AUGSBURG
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AUGSBURG
Peter Canisius. who from 1549, in the capacity of
cathedral preacher, confessor, and cat€chist, exercised
a remarkably fruitful and efficacious ministry. In
1549 Bishop btto founded a seminary in DUlingen for
the training of priests, obtained from the ])ope (1554)
a decree raising it to the rank of a imiversity, and in
1564 gave the direction of the new university to the
Jesuits, for whom he had built a college in Dillingen.
It is due to his untiring labours and tho.se of Cani-sius
that much larger portions of the diocese were not lost
to the Church. Under the immediate successors of
Otto the revival instituted by him progressed
rapidly, and many excellent decrees were formulated.
Under Marquardll von Berg (1575-91) a pontifical
boarding school {alumnaius) was founded in Dillingen,
colleges were established by the Jesuits in Landsberg,
and. through the bounty of the Fugger family, in Augs-
burg (15S0). Heinrich von Knoringen, made bishop
at the early age of twenty-eight, took especial interest
in the University and the Seminary of Dillingen. both
of which he enriched with many endowments; he
convened several synods, converted Duke Wolfgang
of Neuburg to Catholicism, and during his long
episcopate (1598-1646) reconciled many Protestant
cities antl parishes to the Catholic Church, being aided
in a particular manner by the Jesuits, for whom he
founded establishments in Neuburg. Memmingen, and
Kaufbeuren. By means of the Edict of Restitution
of Emperor Ferdinand II (1629), \-igorously and even
too forcefully executed by the bishop, the Thirty
Years' War fii-st acc:iinplished an almost complete
restoration of the former possessions of the Diocese of
Augsburg. The occupation of Augsburg by Gustavus
Adolphus of Sweden (16.'i2) restored temporarily the
balance of power to the Protestants. Until the relief
of the city by the imperial troops (1635) the Catho-
lics were hard pressed and were forced to give up all
they had gained by the Edict of Restitution. Fi-
nally, the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) estabUshed
equality between Catholics and Protestants, and was
followed by a long period of internal peace. On ac-
count of the losses entailed on the diocese by the
treaty, a solemn protest was laid before the imperial
chancery by Bishop Sigmund Franz. Archduke of
Austria (1646-65). This bishop, on account of his
youth, ruled the diocese through administrators.
and later resigned his office. His successor, Johann
Christopher von Freiberg (1665-90), was particularly
desirous of liquidating the heavy burden of debt
borne by the chapter, but was nevertheless generous
towards churches and monasteries. His successor,
Alexander Sigmund (1690-17.37), son of the Palatine
Elector, guarded the purity of doctrine in liturgical
books and prayerbooks. Johann Friedrich von
Stauffenberg (1737-40) founded the Seminary of
Meersburg and introduced missions among the people.
Joseph, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (1740-68) ex-
himied with great ceremony the bones of St. Ulrich
and instituted an investigation into the life of Cres-
centia Hoss of Kaufbeuren, who had dietl in the odour
of sanctity. Klemens Wenzeslaus, Prince of Saxony
and Poland (1768-1812), made a great number of
excellent disciplinarj' regulations, and took measures
for their execution; after the suppression of the
Society of Jesus he afforded its members protection
and employment in his diocese; he matle a vigorous
resistance to the rapidly spreading Rationalism and
infidelity, and was honoured by a visit from Pope
Pius VI (1782).
(4) French Revolution and Secularization. — During this episcopate began the world-wide upheaval in- augurated by the French Revolution. It was destined to put an end to the temporal power of the Church in (iermany, and to bring about the fall of Augsburg from the dignity of a principality of the Empire. In 1802, by act of the Delegation of the Imperial Diet (Reichsdeputatio7isrezes>:) , the territory of the
Diocese of Augsburg was given to the Elector of
Bavaria, who took possession 1 December, 1802.
The cathedral chapter, together with forty canoni-
cates, forty-one benefices, nine colleges, twenty-five
abbeys, thirty-four monasteries of the mendicant
orders, and two convents were the victims of this
act of secularization. Unfortunately, owing to the
inconsiderate conduct of the commissioners ap-
pointed by the Bavarian minister, Montgelas, in-
numerable artistic treasures, valviable books, and
documents were destroyed. For five years after the
death of the last bishop of princely rank (1812) the
episcopal see remained vacant; the parts of the dio-
cese lying outside of Bavaria were separated from
it and annexed to other dioceses. It was not until
1817 that the Concordat between the Holy See and
the Bavarian government reconstructed the Diocese
of Augsburg, and made it subject to the Metropolitan
of Munich-Freising. In 1821 the territory subject to
the ecclesiastical authority of Augsburg was increased
by the addition of sections of the suppressed See of
Constance, and the present limits were then defined.
(5) The Nineteenth Century. — As the new bishop, Franz Karl von Hohenlohe-Schillingsfiirst, died (1819) before assuming office, and Joseph Maria von Fraunberg was soon called to the archiepiscopal See of Bamberg, there devolved upon their success- ors the important task of rearranging the external conditions and reanimating religious life, which had suffered sorely. Ignatius Albert von Riegg (1S24- 36) was successful in his endeavours to further the interests of souls, to raise the standard of popular education through the medium of munerous ordi- nances and frequent visitations. He assigned the administration and direction of studies in the Lyceum to the monks of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Stephen in Augsburg, foimded by King Ludwig (1834). Petrus von Richarz (1837-55) displayed energj' and persistent zeal in promoting the interests of his dio- cese and the Catholic Church in general, and en- couraged the giving of mi.ssions to the people, the establishment of many religious institutions for the care of the sick and for educational purposes, and carefully superintended the training of the clergy. The same spirit characterized the labours of the suc- ceeding bishops: Michael von Deinlein (1856-58), who after a short episcopate was raised to the Arch- bishopric of Bamberg; Pankratius von Dinkel (1858- 94), under whom both seminaries and the deaf and dumb asylum were established in Dillingen, and many monastic institutions were founded; Petrus von Hotzl (1895-1902) whose episcopate was marked by the attention paid to soci.al and intellectual pursuits, and the number of missions given among the people as well as by the solemn celebration of the beatifica- tion of the pious nun Creseentia Hoss. He was succeeded bv Maximilian von Lingg. b. at Nesselwang, 8 March, 1842; ordained priest, 22 July, 1865; ap- pointed bishop, 18 March, 1902, consecrated, 20 July, 1902.
II. Religious Statistics. — According to the cen- sus of 1 December, 1900, the Diocese of Augsburg contained 777,958 Catholics and about 100,000 of other beliefs; at present there are about 818,074 Catholics. Socially, the population is chiefly of the middle class; recently, however, on account of the great growth of the industrial arts in the city of Augsburg, in Lechhausen, Memmingen, and other places, the working classes are increasing in numbers. Leaving out of consideration the larger cities, in which the various denominations are well represented, it may be said that the southern part of the diocese, Algau and the adjoining parts of Altbayern (Bavaria proper), are almost entirely Catholic, while in the northern part a mixture of creeds predominates. That small portion of Mittelfranken (Central Fran- conia) which belongs to the diocese is overwhelnKi-
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