Bishopric, Imperial City, and Principality of Verden

 

This page covers the territory of the Bishopric and Imperial City of Verden. After the Thirty-Years War, the Bishopric was secularized into a Principality with the same subdivision structure. The Imperial City was abolished and merged into the Principality. The Principality retained “country” status until 1715, at which time it became a Landesteil within the Electorate of Hannover, still retaining the same subdivision structure.

 

Index of simplified names referenced on this page

 

• Verden-Rotenburg
• Verden
• Verden-Stade

 

Navigation hints

 

Bishopric of Verden

 

• Simplified country name: Verden-Rotenburg (1)
• Nation: Ecclesiastical Germany
• Chronology
  • ~850: Founded
  • 1180: Imperial immediacy:
  • 1567: Acquired Vogtei Dörverden upon the termination of Hoya
  • 1568: Beginning of database: (2)
  • 1648: Secularized
• Successor: Principality of Verden

 

(1) The simplified name of “Verden” is reserved for the Imperial City. To distinguish the Bishopric from the Imperial City, I add “-Rotenburg”—the name of the city from which secular administrative functions of the Bishopric were carried out.

(2) 1568 was the year the first Protestant bishop took office.

 

Return to index

 

Imperial City of Verden

 

• Simplified country name: Verden
• Nation: Imperial Germany
• Chronology
  • 1259: City rights granted
  • ~1450: Imperial status granted
  • 1568: Beginning of database
  • 1648: Terminated
• Successor: Principality of Verden

 

Return to index

 

Principality of Verden

 

• Simplified country name: Verden-Stade (3)
• Nation:
  • Swedish Germany (1648-1712)
  • Danish Germany (1712-1715)
• Predecessor: Bishopric of Verden
• Chronology
  • 1648: Created upon secularization of the Bishopric
  • 1679: Transferred Vogtei Dörverden to Lüneburg; acquired Vogtei Daverden from Bremen-Stade
  • 1715: Terminated (4)
• Successor: Electorate of Hannover (5)
• Personal unions
  • Verden as secondary
    • Kingdom of Sweden (1648-1712)
    • Kingdom of Denmark (1712-1715)

 

(3) The simplified name of “Verden” is reserved for the Imperial City. To distinguish the Principality from the Imperial City, I add “-Stade”—the name of the city from which the Swedes governed both the Principality of Verden and the Duchy of Bremen (Bremen’s previous seat of Bremervörde having largely been destroyed during the Thirty-Years War).

(4) Within Hannover, the Principality of Verden was still recognized as a Landesteil and retained the same subdivision structure, but it no longer qualified for “country” status.

(5) After the Napoleonic Wars, Hannover was elevated to a Kingdom and any meaningful distinction between the Landesteile of Bremen and Verden was eliminated. They were combined, along with Hadeln, into Landdrostei Stade in 1823. When Hannover was acquired by Prussia in 1866, the Landdrostei was converted to a Regeierungsbezirk—an entity that persisted until 1978.