Archdiocese of München-Freising

ARCHDIOCESE OF MÜNCHEN-FREISING (Archidioecesis Monacensis et Frisingensis)

Country : Germany
Denomination : Roman Catholic

Established : 739 as Diocese of Freising
Elevated and renamed in 1818 to Archdiocese of München-Freising
Added 1818 Diocese of Chiemsee

Arms of the Archdiocese München-Freising

Official blazon
English	blazon wanted

Origin/meaning

The crowned head as symbol for the diocese appears for the first time on the seals of Bishop Emicho in 1285 in a small shield at the base of his seal. As colours are not known, it is unclear whether it is really a Moor's head. The Moor is often identified as the patron saint of the diocese, St. Corbinian, however, he was not black and all old images of the saint used by the bishops, showed him facing not en profil. He is also never shown with a crown.

More likely is the theory that Bishop Ermicho wanted to show that he is only below the German King, symbolised by the crown, and not under the rule of the Dukes of Bavaria, with whom he was in a territorial conflict.

The first coloured image appears in a book from Bishop Konrad (1314-1322) and clearly shows a crowned Moor. This image has never changed since. Even though there has been a lot of research and a number of theories, it is still not clear why a Moor's head was chosen and/or whether already the head on the seal of Bishop Ermicho was already a Moor.

The most accepted theory is the following; under Bishop Konrad the Moor was used as a symbol to mark the property of the diocese and was mentioned as a Caput Aethiopis, or the Head of an Ethiopian. This, in turn, may refer to a Biblican theme where Ethiopians (or Ethiopian Kings) were seen as curators or protectors of treasure. A head of a crowend Ethiopian thus could be used as a symbol of property or treasure.

A second theory is that the head refers to the people that are still not Christian, and have not seen the light, i.e. shown as black. This may refer to the missionary activity of the bishops in their Eastern possessions in what is now Austria and Slovenia.

It is also speculated that these theories are combined : Bishop Ermicho wanted to show that he is under the King alone, that he acts as a missionary and at the same time it was used to protect his treasure. Probably we will never find out the actual reason for using the Moor.

The colours have historically been with a golden shield, but after the renaming and move from Freising to München in 1818 the arms were generally seen in the colours of München, silver and black. Only in 2013 the Archdiocese reverted to the historical colours. The Archbishops already reverted tp the historical colours in the early 20th century.

After 1803 when the wordly possessions of the different ecclesiastical rulers (bishops, abbeys..) were confiscated by the Bavarian State (secularisation) it was suggested to replace the arms with the Moor, as these also referred to the territories held by the bishops. Several new designs from 1821 focussed on the patron saints of the diocese. St. Mary and St. Corbinian, see image below, but were never approved or adopted.

Image gallery

The seal from 1285
The arms in a book from Bishop Konrad (1314-1322)
The arms in 1459
The arms in the late 15th century
>The arms in the 16th/17th century
The arms in 1581
The arms in a 17th century manuscript
17th century seal of the diocese
18th century seal of the diocese
The arms in the Wapen- en Vlaggenboek van Gerrit Hesman (1708)
Proposal from 1821
The arms until 2013

Arms of Bishops

Emicho (1283-1311)
Gottfried von Hexenagger (1311-1314)
Konrad der Sendlinger (1314-1322)
Johannes Wulfing (1323-1324)
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Konrad IV. von Klingenberg (1324-1340)
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Johannes II. Hake (1341-1349)
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Albert II. von Hohenberg (1349-1359)
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Paul von Jägerndorf (1359-1377)
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Leopold von Sturmberg (1378-1381)
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Berthold von Wehingen (1381-1410)
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Konrad V. von Hebenstreit (1411-1412)
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Hermann von Cilli (1412-1421)
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Nikodemus della Scala (1422-1443)
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Heinrich II. Schlick (1443-1448)
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Johannes III. Grünwalder (1448-1452)
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Johann IV. Tulbeck (1453-1473)
Sixtus von Tannberg (1474-1495)
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Ruprecht von der Pfalz (1495-1498)
Philipp von der Pfalz (1498-1541)
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Heinrich von der Pfalz (1541-1552)
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Leo Lösch von Hilkertshausen (1552-1559)
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Moritz von Sandizell (1559-1566)
Ernst von Bayern (1566-1612)
Stephan von Seiboldsdorf (1612-1618)
Veit Adam von Gepeckh (1618-1651)
Albrecht Sigismund von Bayern (1652-1685)
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Joseph Clemens von Bayern (1685-1694)
Johann Franz Eckher von Kapfing und Liechteneck (1695-1727)
Johann Theodor von Bayern (1727-1763)
Clemens Wenzeslaus von Sachsen (1763-1768)
Ludwig Joseph von Welden (1768-1788)
Maximilian Prokop von Toerring-Jettenbach (1788-1789)
Joseph Konrad von Schroffenberg (1789-1803)

Arms of Archbishops

Lothar Anselm von Gebsattel (1821-1846 )
Karl August von Reisach (1846-1856)
Gregor von Scherr (1856-1877)
Anton von Steichele (1878-1889)
Antonius von Thoma (1889-1897)
Franz Joseph von Stein (1897-1909)
Franziskus von Bettinger (1909-1917)
Michael von Faulhaber (1917-1952)
Joseph Wendel (1952-1960)
Julius August Döpfner (1961-1976)
Joseph Ratzinger (1977-1982)
Friedrich Wetter (1982-2007)
Reinhard Marx (2008-present)

Arms of Auxiliary bishops

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Johannes Frey (1457-1474)
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Johannes Berger (1475-1481)
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Erasmus Berchinger (1482-1483)
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Ulrich Pramberger (1484-1494)
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Johannes Gropengeter (1499-1508)
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Mathias Schach (1495-1515)
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Konrad Mair (1517-1522)
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Augustin Mair (1423-1427)
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Johann Peter Stoll (1529-1548)
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Oswald Fischer (1548-1568)
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Sebastian Haidlauf (1569-1580)
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Bartholomäus Scholl (1581-1629)
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Johann Fiernhammer (1630-1663)
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Johann Kaspar Kühner (1665-1685)
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Simon Judas Thaddäus Schmidt (1687-1691)
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Johann Sigmund Zeller von und zu Leibersdorf (1692-1729)
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Johann Ferdinand Joseph von Boedigkeim (1730-1756)
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Franz Ignaz Albert von Werdenstein (1756-1766)
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Ernest Johann Nepomuk von Herberstein (1767-1785)
Johann Nepomuk von Wolf (1788-1802)
Franz Ignaz von Streber (1821-1841)
Johann Baptist von Neudecker (1911-1926)
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Alois Hartl (1921-1923)
Michael Buchberger (1923-1927)
Johann Baptist Schauer (1928-1942)
Anton Scharnagl (1943-1955)
Johannes Neuhäusler (1947-1973)
Ernst Tewes (1968-1984)
Matthias Defregger (1968-1990)
Heinrich von Soden-Fraunhofen (1972-1993)
Did not use arms

Franz Schwarzenböck (1972-1998)
Did not use arms

Engelbert Siebler (1986-2012)
Bernhard Haßlberger (1994-present)
Franz Dietl (1998-2010)
Wolfgang Bischof (2010-present)
Rupert Graf zu Stolberg-Stolberg (2016-present)

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