prince bishopric · Germany and Central Europe
Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg
Origins
Emperor Henry II founded the diocese of Bamberg in 1007 and endowed it richly; he and his wife Kunigunde are buried in its cathedral. The bishops gathered lands in Upper Franconia, and after the extinction of the counts of Andechs-Meranien in 1248 they consolidated a territory and ruled it as imperial princes.
Rule and society
The cathedral chapter elected the prince-bishops. The Romanesque-Gothic cathedral, with the Bamberg Horseman and the tomb of Pope Clement II, symbolises the see's standing. Under Johann Georg II Fuchs von Dornheim the territory suffered one of the worst witch persecutions in Germany between 1626 and 1631. In the baroque era Lothar Franz von Schönborn built the New Residence.
Decline and legacy
The prince-bishopric was secularised in 1802 and annexed by Bavaria, ending more than eight centuries of episcopal rule. Bamberg became an archdiocese in 1817, and its largely intact old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (1)
- Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg was part of Holy Roman Empire1245 CE – 1802 CE
More states of Germany and Central Europe →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/prince-bishopric-of-bamberg
- MLA
- “Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/prince-bishopric-of-bamberg. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/prince-bishopric-of-bamberg.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/prince-bishopric-of-bamberg (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻