The Diocese of Aachen () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church located in Germany and one of the six dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cologne. The incumbent bishop is Helmut Dieser, who was appointed by Pope Francis on 23 September 2016. The bishop's seat is Aachen.
Geography The diocese is located in the very west of Germany, extending from Krefeld in the north to the mountainous Eifel area in the south. Bordering dioceses are Cologne, Münster, Essen and Trier in Germany, Liège in Belgium and Roermond in the Netherlands.
The diocese is divided into seven regions which are in turn further subdivided into 538 parishesː Region Aachen-Stadt (Aachen city) Region Düren Region Eifel Region Heinsberg Region Kempen Viersen Region Krefeld Region Mönchengladbach
Ordinaries The bishop emeritus of Aachen is Heinrich Mussinghoff. There are two auxiliary bishops, Johannes Bündgens and Karl Borsch. Also, there are two emeritus auxiliary bishops, Gerd Dicke and Karl Reger. The vicar general is Andreas Frick.
List of diocesan bishops Tenure Incumbente Notes9 May 1802 – 13 August 1809Marc Antoine BerdoletInstalled 25 July 1802; died in office1821Diocese abolished 1930Diocese re-established 30 January 1931 – 5 October 1937Joseph VogtOrdained 19 March 1931; installed 25 March 1931; died in office7 September 1943 – 19 May 1954Johannes Joseph van der VeldenPriest of Köln Cologne; ordained 10 October 1943; died in office30 August 1954 – 13 December 1974Johannes PohlschneiderPriest of Münster; ordained 18 November 1954; retired9 September 1975 – 23 January 1994Klaus HemmerlePriest of Freiburg im Breisgau; ordained 8 November 1975; died in office12 December 1994 – 8 December 2015Heinrich MussinghoffPriest of Münster; Ordained 11 February 1995
List of auxiliary bishops Tenure Incumbent Notes1931–1943Hermann Joseph SträterOrdained 16 October 1931, became Apostolic Administrator 15 May 1938, died 16 March 19431938–1969Friedrich HünermannOrdained 3 December 1938, died 15 February 19691961–1979Joseph Ludwig BuchkremerOrdained 21 December 1961, retired 4 October 19791970–2003Ernst Franz Gerd Werner DickeOrdained 11 April 1970, retired 21 November 20031978–1980Maximilian GoffartOrdained 18 February 1978, died 17 July 19801981–1986Augustus PetersOrdained 6 April 1981, died 3 May 19861987–2006Karl RegerOrdained 7 February 1987, retired 15 March 20062003–presentKarl BorschOrdained 17 January 20042006–presentJohannes BündgensOrdained 20 May 2006, retired 8 November 2022
History Historically, today's territory of the Diocese of Aachen belonged to the Diocese of Liège and the Archdiocese of Cologne. The diocese was first created in 1802, covering the area west of the Rhine formerly belonging to Cologne, as well as parts from the dioceses Liège, Utrecht, Roermond and Mainz. After the first bishop Marc Antoine Berdolet died in 1809, Pope Pius VII refused to commission the successor suggested by Napoleon, Jean Denis François Camus. After the French rulership over the area, the diocese was abolished by the bull De salute animarum of July 16, 1821, and incorporated into the archdiocese of Cologne.
On August 13, 1930 the diocese was re-established by the papal bull Pastorale officii nostri. Joseph Vogt was appointed as its first bishop.
Major Churches
The principal church of the diocese is the Aachen Cathedral, of which the central part, the Palatine Chapel, was built in 800 under Charlemagne. It was also the first German World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1978.
The diocese has two churches that have been given the status of basilica minorː Steinfeld Basilica, Kall-Steinfeld – 7 October 1960 Minster St. Vitus, Mönchengladbach – 25 April 1973
See also Catholic Church in Germany List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany Ursulakapelle, at Gressenich, part of Stolberg town
External links Website of the Diocese GCatholic.org Website of the diocese