DROSTE ZU VISCHERING, KLEMENS AUGUST von. - Bishop, b. 21 Jan. 1773 in Münster, d. there 19 Oct. 1845. Ordained priest in 1798, from 1815 to 1820 he was vicar general of the diocese of Münster. In 1818 he issued an ordinance which, in order to curb the spread of Hermesianism, forbade theology students to attend courses at Bonn. In 1827 he consented to serve as auxiliary to his brother Massimiliano, bishop of Münster.
Upon the death of the archbishop of Cologne, Spiegel, D. was appointed to this see in 1836; having learned of the agreement concerning mixed marriages concluded by his predecessor with the Prussian government, and contrary to the brief of Pius VIII of 25 March 1830, the conflict broke out between the archbishop and the state authority, ending with D.’s arrest (20 Nov. 1837) and his internment in the fortress of Minden, from which he was released in Apr. 1839, though without being able to return to his see, which was entrusted to Geissel as coadjutor. He then withdrew into a dignified obscurity, having by his resistance ensured the safeguarding of the rights of the Church.
neunzehnten Jahrhundert, II, Magonza 1889, especially pp. 291 ff., 368 ff.; F. Schnabel, Deutsche Geschichte im neunzehnten Jahrhundert, IV, Friburgo in Br. 1937, p. 106 ff. (Italian trans., Storia religiosa della Germania nell'Ottocento, Brescia 1944, p. 120 ff.); J. Grisar, Die Allobution Gregors XVI. vom 10. Dezember 1837, in Gregorio XVI. Miscellanea commemorativa, II, Roma 1948, pp. 441-560. Silvio Furlani