Berchtesgaden Provostry or the Prince-Provostry of Berchtesgaden (german: Fürstpropstei Berchtesgaden) was an immediate (')

principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall un ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

, held by a

canonry A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

(a collegiate foundation of

Canons Regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by ...

) led by a Prince-Provost.

Geography

The territory comprised the

Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National P ...

Berchtesgaden hollow, namely the modern communities of

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps, south of Berchtesgaden; th ...

, Bischofswiesen, Marktschellenberg, Ramsau and

Schönau am Königssee Schönau am Königssee is a municipality in the district of Berchtesgadener Land in the German state of Bavaria. It is located at the northern end of the Königssee lake. Geography Schönau is surrounded by the Berchtesgaden Alps; it is the s ...

, located in the present-day

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

state of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

, as well as a number of estates further afield. Watzmann Berchtesgaden

The location of the monastery was strategically important. Firstly, it is in an area possessing immensely valuable

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

deposits, and was situated in such a way that it was able to act as a

buffer state A buffer state is a country geographically lying between two rival or potentially hostile great powers. Its existence can sometimes be thought to prevent conflict between them. A buffer state is sometimes a mutually agreed upon area lying between t ...

between its much larger neighbours, the

Duchy of Bavaria The Duchy of Bavaria (German: ''Herzogtum Bayern'') was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarian tribes and ruled by dukes (''duces'') under ...

and the

Archbishopric of Salzburg The Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg (german: Fürsterzbistum Salzburg; Erzstift Salzburg; Erzbistum Salzburg) was an ecclesiastical principality and state of the Holy Roman Empire. It comprised the secular territory ruled by the archbishops o ...

, and to make this situation work to its advantage. Secondly, the Berchtesgaden valley is almost entirely enclosed by high mountains, except for a single point of access to the north, and is thus virtually impregnable.

History

The Berchtesgaden monastery, dedicated to

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

and

Saint John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

, was founded in 1102 within the Bavarian

stem duchy A stem duchy (german: Stammesherzogtum, from '' Stamm'', meaning "tribe", in reference to the Franks, Saxons, Bavarians and Swabians) was a constituent duchy of the German Empire at the time of the extinction of the Carolingian dynasty (death of ...

as a community of Augustinian Canons by Count Berengar of Sulzbach under the directions of the will of his mother, the late Countess Irmgard. In view of the favourable geopolitical circumstances, the provosts had little difficulty in establishing the territorial independence of the monastery, which became an

Imperial abbey Princely abbeys (german: Fürstabtei, ''Fürststift'') and Imperial abbeys (german: Reichsabtei, ''Reichskloster'', ''Reichsstift'', ''Reichsgotthaus'') were religious establishments within the Holy Roman Empire which enjoyed the status of impe ...

in 1194. In 1380 the provosts achieved the status of an ecclesiastical ''

Reichsfürst Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ( la, princeps imperii, german: Reichsfürst, cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors o ...

'' and from 1559 held a direct vote in the Reichstag assembly as "Prince-Provosts", a rank almost equivalent to that of a Prince-Bishop. The title was one of only two within the Empire: the only other one was at the

Swabian Swabian or Schwabian, or ''variation'', may refer to: * the German region of Swabia (German: "''Schwaben''") * Swabian German, a dialect spoken in Baden-Württemberg in south-west Germany and adjoining areas (German:"''Schwäbisch''") * Danube S ...

Imperial

Ellwangen Abbey Ellwangen Abbey (german: Kloster Ellwangen) was the earliest Benedictine monastery established in the Duchy of Swabia, at the present-day town of Ellwangen an der Jagst, Baden-Württemberg, about 100 km (60 mi) north-east of Stuttgart. ...

The position of Prince-Provost was frequently held in conjunction with other high ecclesiastical positions, and the provosts often lived elsewhere. From 1594 until 1723, the title and territories were held by the

House of Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...

, from 1612 in

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interli ...

by the Prince-Archbishops of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, whose cousins ruled over the neighbouring Bavarian duchy. The constant avarice of the archbishops of Salzburg led to clashes of arms in 1611, when the troops of Wolf Dietrich Raitenau occupied Berchtesgaden but were repulsed by the forces of Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria. Berchtesgaden, c

In 1802/1803 the provostry and its territories were secularised and mediatised first to the short-lived

Electorate of Salzburg The Electorate of Salzburg (german: Kurfürstentum Salzburg or ), occasionally known as the Grand Duchy of Salzburg, was an electoral principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1803–05, the short-lived successor state of the Prince-Archbi ...

, which according to the 1805 Peace of Pressburg fell to the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

, and finally in 1810 to the newly established

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

. The monastic buildings were used for a while as a barracks, but in 1818 the monastery was designated as a royal residence of the Wittelsbachs, who used it as a summer palace. Following the end of the Bavarian monarchy, the buildings have been administered since 1923 by the Wittelsbach Compensation Fund (''Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds''). Some of the rooms are open to the public, while other parts of the building are still used by the Wittelsbachs. The monastic church now serves as the parish church of Berchtesgaden.

Provosts and Prince-Provosts of Berchtesgaden

* Eberwin 1111-1142 * Hugo I 1142-1148 * Heinrich I 1148-1174, Anti-Archbishop of Salzburg 1174-1177, Bishop of

Brixen Brixen (, ; it, Bressanone ; lld, Porsenù or ) is a town in South Tyrol, northern Italy, located about north of Bolzano. Geography First mentioned in 901, Brixen is the third largest city and oldest town in the province, and the artistic an ...

1177-1195 * Dietrich 1174-1178 * Friedrich I 1178-1188 * Bernhard I of Schönstätten 1188-1201 * Gerhard 1201 * Hugo II 1201-1210 * Konrad Garrer 1210-1211 * Friedrich II Ellinger 1211-1217 * Heinrich II 1217-1231 * Friedrich III of Ortenburg 1231-1239 * Bernhard II 1239-1252 * Konrad II 1252 * Heinrich III 1252-1257 * Konrad III von Medling 1257-1283 * Johann I Sachs von Sachsenau 1283-1303, Prince-Bishop of Brixen 1302-1306 * Hartung von Wildon 1303-1306 * Eberhard Sachs von Sachsenau 1306-1316 * Konrad IV Tanner 1316-1333 * Heinrich IV von Inzing 1333-1351 * Reinhold Zeller 1351-1355 * Otto Tanner 1355-1357 * Peter I Pfaffinger 1357-1362 * Jakob I von Vansdorf 1362-1368 * Greimold Wulp 1368-1377 * Ulrich I Wulp 1377-1384 concurrently with * Sieghard Waller 1381-1384 * Konrad V Thorer von Thörlein 1384-1393, Bishop of Lavant 1397-1406 * Pilgrim von Puchheim 1393-1396, also Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg since 1365 * Gregorius Schenk von Osterwitz 1396-1403, also Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg * Berthold von Wehingen 1404, Anti-Archbishop of Salzburg 1404-1406 * Peter II Pienzenauer 1404-1432 * Johann II Praun 1432-1446 * Bernhard III Leuprechtinger 1446-1473 * Erasmus Pretschlaiffer 1473-1486 * Ulrich II Pernauer 1486-1496 * Balthasar Hirschauer 1496-1508 * Gregor Rainer 1508-1522 * Wolfgang I Lenberger 1523-1541 * Wolfgang II Griestätter 1541-1567 (created Prince-Provost in 1559) * Jakob II Putrich 1567-1594 * Ferdinand of Bavaria 1594-1650, also Archbishop of Cologne from 1612 * Maximilian Heinrich of Bavaria 1650-1688, also Archbishop of Cologne * Joseph Clemens of Bavaria 1688-1723, also Archbishop of Cologne * Julius Heinrich von Rehlingen-Radau 1723-1732 * Cajetan Anton von Notthaft 1732-1752 * Michael Balthasar von Christalnigg 1752-1768 * Franz Anton Joseph von Hausen-Gleichenstorff 1768-1780 * Joseph Konrad von Schroffenberg-Mös 1780-1803, also Prince-Bishop of

Freising Freising () is a university town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the Freising ''Landkreis'' (district), with a population of about 50,000. Location Freising is the oldest town between Regensburg and Bolzano, and is located on the ...

1789-1803, resigned

External links

*
Klöster in Bayern
*

{{Authority control 1100s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1102 establishments in Europe Imperial abbeys disestablished in 1802–03 States and territories established in 1102 Augustinian monasteries in Germany Monasteries in Bavaria Imperial abbeys Religious organizations established in the 1100s Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Bavarian Circle Berchtesgadener Land

Geography

History

Provosts and Prince-Provosts of Berchtesgaden

See also

External links