List of the bishops of Lübeck

Coat of arms of the Diocese of Lübeck based on Siebmacher's coat of arms book from 1605

Adaldag , the Archbishop of Hamburg and Bremen , founded the Diocese of Oldenburg on behalf of Emperor Otto I, probably in 972 . He appointed a clergyman named Egward as the first bishop . The news about an allegedly first bishop named Marco or Merka is very uncertain.

In 1163, under Bishop Gerold, with the consecration of the first Lübeck Cathedral, the bishopric was moved from Oldenburg to Lübeck.

While the diocese perished as a spiritual unit in the Reformation, (dissolved in 1648), the ownership of the chapter and bishop, the bishopric , remained as territory. The cathedral chapter (now Protestant) continued to elect the prince-bishop , who had always come from the Holstein-Gottorp family since 1586 . After the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 , Lübeck was the only Protestant prince-bishopric in the German Empire. It was only with the secularization through the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss 1803 that the monastery area became part of the (Grand) Duchy of Oldenburg as the Principality of Lübeck .

The following people were
**bishops of Lübeck or prince-bishops of Lübeck** (or until 1160 bishops of Oldenburg )
Bishops	from	to	Remarks
Bishops of Oldenburg
Mareus	952	968	also Marko, Marcus
Ekward	968	974
Wago	974	983
Egizo	983	988
Volkward	989	990
Reginbert	992	1013
Bernhard	1013	1023
Reinhold	1023	1030
Meinher	1030	1038
Abelin	1038	1048
Ehrenfried	1051	1066
Vice-Lady	1149	1154	The temporary seat of the diocese after the destruction of Oldenburg in 1149 by the Danes is Bosau with the Petrikirche from 1151
Bishops of Lübeck
Gerold von Oldenburg / Lübeck	1155	1163	In 1156 Gerold began building the Johanniskirche in Oldenburg . The diocese is moved from Oldenburg to Lübeck in 1160
Konrad I. von Riddagshausen	1164	1172	The second main church is being built with the Petrikirche
Heinrich I of Lübeck	1172	1182	When he was consecrated, Heinrich the Lion laid the foundation stone for Lübeck Cathedral
Konrad II of Lübeck	1183	1184
Dietrich I of Lübeck	1186	1210	since 1181 provost in the monastery of Zeven
Berthold von Lübeck	1210	1230
John I of Lübeck	1230/1231	1247
Albert Suerbeer	1247	1253
John II of Diest	1254	1259	John II of Diest was a Franciscan, previously Bishop of Samland. He built the paradise of Lübeck Cathedral.
John III from Tralau	1260	1276	Builder of Eutins Castle. At that time, the Marienkirche in Lübeck also burned and therefore has its current appearance.
Burkhard von Serkem	1276	1317	Double grave plate with Johannes von Mul (1341–50)
Heinrich II. Bochholt	1317	1341	introduced in 1341 the eastern choir of Lübeck Cathedral finished
John IV. Mul	1341	1350	Mul came from a family of knights from Lower Saxony. On January 3, 1315, he was appointed cantor and scholaster at Lübeck Cathedral by Bishop Burkhard von Serkem . In 1327 he received a canon at the Schwerin Church, was ordained a canon in Lübeck and on April 22, 1341 in Lübeck by the Archbishop of Bremen Burchard Grelle as Bishop of Lübeck. Infected by the rampant plague, he died. In the cathedral of Lübeck there is a grave slab that represents him together with Burkhard von Serkem.
Bertram Cremon	1350	1377	Bertram Cremon was the 14th Bishop of Lübeck from 1350 to 1377. On October 22, 1375 he received Emperor Karl IV in Lübeck.
Nicholas I of Meissen	1377	1379	1376 dean of the cathedral monastery Meißen , appointed him Pope Urban VI. on March 4, 1377 to the bishop of Lübeck. On March 19, 1379 he became Bishop of Meissen.
Conrad III. from Geisenheim	1379	1386	He became protonotary of Charles IV in 1358 and took over the management of the Imperial Chancellery as Chancellor in 1370. He also held this position under the Roman-German King Wenceslaus and was often on the road in that capacity in diplomatic services at the papal court. After his appointment as Bishop of Lübeck, he remained active in the Reich Chancellery until December 1384, while he delegated his episcopal tasks to his brother Johann von Geisenheim and Johannes von Klenedenst .
Johannes V. von Klenedenst	1386	1387	In 1377 Klenedenst was elected bishop by the Lübeck cathedral chapter as a citizen of Lübeck. Therefore Klenedenst went to Prague to get his confirmation, there he learned that the Pope had appointed another bishop. This was Nicolaus I. billy goat, sp. Nikolaus I von Meißen , who did not stay long in Lübeck, since he received the diocese of Meißen on March 19, 1379. Under his successor Konrad von Geisenheim, Klenedenst became vicar general and provost in Lübeck around 1381. After his death, Klenedenst took over the office of bishop of the Lübeck diocese in 1386. He was not granted a long term of office and had no effect on the Lübeck diocese, as he died the following year.
Eberhard I. Attendorn	1387	1399	Bishop from the Lübeck council family
John VI Hundebeke	1399	1420
John VII Schele	1420	1439
Nicholas II. Sachau	1439	1449
Arnold Westphal	1450	1466
Albert II. Krummendiek	1466	1489	donated Bernt Notke's triumphal cross in 1477
Thomas Grote	1489	1492
Dietrich II. Arndes	1492	1506
Wilhelm Westphal	1506	1509
John VIII Grimholt	1510	1523
Henry III. Bockholt	1523	1535
Detlev von Reventlow	1535	1535	first evangelical bishop
Balthasar Rantzau	1536	1547
Jodoku's testicular filter	1547	1551
Theodor von Rheden	1551	1556
Andrew from Barby	1556	1559
John IX Tiedemann	1559	1561	Double epitaph together with his brother, the canons of Lübeck and Ratzeburg Christopher Tiedemann († 1561) with Latin inscription in the ambulatory of Lübeck Cathedral. His bronze tombstone in the Renaissance style is also in the cathedral on the south wall in the south aisle.
Eberhard II von Holle	1561	1586	Implementation of the Reformation in the monastery area
Prince-Bishops of Lübeck
Johann Adolf	1586	1607
Johann Friedrich	1607	1634
Johann X. (Hans)	1634	1655
Christian Albrecht	1655	1666
August Friedrich	1666	1705
Christian August	1705	1726
Karl	1726	1727
Adolf Friedrich	1727	1750	from the house of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf ; from 1751 King of Sweden
Friedrich August	1750	1785	1773 Treaty of Tsarskoe Selo , Friedrich August becomes Duke of Oldenburg
Peter Friedrich Ludwig	1785	1803	1803 secularization of the principality to the principality of Lübeck

Sources and references

Friedrich Wilhelm Ebeling: The German bishops up to the end of the sixteenth century - presented biographically, literarily, historically and in terms of church statistics . 1. Volume, Leipzig 1858, pp. 562-589 .
Ernst Friedrich Mooyer: Directories of the German bishops since the year 800 AD. Geb. Minden 1854, p. 56–57 .
Hermann Grote : Family Tables, Leipzig 1877
To the bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lübeck (1933–1978)
For the bishops for the Holstein-Lübeck district of the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church (1978–2008) see: North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church

Individual evidence

↑ Erich Hoffmann : Lübeck in the high and late Middle Ages: The great time of Lübeck . In: Antjekathrin Graßmann (ed.): Lübeckische Geschichte . Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck, 4th, improved and supplemented edition 2008, ISBN 978-3-7950-1280-9 , pp. 81–329, here 88.

Web links

Commons : Bishops of Lübeck - Collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] Erich Hoffmann : Lübeck in the high and late Middle Ages: The great time of Lübeck . In: Antjekathrin Graßmann (ed.): Lübeckische Geschichte . Schmidt-Römhild, Lübeck, 4th, improved and supplemented edition 2008, ISBN 978-3-7950-1280-9 , pp. 81–329, here 88.