Wurtemberg, the Kingdom of

Wurtemberg, The Kingdom Of has, according to the censums of 1880, a population of 1,971,255 souls, of whom 1,361,412 are Protestants, 590,405 Roman Catholics, 13,326 Jews, etc. The constitution of the Protestant Church is consistorial. The highest legislative and administrative authority is, so far as regards purely ecclesiastical matters, vested in the consistory, composed of a president, a legal councillor, and seven ordinary councillors (five laymen and two ecclesiastics), who are all appointed by the king. Since 1848, however, there has been established alongside the consistsory, and acting in unison with it, a series of parish councils, diocesan synods, and annual synods- general, to which the membership is elective. The territory of the Church is divided into six superintendencies, each with a "prelate" at the head. These prelates superintend 49 deaneries, comprising 906 parishes, with 1021 pastors. Each prelate has to visit his diocese every three years. The general synod meets every four years, and is composed of fifty-six members, viz., of forty-nine members representing the different deaneries, one representing the theological faculty of Tubingen, and six nominated directly by the king. The University of Tubingen has a faculty of Protestant theology, consisting of five ordinary professors, besides professors extraordinary and "Privatdocenten." The Roman Catholics in Wurtemberg form the episcopal diocese of Rottenbuirg, which comprises 672 parishes and 946 priests, paid by the state. The University of Tubingen has also a faculty of Roman Catholic theology, consisting of six professors. The diocese of Rottenburg belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Freiburg, to which its relations have been arranged by the papal bull Provida solersque, of August 11, 1821. The present incumbent of the episcopal see at Rottenburg is the famous Church historian Hefele. Besides the Catholic facility, there is also a clerical seminary at Rottenburg, with three professors. The relations of the Jews are regulated by the law of April 25, 1825. The territory of the synagogue is divided into twelve rabbinates which are governed by an ecclesiastical council, consisting of the chief rabbi of Stuttgart and five laymen, who are responsible to the ministry for ecclesiastical affairs. See Schmid-Sonneck, Die evangelische Diaspora Wurtenberg's nach Entstehung und gegenwartigem Bestand (Stuttgart, 1879); Helfferich, Chronik der evangelischen Kirche Wurtemberg's vom Jahre 1879 (ibid. 1880); Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Konigreichs Wurtemberg (1881); Lichtenberger, Encyclop. des Sciences Religieuses, s.v.; Herzog, Real-Encyklop. s.v. (B.P.)