Johannes Nepomuk von der Marwitz () (20 April 1795 – 29 March 1886) was a German

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest and bishop of Kulm (Chełmno). Marwitz was born in Tuchlin,

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and from 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed from Royal Prussia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonweal ...

to Alexander von der Marwitz and Marianne née Wysocki. He grew up bilingual German and Polish and attended school in Danzig. He volunteered Blücher's Hussar Regiment No 5 in 1813 in the

liberation wars Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

and returned to his father's estate in 1814. Marwitz passed his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

Braunsberg Braniewo () (, , Old Prussian: ''Brus''), is a town in northern Poland, in Warmia, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with a population of 16,907 as of June 2021. It is the capital of Braniewo County. Braniewo is the second biggest city of ...

and studied catholic theology and philosophy at the Universities of Breslau,

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

and in

Pelplin Pelplin () is a town in northern Poland, in the Tczew County, Pomeranian Voivodship. Population: 8,320 (2009). Pelplin is located in the ethnocultural region of Kociewie in Pomerania. It is home to one of the finest collections of medieval art ...

in 1825-29. He was ordained on 10 April 1830 at the Cathedral of Pelplin and became a Parish priest at the St. Mary’s Church of Thorn (Toruń) and in

Tuchel Tuchel is a German surname that may refer to the following notable people: *Günther Tuchel, West German slalom canoeist *Johannes Tuchel (born 1957), German political scientist *Thomas Tuchel, (born 1973), German football manager See also

* ...

(Tuchola) in 1832. In 1838 Marwitz became the

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

of the Tuchel district, in 1839 episcopal commissioner and in 1843 cathedral canon at Cammin. In 1849 he became the dean of the Pelplin Diocese and Bishop of Culm (Chełmno) in 1857. Throughout the

Kulturkampf In the history of Germany, the ''Kulturkampf'' (Cultural Struggle) was the seven-year political conflict (1871–1878) between the Catholic Church in Germany led by Pope Pius IX and the Kingdom of Prussia led by chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Th ...

Marwitz was one of only three catholic bishops - out of a total of twelve - in

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, who remained in office and only evaded imprisonment because of his age. Under his tenure the ''Collegium Marianum'' in Pelplin was upgraded to a Progymnasium and catholic schools and teacher’s seminaries were founded in

Konitz Unterwellenborn is a municipality in the district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany. It was created on 1 February 2006 by fusion of the municipalities , Goßwitz, Könitz, Lausnitz bei Pößneck and Unterwellenborn itself which had coop ...

(Chojnice) and Graudenz (Grudziądz). He determined the binding knowledge of Polish for any priest within his diocese and took care for the usage of Polish in liturgy, his pastoral letters were published bilingual Marwitz died in Pelplin and was buried at the Pelplin Cathedral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marwitz, Johannes Nepomuk von der 1795 births 1886 deaths People from Kartuzy County People from West Prussia

Johannes Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as " John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Y ...

German untitled nobility 19th-century German Roman Catholic bishops Catholic clergy of the Prussian partition