"...vorschnelle Aufklärungs- und Verbesserungsabsichten?" Die aufklärerische Kirchenpolitik König Friedrichs und ihre Folgen für die katholische Bevölkerung Neuwürttembergs

Lecture by Dr. Amelie Bieg, Würzburg, on Thursday, January 22, 2026, 6 p.m., Main State Archives Stuttgart Admission free

As a result of mediatization and secularization in 1803/06, Protestant Württemberg gained a large number of Catholics, who made up around a third of the kingdom's total population. The government under King Frederick forced the Catholic Church into a strict state ecclesiasticism and decisively supported the Catholic Enlightenment. As a result, numerous decrees were issued which, for example, abolished public holidays, banned pilgrimages and restricted the veneration of the Virgin Mary. This policy provoked a great deal of resistance from the Catholic population, which led to conflicts with the new authorities. The lecture sheds light on Enlightenment church policy in relation to the Catholic Church and the resulting conflicts.