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Heinrich von Bibra

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Name
  
Heinrich Bibra

Heinrich von Bibra httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu
Died
  
September 25, 1788, Fulda, Germany

Spätlese... Wein schmeckt gut!


Heinrich von Bibra (Heinrich VIII of Fulda), Prince-Bishop, Prince-Abbot of Fulda (1711–1788) was Prince-Bishop from 1759 to 1788.

Contents

Biography

Born in 1711 at Schnabelwaid as Karl Sigmund, he was raised in a strict household with ten brothers and sisters. He entered the Benedictine Order in 1730 receiving the name Heinrich. He studied philosophy, theology, and law. Six years later he traveled to Rome.

In 1759 immediately after his selection as Prince Bishop and Abbot of Fulda, he had to flee his realm as it was overrun by both the French and the Hessians in the Seven Years' War. Finally with peace in 1763, he undertook the rebuilding of Fulda and its economy. Rising at 4 am each morning, he was an energetic and enlightened ruler. With currency reform came sound money. He built roads, bridges, housing, churches, and orphanages. He improved the spa at Bruckenau, had the land surveyed for minerals, and founded the porcelain works which became famous. The porcelain works was disbanded shortly after his death.

He provided freedom of religion, forbidding mistreatment of Jews and employed Protestants alongside Catholics in his administration. Beginning in 1777 with the exception of the theological faculty every Protestant could acquire academic degrees in all faculties of the University of Fulda. Along with libraries around the land, he introduced a general school system which was one of the best of his time. Heinrich-von-Bibra-Schule a Realschule (type of secondary school) in Fulda is named after him.

Schloss Johannisberg - riesling - Spatlese - Auslese

During Heinrich’s reign Fulda owned Schloss Johannisberg (Geisenheim, in the Rheingau region). The origin of the famous late harvest riesling of Johannisberg originated in 1775. The story is that producers at Schloss Johannisberg traditionally awaited the permission of the estate owner before cutting their grapes. In this year, for reasons unknown, Heinrich was otherwise engaged and the cutting was delayed for three weeks, time enough for the Botrytis to take hold and produce the first thoroughly infected Spatlese. An Auslese followed in 1787. See Noble rot and Schloss Johannisberg

Family

Heinrich was a member of the aristocratic Franconian von Bibra family which among its members were Lorenz von Bibra, Prince-Bishop of Wurzburg, Duke in Franconia (1459–1519), Lorenz’ half brother, Wilhelm von Bibra Papal emissary, Conrad von Bibra, Prince-Bishop of Wurzburg, Duke in Franconia (1490–1544) and Ernst von Bibra (1806–1878), naturalist and author.

Literature

  • MARINA VON BIBRA, Heinrich VIII. - Furstbischof von Fulda. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer (Hg.), Frankische Lebensbilder, Bd. 4, Wurzburg 1971, 213-229;
  • WILHELM FREIHERR VON BIBRA, Beitrage zur Familien-Geschichte der Reichsfreiherm von Bibra, Bd. 3/I, Munchen 1888, 230-255; Ders., Geschichte der Familie von Bibra. Munchen 1870, 148-150;
  • A. GNAU, Das kirchliche Wirken Heinrich VIII. von Bibra, Furstbischofs von Fulda (1759–1788), in: Mitteilungen des Historischen Vereins der Diozese Fulda 6 (1902) 12-19;
  • JOHANN EBERHARD VON KAISER, Regierungsgeschichte des jetztigen Fursten-Bischofs Heinrich des VIII. zu Fulda im Grundrise, Vornehmlich in Hinsicht der innern Landes-Anstalten und Verbesserungen, in: Patriotisches Archiv fur Deutschland 2 (1785) 1-102;
  • WERNER KATHREIN, Bibra, Heinrich, in: Erwin Gatz (Hg.), Die Bischofe des Heiligen Romischen Reiches 1648-1803, Berlin 1990, 29f.;
  • JOSEF LEINWEBER, Die Fuldaer Abte und Bischofe, Frankfurt a.M. 1989, 159-163;
  • MICHAEL MULLER, Furstbischof Heinrich von Bibra und die katholische Aufklarung im Hochstift Fulda (1759–88). Wandel und Kontinuitat des kirchlichen Lebens, 451 pp., Fulda 2005.
  • PETER ADOLPH WINKOPP, Beitrage zur Lebensgeschichte Heinrich des achten Furstbischofen zu Fulda, welcher am 25. September 1788 das Zeitliche mit dem Ewigen verwechselte, in: Der neue deutsche Zuschauer 1 (1789) 93-102.134-144;
  • KLAUS WITTSTADT, Der Bibliotheksgrunder Furstbischof Heinrich VIII. von Bibra (1759–1788), in: Artur Brall (Hg.), Von der Klosterbibliothek zur Landesbibliothek. Beitrage zum zweihundertjahrigen Bestehen der Hessischen Landesbibliothek Fulda (Stuttgart 1978) 269-293;
  • F. ZWENGER, Heinrich v. Bibra. Furstbischof von Fulda, in: BuBl 4 (1923) 139f., 143f., 148 [Weitgehend auf Wilhelm von Bibra beruhend];
  • References

    Heinrich von Bibra Wikipedia


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