Rottenburg, Diocese of

ROTTENBURG, DIOCESE OF. - City and diocese in Württemberg in Germany.

It has an area of 19,155 sq. km. with a population of 3,316,865 inhabitants, of whom 1,320,624 are Catholics, distributed in 754 parishes, served by 1,026 diocesan priests and 264 regulars; it has two seminaries, one at R. and the other at Mergentheim; 30 male religious communities and 24 female (Ann. Pont. 1952, p. 342). The diocese is a suffragan of Freiburg in Breisgau.

Because of the secularization of 1803, Württemberg, until then entirely Protestant, obtained Catholic territories, administered by the dioceses of Constance, Augsburg, Würzburg, Worms, Speyer and by the provostship of Ellwangen. To simplify this situation, the government established a general vicariate at Ellwangen for the territories of Württemberg, with a seminary and a theological faculty. The auxiliary bishop of Augsburg, previously provost of Ellwangen, Franz Karl Fürst von Hohenlohe, became vicar general. His appointment was not at first regular from the ecclesiastical point of view; and only later did he receive confirmation from the primate v. Dahlberg. The Holy See, on the other hand, only in 1816 recognized the vicar general and appointed the Rev. von Keller as pro-vicar, with the right of succession. In 1817 the last territories of Württemberg, not yet dependent on the new vicariate, were united to it. In the same year the seat of the vicariate was transferred to R. and the theological faculty was transferred to Tübingen. The bull Provida sollersque of 16 Aug. 1821 and the bull Ad Dominici of 11 Apr. 1827 then constituted the diocese, determining the rights of the bishop and those of the Chapter. The first bishop was the vicar general von Keller himself (1828-45), followed by Joseph Lipp, parish priest of Ehingen. Religious life increased notably through popular missions and charitable works. Under Karl Joseph v. Hefele (1869-93), while the Kulturkampf raged throughout Germany, the diocese was scarcely touched by it. Bishop Wilhelm von Reiser (1893-98) was distinguished for the care he devoted to the Catholics of the predominantly Protestant territories of the diocese (diaspora). Bishop Wilhelm von Keppler (1898-1926) is known for his oratory and for the work of restoring the monasteries of Neresheim and Weingarten. Bishop J. B. Sproll (1927-49) fought against the errors of Nazism and had to live in exile for 6 years.

The diocese has 1,089 churches, 744 parishes, 1,026 diocesan priests; of the 3,317,000 inhabitants, 1,302,000 are Catholics.

Bruno Wuestenberg