Würzburger Diözesanblatt (Würzburg Diocesan Gazette)

The Würzburger Diözesanblatt (Würzburg Diocesan Gazette) has been published since 1855. It contains all the instructions and laws of the diocese of Würzburg, as well as pastoral letters, personnel news and other news and information on church life in the diocese. The organisational and legal development in the diocese is documented, as is the relationship of the local church in Würzburg to the overall church, political and social development of the time.

Publisher and content

The Würzburger Diözesanblatt is, as the subtitle indicates, the "Official Gazette of the Diocese of Würzburg". It is published by the Episcopal Ordinariate, the central administrative authority of the diocese, under the responsibility of the Vicar General.

Ecclesiastical laws and directives for the diocese of Würzburg have been enacted here since 1855. In its entirety, the Diözesanblatt thus forms a collection of Würzburg's particular canon law, which exists alongside the general canon law of the Codex iuris canonici. In addition, the diocesan gazette is used to publish pastoral letters and information about church events and personnel changes.

Scientific significance

The digitisation of the Würzburger Diözesanblatt makes available for research a particular legal collection that is typical of the German sphere. In addition to current issues, it is an important source for historical research, not only for legal questions, but above all for the question of official church statements on the respective issues of the time.

Examples of this are the pastoral letters of the Würzburg Bishop Matthias Ehrenfried (1871-1948, reigned 1924-1948) during the time of the Third Reich or the implementation of the resolutions of the Second Vatican Council at the level of the local church. Another possible analysis is the development of territorial structures and administrative organisation in the diocese.

Historical research increasingly recognises that the Christian churches were a significant factor in political and social life in the 19th and 20th centuries and that an appropriate examination of this requires the provision of the relevant documents. The online version of the Würzburger Diözesanblatt takes this development into account.

Author: Johannes Merz

Notes on use

Personal data (especially telephone addresses) in more recent years since 1977 were removed during digitization.

Information on the project

The digitization of the Würzburg Diocesan Bulletin is a joint project of the Diocese of Würzburg (in German language) and the Bavarian State Library.

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