedral

Leopold Maximilian Graf von Firmian (also Leopold Max Graf von Firmian ; born October 10, 1766 in Trient (now Italy ), † November 12, 1831 in Vienna ) was auxiliary bishop in Passau and titular bishop of Tiberias from 1800 to 1816 from 1800 to 1816 Diocese Lavant , was appointed Archbishop of Salzburg in 1816 , but only confirmed as administrator of the Archdiocese of Salzburg in 1818 . From 1822 to 1831 he was Prince Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Vienna .

Life

Coming from the Tyrolean noble family of Firmian , he was canon of Salzburg and Passau in 1780 . On September 23, 1792, he received in Salzburg the priesthood .

Five years later, on July 24, 1797, he was appointed auxiliary bishop in Passau and titular bishop of Tiberias . He was ordained bishop on November 5, 1797 by the Bishop of Passau , Leopold Leonhard von Thun .

In 1800 he was appointed bishop of the diocese of Lavant and in 1816 archbishop of Salzburg. Because of the unclear political situation, he was only confirmed as administrator of Salzburg in 1818. On 18 January 1822 it appointed Emperor Franz I. to Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Vienna , the papal confirmation was made on 19 April of that year.

He is portrayed as a pompous prince of the church who fulfilled the will of the emperor in his diocese and allowed the interventions of late Josephinism in church life . He tried to sing church and in 1824 had a list of all the songs sung in the parishes made. During his term of office, the Leopoldinenstiftung for the Austrian Empire was established to support the American missions on May 13, 1829.

In 1894 the Firmiangasse in Vienna- Hietzing was named after him.

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Firmian, Leopold Max Graf . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 4th part. Typogr.-literar.-artist publishing house. Establishment (L. C. Zamarski, C. Dittmarsch & Comp.), Vienna 1858, p. 234 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Franz Loidl : History of the Archdiocese of Vienna. Herold, Vienna et al. 1983, ISBN 3-7008-0223-4 .
• Ernst Tomek : Church history of Austria. Volume 3: The Age of Enlightenment and Absolutism. Tyrolia, Innsbruck et al. 1959.
• Josef Vodka: Church in Austria. Guide through their history. Herder, Vienna 1959.

Web links

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

• Entry on Leopold Maximilian von Firmian on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on January 10, 2017.
• Entry on Leopold Maximilian von Firmian in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )