Freising

Freising, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Bavaria, on the Isar, 16 m. by rail N.N.E. of Munich. Pop. (1905) 13,538. Among its eight Roman Catholic churches the most remarkable is the cathedral, which dates from about 1160 and is famous for its curious crypt. Noteworthy also are the old palace of the bishops, now a clerical seminary, the theological lyceum and the town-hall. There are several schools in the town, and there is a statue to the chronicler, Otto of Freising, who was bishop here from 1138 to 1158. Freising has manufactures of agricultural machinery and of porcelain, while printing and brewing are carried on. Near the town is the site of the Benedictine abbey of Weihenstephan, which existed from 725 to 1803. This is now a model farm and brewery. Freising is a very ancient town and is said to have been founded by the Romans. After being destroyed by the Hungarians in 955 it was fortified by the emperor Otto II. in 976 and by Duke Welf of Bavaria in 1082. A bishopric was established here in 724 by St Corbinianus, whose brother Erimbert was consecrated second bishop by St Boniface in 739. Later on the bishops acquired considerable territorial power and in the 17th century became princes of the Empire. In 1802 the see was secularized, the bulk of its territories being assigned to Bavaria and the rest to Salzburg, of which Freising had been a suffragan bishopric. In 1817 an archbishopric was established at Freising, but in the following year it was transferred to Munich. The occupant of the see is now called archbishop of Munich and Freising.

See C. Meichelbeck, Historiae Frisingensis (Augsburg, 1724-1729, new and enlarged edition 1854).

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