Anton Hubert Fischer (Antonius Fischer) (30 May 1840, in

Jülich Jülich (; in old spellings also known as ''Guelich'' or ''Gülich'', , , Ripuarian: ''Jöllesch'') is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. As a border region between the competin ...

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. ...

– 30 July 1912, in Neuenahr) was a Roman Catholic

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

and

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Life

The son of a professor, he was educated at the Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium at

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, making his theological studies at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

and the Academy of Münster. Ordained priest, 2 September 1863, he was for twenty-five years professor of religion at the Gymnasium at

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

. In 1886, he received his doctorate at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

, his thesis being . He was preconized titular Bishop of Juliopolis, 14 February 1889, and was thenceforth associated in the administration of the Diocese of Cologne as assistant to the auxiliary Bishop Johann Anton Friedrich Baudri, then very old. When Baudri died (29 June 1893), Fischer succeeded him, and in 1895 he became Dean of

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (, , officially , English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia belonging to the Catholic Church. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archd ...

. In 1902 the See of Cologne became vacant by the death of , and Fischer was elected archbishop on 6 November 1902. On 23 June 1903,

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

made him a cardinal. During the ten years of his episcopate, Fischer consecrated in the diocese several hundred churches and more than one thousand altars. He was a devoted protector of the religious orders. On several occasions during religious or national celebrations he spoke of

Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...

in very warm terms, which caused much comment. At the Congress of Liège in 1890, he called for the intervention of the state in matters of labour legislation. He declared that "aspiration towards progress, towards the betterment and preservation of earthly well-being is deeply enrooted in human nature and does not contradict the Christian moral laws." On 13 November 1905, he advised the Catholic miners assembled in Congress at Essen to co-operate with non-Catholic workmen in the discussion of common economic questions. He was likewise the defender with the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

of Christian interdenominational syndicates, whose headquarters were at

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...

, and he exerted himself to counterbalance the influence brought to bear in behalf of purely sectarian syndicates by the Catholics of Berlin, the Bishop of Trier, and the Cardinal-Bishop of Breslau.

References

*''Kölnische Volkszeitung'' (August, 1912) *''Germania'' (August, 1912) ; Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Fischer, Anton Hubert 1840 births 1912 deaths People from Jülich Archbishops of Cologne 20th-century German cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Leo XIII Members of the Prussian House of Lords People from the Rhine Province University of Bonn alumni University of Münster alumni University of Tübingen alumni Burials at Cologne Cathedral Cathedral deans of Cologne