Heinrich von Bibra
Encyclopedia
Biography
Born in 1711 at SchnabelwaidSchnabelwaid
Schnabelwald is a municipality in the district of Bayreuth in Bavaria in Germany....
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
Fulda
Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
, 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 Brückenau, 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
University of Fulda
The University of Fulda , was founded in 1734 by Adolphus von Dalberg and existed until 1805. Most of the students and professors were Catholic...
. 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
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
(type of secondary school) in Fulda is named after him.
Schloss Johannisberg - riesling - Spätlese - Auslese
During Heinrich’s reign Fulda owned Schloss JohannisbergSchloss Johannisberg
Schloss Johannisberg is a winery in the Rheingau wine-growing region in Germany, that has been making wine for over 900 years. The winery is most noted for its claim to have "discovered" late harvest wine.- History :...
(Geisenheim
Geisenheim
Geisenheim is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hessen, Germany, and is known as Weinstadt , Schulstadt , Domstadt and Lindenstadt ....
, in the Rheingau
Rheingau
The Rheingau is the hill country on the north side of the Rhine River between Wiesbaden and Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the western Taunus to the Rhine. It lies in the state of Hesse and is part of the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis administrative district...
region). The origin of the famous late harvest riesling
Riesling
Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...
of Johannisberg originated in 1775. The story is that producers at Schloss Johannisberg
Schloss Johannisberg
Schloss Johannisberg is a winery in the Rheingau wine-growing region in Germany, that has been making wine for over 900 years. The winery is most noted for its claim to have "discovered" late harvest wine.- History :...
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 Spätlese
Spätlese
Spätlese is a German wine term for a wine from fully ripe grapes, the lightest of the late harvest wines. Spätlese is a riper category than Kabinett in the Prädikatswein category of the German wine classification and is the lowest level of Prädikatswein in Austria, where Kabinett is classified in...
. An Auslese
Auslese
Auslese is a German language wine term for a late harvest wine and is a riper category than Spätlese in the Prädikatswein category of the Austrian and German wine classification. The grapes are picked from selected very ripe bunches in the autumn , and have to be hand picked...
followed in 1787. See Noble rot
Noble rot
Noble rot is the benevolent form of a grey fungus, Botrytis cinerea, affecting wine grapes. Infestation by Botrytis requires moist conditions, and if the weather stays wet, the malevolent form, "grey rot", can destroy crops of grapes...
and Schloss Johannisberg
Schloss Johannisberg
Schloss Johannisberg is a winery in the Rheingau wine-growing region in Germany, that has been making wine for over 900 years. The winery is most noted for its claim to have "discovered" late harvest wine.- History :...
Family
Heinrich was a member of the aristocratic Franconian von Bibra family which among its members were Lorenz von BibraLorenz von Bibra
Lorenz von Bibra, Duke in Franconia was Prince-Bishop of the Bishopric of Würzburg from 1495 to 1519. His life paralleled Maximilian I , who served as Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 to 1519, to which Lorenz did serve as an advisor....
, Prince-Bishop of Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
, Duke in Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...
(1459–1519), Lorenz’ half brother, Wilhelm von Bibra
Wilhelm von Bibra
Wilhelm von Bibra was a Papal Emissary.-Papal Emissary:Wilhelm functioned as a Papal Emissary for both the archbishop of Cologne and Kaiser Friedrich. Wilhelm’s half brother, Prince Bishop Lorenz von Bibra of Würzburg, in 1487 wrote a letter of introduction to Pope Innocent VIII for Wilhelm who...
Papal emissary, Conrad von Bibra
Conrad von Bibra
Conrad von Bibra , Duke in Franconia was Prince-Bishop of Würzburg from 1540 to 1544. -Biography:...
, Prince-Bishop of Würzburg, Duke in Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...
(1490–1544) and Ernst von Bibra
Ernst von Bibra
Dr. Ernst Freiherr von Bibra was a German Naturalist and author...
(1806–1878), naturalist and author.
Literature
- MARINA VON BIBRA, Heinrich VIII. - Fürstbischof von Fulda. In: Gerhard Pfeiffer (Hg.), Fränkische Lebensbilder, Bd. 4, Würzburg 1971, 213-229;
- WILHELM FREIHERR VON BIBRA, Beiträge zur Familien-Geschichte der Reichsfreiherm von Bibra, Bd. 3/I, München 1888, 230-255; Ders., Geschichte der Familie von Bibra. München 1870, 148-150;
- A. GNAU, Das kirchliche Wirken Heinrich VIII. von Bibra, Fürstbischofs von Fulda (1759–1788), in: Mitteilungen des Historischen Vereins der Diözese Fulda 6 (1902) 12-19;
- JOHANN EBERHARD VON KAISER, Regierungsgeschichte des jetztigen Fürsten-Bischofs Heinrich des VIII. zu Fulda im Grundriße, Vornehmlich in Hinsicht der innern Landes-Anstalten und Verbesserungen, in: Patriotisches Archiv für Deutschland 2 (1785) 1-102;
- WERNER KATHREIN, Bibra, Heinrich, in: Erwin Gatz (Hg.), Die Bischöfe des Heiligen Römischen Reiches 1648-1803, Berlin 1990, 29f.;
- JOSEF LEINWEBER, Die Fuldaer Äbte und Bischöfe, Frankfurt a.M. 1989, 159-163;
- MICHAEL MÜLLER, Fürstbischof Heinrich von Bibra und die katholische Aufklärung im Hochstift Fulda (1759–88). Wandel und Kontinuität des kirchlichen Lebens, 451 pp., Fulda 2005.
- PETER ADOLPH WINKOPP, Beiträge zur Lebensgeschichte Heinrich des achten Fürstbischofen 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 Bibliotheksgründer Fürstbischof Heinrich VIII. von Bibra (1759–1788), in: Artur Brall (Hg.), Von der Klosterbibliothek zur Landesbibliothek. Beiträge zum zweihundertjährigen Bestehen der Hessischen Landesbibliothek Fulda (Stuttgart 1978) 269-293;
- F. ZWENGER, Heinrich v. Bibra. Fürstbischof von Fulda, in: BuBl 4 (1923) 139f., 143f., 148 [Weitgehend auf Wilhelm von Bibra beruhend];
External links
- Coinarchives's Photos and information on completed coin sales of Heinrich von Bibra coins
- Heinrich von Bibra Page on vonbibra.net
- Heinrich von Bibra School
- Heinrich von Bibra Page on German Wikipedia