Saint Ulrich

890-973

Saint Ulrich, born in 890 in Wittislingen, died on July 4, 973, and was appointed bishop of Augsburg in 923. He and his troops played a key role in the victory of King Otto I over the Magyars during the Battle of Lechfeld (August 8-10, 955) by keeping opposing forces out of the city. After these battles Ulrich ascended to the levels of the powerful in Germany and Otto I granted him the right to mint coins.

As a bishop, he took his pastoral and governmental responsibilities seriously and encouraged the missionary work of his clergy and congregation. He concerned himself with improving the moral and social conditions of the clergy, with building cloisters and with helping the poor. In Augsburg he founded the canonical monastery of St. Stephan in 969 and oversaw the rebuilding of the Dom and the Church of St. Afra.

Bishop Ulrich is often represented as one of the first saints to be officially canonized. Pope John XV is said to have notarized his achievement on February 3, 993, but the text of the declaration has only been passed down in later transcriptions.

One can visit his sepulcher in the Basilica of St. Ulrich and Afra, a church he himself consecrated.