DIEPENBROCK, MELCHIOR von. — Cardinal, born in Bocholt (Westphalia) on 6 January 1798, died at Johannisberg Castle (Upper Silesia) on 20 January 1853. Initially an army officer, he was drawn to the priestly career by his friend J. M. Sailer, whom he followed as secretary when the latter was elected bishop of Regensburg. There he was canon (1830), dean (1835), and vicar general (1842–44); in 1845 he was in turn appointed prince-bishop of Breslau. His ministry confronted difficult religious and social situations, which he knew how to address decisively, both by providing for a better education and formation of his clergy and by defending, alongside the State, religious peace, order, and true tolerance. In 1848 he was elected a deputy to the Frankfurt Parliament; in 1850 Pius IX created him a cardinal.
Principal works: Geistlicher Blumenstrauss aus spanischen u. deutschen Dichtergärten (Sulzbach 1829, 4th ed. there 1862); H. Susos Leben u. Schriften (Regensburg 1829, 4th ed. there 1884); Predigten (there 1841); Hirtenbriefe (Münster in W. 1853), Briefe (posthumous, Frankfurt 1860).