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| Archiv für mittelrheinische Kirchengeschichte | |
|---|---|
| Title | Archiv für mittelrheinische Kirchengeschichte |
| Discipline | Church history |
| Language | German |
| Publisher | Historischer Verein für Nassau |
| Country | Germany |
| History | 19th century–present |
| Frequency | Irregular / annual volumes |
Archiv für mittelrheinische Kirchengeschichte is a scholarly periodical dedicated to the history of ecclesiastical institutions, personalities, and sources in the Middle Rhine region. It publishes articles, document editions, and reviews that connect local parishes, dioceses, monastic houses, and secular authorities spanning the Early Middle Ages to the modern era. The journal serves as a nexus for research linked to archives, cathedral chapters, university historians, and regional societies.
Founded in the late 19th century by regional antiquaries associated with the Historischer Verein für Nassau and allied learned societies, the journal emerged amid contemporaneous initiatives such as the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, the Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters, and provincial journals like the Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins. Early contributors included scholars tied to the universities of Bonn, Mainz, and Marburg and to institutions like the State Archives of Koblenz and the Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv. Across upheavals including the Revolutions of 1848, the Kulturkampf, both World Wars, and the restructuring after 1945, the publication adapted editorially and institutionally, mirroring shifts seen in the Katholische Kirche, the Evangelische Kirche in Hessen und Nassau, and the papal diplomacy surrounding the Lateran Treaties. Postwar revival brought collaboration with the Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, and local cathedral chapters such as Trier and Mainz.
The journal concentrates on medieval and early modern topics tied to the Middle Rhine, including episcopal administration of Trier and Mainz, Benedictine and Cistercian monasticism at Maria Laach and Eberbach, Premonstratensian foundations, and the Reformation as it affected speyer, Worms, and Boppard. Articles treat archival sources from the Landesarchivverwaltung, charters connected to the Salian dynasty, Carolingian diplomas, investiture controversies, and ecclesiastical visitation records from the Council of Trent era. Thematic ranges extend to confessionalization studies involving the Peace of Augsburg, Napoleonic secularization linked to the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, missionary activity tied to the Society of Jesus, and twentieth-century developments involving the Second Vatican Council and ecumenical relations with the Confessing Church. The journal regularly prints primary source editions: registers of cathedral chapters, episcopal correspondence, synodal statutes, and hagiographical texts related to saints such as Hildegard of Bingen and Rupert of Bingen.
Editorial oversight has historically been provided by joint committees drawn from the Historischer Verein für Nassau, university departments in Bonn and Mainz, and archival institutions like the Landesarchiv Rheinland-Pfalz. Volumes appear irregularly, often as annual or biennial collections, and include thematic special issues coordinated with conferences held at institutions such as the German Historical Institute and the Monumenta Germaniae Historica workshops. Peer review involves external referees from faculties at the University of Cologne, the University of Heidelberg, the University of Münster, and comparable centers. The editorial apparatus features critical apparatus for diplomatic editions, paleographical commentary tied to codicological hands, and indices useful for onomastic and prosopographical research linking families like the Electors of Mainz, the House of Nassau, and the Counts of Katzenelnbogen.
Prominent contributors have included historians and editors associated with figures and institutions such as Heinrich von Sybel, Theodor Schieder, Leopold von Ranke (influence through method), and more recent scholars from the universities of Freiburg, Tübingen, and Erlangen. Seminal articles have treated the Concordat negotiations involving Pius VII, the monastic reforms of Abbot Berno and Abbot Adalbert, episcopal politics in the Archdiocese of Mainz, and source editions of correspondence by administrators within the Teutonic Order. The journal has published work by leading medievalists, ecclesiastical historians, archivists from the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and epigraphists linked to the Rheinisches Landesmuseum.
Physical copies are held in regional repositories including the Landesbibliothek Darmstadt, the Universitätsbibliothek Mainz, the Universitäts- und Stadtbibliothek Köln, and cathedral libraries at Trier and Mainz. Microfilm and digitized backruns are increasingly accessible through collaborative digitization projects with the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and regional digital libraries; copies may also be consulted in union catalogs such as the Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog. Researchers access manuscript sources cited in the journal via the Staatsarchiv Koblenz, Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg, and municipal archives of Koblenz and Wiesbaden, with finding aids prepared by archivists trained in diplomatics and palaeography.
The journal has influenced regional church-historical scholarship and contributed to broader debates in German historiography about confessionalization, secularization, and regional identity. Its documentary editions have been cited in monographs on the Holy Roman Empire, regional studies involving the Rhine provinces, and doctoral dissertations at institutions such as Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Reviews and responses to its articles appear in journals like Historische Zeitschrift, Church History, and Zeitschrift für historische Forschung, indicating its role in shaping source-based research and archival practice across the German-speaking historiographical community.
Category:German history journals Category:Ecclesiastical history