The completion of the "Bischofslexikon 1804–1918" project, spanning multiple grant cycles and culminating in the fulfillment of one of the key commitments of the 2012 Lendület Program, was achieved in the spring of 2020 by the Fraknói Research Group. The results of this extensive research, conducted through a wide-ranging collaboration within Hungary, the Carpathian Basin, and internationally, have been published in an impressive volume by the Berlin-based Duncker & Humblot publishing house: Die Bischöfe der Donaumonarchie 1804 bis 1918. Ein amtsbiographisches Lexikon, hg. von RUPERT KLIEBER, Band I: Die röm.kath. Kirchenprovinczen Gran, Kalocsa, Erlau im Königreich Ungarn, unter Mitarbeit von PÉTER TUSOR, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2020 (XVIII + 661 p).
The German-language Berlin edition of the Bischofslexikon 1804–1918 is now fully available as an Open Access publication on the Fraknói Research Group's website as of January 6, 2025. See the link here!
Work on the corrected, updated, expanded, and revised Hungarian edition of the lexicon is nearing completion. Following the release of preliminary publications containing complete biographical series by diocese, published as e-fasciculi, the editorial process for Magyarország egyházmegyéi és püspökei 1804–1918 I–IV. Intézménytörténeti és életrajzi lexikon" (Collectanea Studiorum et Textuum I/7, Budapest 2025) has begun. The material covering the ecclesiastical provinces of Esztergom, Kalocsa-Bács, and Eger, together with Pannonhalma and an introduction by Gábor Adriányi, comprises 791 printed pages (B/5 format). Additional sections include a Roman-numeral-indexed table of contents, a foreword, and various supplementary appendices. (The material on the Hungarian Greek Catholic episcopate will be published in a separate volume as Chapter V.)
Hungarian historiography suffers from a marked lack of modern handbooks and syntheses authored domestically. The Fraknói Research Group's extensive and internationally collaborative undertaking, which has exceeded the bounds of its resources, aims to address this deficiency while also serving as an example for larger institutions equipped with more substantial resources and favorable conditions.
The announcement includes, alongside the cover page of the Berlin German edition, several illustrations (portraits of prelates and other photographs) that do not appear in either the volume or the chapter-by-chapter publications.
The following 1–12 images are: portraits of Sándor Bonnaz, Bishop of Csanád; János Pauer, Bishop of Székesfehérvár (in both priestly and episcopal attire); and Imre Bende, Bishop of Besztercebánya and later Nyitra. The next three photographs relate to Abbot Ipoly Fehér (his procession into Pannonhalma and then Budapest in 1892, and his departure for the 45th anniversary celebrations of Franz Joseph’s accession). This is followed by the ceremonial carriage of Primate Kolos Vaszary (1895). Lastly, there are various photographs of Count Károly Emmánuel Csáky, Bishop of Vác; Ottokár Prohászka, Bishop of Székesfehérvár; Gyula Glattfelder, Bishop of Csanád; and Antal Fetser, Bishop of Győr.
