The Archbishopric of Cologne was one of the major ecclesiastical principalities of the Holy Roman Empire. Cologne itself became a free city in 1288, and the seat of the Archbishop was moved from Cologne Cathedral to Bonn. Its territories included a strip of territory along the Left Bank of the Rhine east of Jülich, as well as the Duchy of Westphalia on the other side of the Rhine, beyond Berg and Mark. The Archbishop was traditionally one of the Imperial Electors and the Archchancellor of Italy.
In the early 1580s the Archbishop converted to Lutheranism and attempted to secularize the Archbishopric. He was quickly ousted by a Bavarian army which installed the Bavarian prince Ernst as Archbishop. From then until the mid 18th century the Archbishopric was effectively a secundogeniture of the Wittelsbach rulers of Bavaria. As the Archbishop in this period usually also held the Bishopric of Münster, he was one of the most substantial princes of northwestern Germany.
After 1795, the Archbishopric's territories on the Left Bank of the Rhine were occupied by France, and were formally annexed in 1801. The Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803 secularized the rest of the Archbishopric, giving the Duchy of Westphalia to the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. Cologne has, however, remained the seat of a Catholic Archbishop up to the present.
Archbishops of Cologne, 784-1803
Hildebrand 784-819
Hadbold 819-842
Hildwin 842-849
Günther 850-864
Wilbert 870-889
Hermann I 890-925
Wigfried 925-953
Bruno I 953-965
Volkmar 965-969
Gero 969-976
Warin 976-984
Ebergar 984-999
Heribert 999-1021
Pilgrim 1021-1036
Hermann II 1036-1056
Anno 1056-1075
Hildholf 1076-1079
Sigwin 1079-1089
Hermann III 1089-1099
Friedrich I 1100-1131
Bruno II von Berg 1131-1137
Hugo von Sponheim 1137
Arnold I 1138-1151
Arnold II von Wied 1152-1156
Friedrich II von Berg 1156-1158
Rainald von Dassel 1159-1167
Philipp von Heinsberg 1167-1191
Bruno III von Berg 1191-1192
Adolf I von Berg 1192-1216
Bruno IV von Sayn 1205-1208 (in opposition)
Dietrich I von Hengebach 1208-1215 (in opposition)
Engelbert I von Berg 1216-1225
Heinrich I von Mulnarken 1225-1237
Konrad von Hochstaden 1238-1261
Engelbert II von Falkenstein 1261-1274
Sigfried II von Westerburg 1274-1297
Wikbold I von Holte 1297-1304
Heinrich II von Virneburg 1304-1332
Walram von Jülich 1332-1349
Wilhelm von Gennep 1349-1362
Adolf II von der Marck 1363
Engelbert III von der Marck 1364-1369
Kuno von Falkenstein 1370-1371
Friedrich III von Saarwerden 1372-1414
Dietrich II von Mors 1414-1463
Rupprecht of the Palatinate 1463-1480
Hermann IV of Hesse 1480-1508
Philipp II von Daun-Oberstein 1508-1515
Hermann V von Wied 1515-1546
Adolf III von Schauenburg 1546-1556
Anton von Schauenburg 1556-1558
Gebhard I von Mansfeld-Vorderort 1558-1562
Friedrich IV von Wied 1562-1567
Salentin von Isenburg-Grenzau 1567-1577
Gebhard II von Waldburg 1577-1583
Ernst of Bavaria 1583-1612
Ferdinand of Bavaria 1612-1650
Maximilian Heinrich of Bavaria 1650-1688
Joseph Clemens of Bavaria 1688-1723
Clemens August of Bavaria 1723-1761
Maximilian Friedrich von Königsegg-Rothenfels 1761-1784
It became a free city in 1288 and the residence of the Archbishop was moved from Cologne Cathedral to Bonn.
The Archbishop was traditionally one of the Imperial Electors and the Archchancellor of Italy and Burgundy, technically from 1238 and permanently from 1263 until 1803.
Cologne was, however, reestablished as the seat of a Catholic Archbishop in 1824, and remains one up to the present.
Cologne, in size the third city of Prussia, and the capital of the district (Regierungsbezirk) of Cologne, is situated in the lowlands of the lower Rhine on both sides of the river.
Among the churches of Cologne, the foremost is the cathedral, the greatest monument of Gothic architecture in Germany.
Frederick I (1100-31) was the last Archbishop of Cologne to be invested with the episcopal ring and crosier; in 1111, during the three-days fight in the streets of Rome, he saved the Emperor Henry V from defeat, after his imprisonment of Pope Paschal II, but in 1114 abandoned the imperial party.
Feeds |
Contact