Philipp Friedrich von Breuner (Prince-Bishop)

St. Stephan, coat of arms of Prince-Bishop Breuner on the high altar

Philipp Friedrich Graf von Breuner (* 1597 in Raab , Hungary ; † May 22, 1669 in Vienna ) was Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Olomouc and Prince-Bishop of the Diocese of Vienna .

Life

He was the son of a Feldzeugmeister and court war adviser from the Austrian aristocratic family Breuner . From 1617 to 1621 he studied as an alumne of the Collegium Germanicum at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and completed his studies with a doctorate .

On December 8, 1621 he received in Mikulov the priesthood and was appointed auxiliary bishop in Olomouc as well as on 9 September 1630 titular bishop of Joppa appointed. He was ordained bishop on September 5, 1635. He was also canon in Olmütz , Breslau and Regensburg and provost in Brno . Emperor Ferdinand III. appointed him Prince-Bishop of Vienna on May 5, 1639, and Pope Urban VIII confirmed him on September 5, 1639. On December 26, 1639, it was installed in St. Stephen's Cathedral .

He is described as a devout bishop, concerned about the pastoral care and preaching activities of the priests. He redefined the parish boundaries for the ever-growing suburbs of Vienna . He was able to complete the new construction of the Prince-Bishop's Palace, which Prince-Bishop Anton Wolfradt had begun in 1632 based on the plans of Giovanni Coccapani.

The Prince-Bishop had the monumental high altar built in St. Stephen's Cathedral and signed a contract on March 1, 1641 with the master stonemason and sculptor Johann Jacob Pock, who had immigrated from Constance . His first master builder was Simon Humpeller , he was followed by Hans Herstorffer in 1641 , then Adam Haresleben in 1654 . The large altar piece was painted by Tobias Pock , the sculptor's brother. After several delays, he was able to solemnly consecrate this work on May 19, 1647. His marble coat of arms was attached to the altar . He also had the new canon stalls carved.

On May 18, 1647 he consecrated the column, crowned by the statue of the Immaculate Conception in front of the church at the court (model is the Marian column of Munich in front of the town hall). On this day, Emperor Ferdinand III promised to celebrate the festival of the Immaculata Conceptio on December 8th in his domain.

Prince-Bishop Count Breuner is buried in the women's choir of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.

literature

• Rudolf Leeb et al. a .: History of Christianity in Austria. From antiquity to the present. Uebereuter, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-8000-3914-1 .
• Franz Loidl: History of the Archdiocese of Vienna. Herold, Vienna 1983, ISBN 3-7008-0223-4 .
• Ernst Tomek: Church history of Austria. Tyrolia, Innsbruck - Vienna - Munich 1935–1959.

Web links

Commons : Philipp Friedrich von Breuner  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Entry on Philipp Friedrich von Breuner on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on July 1, 2017.

predecessor	Office	successor
Anton Wolfradt	Prince-Bishop of Vienna 1639–1669	Wilderich Freiherr von Walderdorff