The term ‘Hochstift’ for the secular territory ruled by the Bishops of Cammin does not appear in contemporary sources. These refer to the ‘Stift Cammin’ and, later, also to the ‘Diocese of Cammin’. Consequently, a degree of conceptual ambiguity has arisen, particularly since the secularisation of the chapter’s lands in the 16th century, as the term ‘chapter’ or ‘diocese’ was originally understood to refer to the entire ecclesiastical territory of the Bishop of Cammin, which stretched from Bütow/Bytów in the east to Güstrow in the west, and from the Baltic Sea to the northern parts of the Neumark and the Uckermark.

The Diocese of Cammin traces its origins back to the missionary work of Bishop Otto of Bamberg (1102–1139), who, during two journeys in 1124–1125, first converted the Pomeranians in the Oder region and in Hinterpommern to the Christian faith, and then, in 1128, the Lutici in Vorpommern. This missionary work was closely linked to Duke Wartislaw I of Pomerania’s (c. 1100–1148) interest in securing his rule over the emerging Slavic principality on the southern Baltic coast. His dynasty, the ‘Greifen’, exercised patronage over the Pomeranian Church in the centuries that followed and played a decisive role in shaping its destiny. Following the death of Otto of Bamberg, the Diocese of Pomerania was established in 1140 with the appointment of Adalbert (in office 1140–c. 1160) as Bishop of Wollin/Wolin. After a few years, the seat of the diocese was moved to Grobe near Usedom, before it finally found its home in Cammin in the mid-1170s.

Even in the first half of the 13th century, the bishops of Cammin had succeeded in establishing their own secular territory within their diocese, the Prince-Bishopric of Cammin. Whilst these efforts were still focused on the territory of Stargard/Stargard Szczeciński in 1240, they exchanged this as early as 1248 for half of the territory of Kolberg. With the acquisition of the other half a few decades later, as well as the region of Bublitz, the territory of the Hochstift had essentially taken on its final shape, the boundaries of which remained visible as district boundaries until the end of the Second World War.

From the early 13th to the mid-14th century, intensive land development took place in the archdiocese, as evidenced by numerous new village settlements which, much like in the territories of other ecclesiastical landlords, such as the Cistercian monasteries in Vorpommern and Hinterpommern, exhibited a high concentration of Hagenhufen villages. The bishop saw his role as sovereign particularly in the founding of towns within the bishopric’s territory, with Bishop Hermann von Gleichen (in office 1251–1288) playing a particularly prominent role. It is also to him that the two most important suburbs in the bishopric, Kolberg (1256) and Köslin (1266), owe their conferral of Lübeck town charter. The small towns of Körlin and Bublitz also took on the functions of regional centres, not least because the respective abbey castles situated on their outskirts served as residences for the bishops.

Thanks to this extensive secular territory and a shrewd policy towards the Pomeranian dukes and the Margraves of Brandenburg, the first bishops of Cammin were able to extend their ecclesiastical jurisdiction far beyond the borders of the Duchy of Pomerania. In addition to the northern Neumark around Soldin/Myślibórz and Landsberg/Gorzów Wielkopolski, as well as the northern Uckermark around Prenzlau, large parts of eastern Mecklenburg, up to and including Güstrow, also belonged to the Diocese of Cammin. Cammin was one of the largest dioceses within the Holy Roman Empire (German Nation). It enjoyed exempt status, meaning that none of the neighbouring archbishoprics succeeded in asserting their claims of suzerainty over Cammin. Cammin Cathedral, the oldest Romanesque sections of which date back to the last quarter of the 12th century, formed the principal ecclesiastical centre of the entire diocese. Within the Cammin archdiocese, St Mary’s Cathedral in Kolberg was the most distinguished ecclesiastical institution, serving as a collegiate church. In addition, the diocese also comprised collegiate churches in Stettin/Szczecin (St Mary’s and St Otten’s), in Greifswald (St Nicholas’s), in Güstrow and in Soldin.

From the early 15th century onwards, the Cammin Bishopric was officially listed in the Imperial Register. Consequently, the Bishop of Cammin was a recognised Imperial Prince. Even though the Pomeranian dukes repeatedly succeeded in bringing the bishops of Cammin under the control of the House of Greifen, the bishopric’s territory formally remained an independent entity. This was evident not least in the introduction of the Reformation, which took place in the Bishopric of Cammin a full ten years later than in the Duchy of Pomerania. From 1556 onwards, the revenues of the Bishopric of Cammin were used to support members of the House of Greifen, who governed the territory as titular bishops. Duke Ernst Bogislaw von Croÿ (1620–1684), the nephew of the last ruling Duke of Pomerania, Bogislaw XIV (1580–1637), finally renounced his episcopal office in 1650 in exchange for a settlement in favour of the Electoral House of Brandenburg. His compensation included large portions of the revenues of the Cammin Bishopric, amongst other things the districts of Gülzow/Golczewo and Bublitz as well as the cathedral provostship of Kucklow/Kukułowo, so that a certain degree of continuity was maintained until his death. The cathedral chapters in Cammin and Kolberg were not abolished until the early 19th century, when Prussia fell into a severe economic crisis following its defeats at the hands of Napoleon (1769–1821).

With the Peace of Westphalia, the Diocese of Cammin had been transformed into a secular principality and assigned to the Electorate of Brandenburg. The Hohenzollerns subsequently bore, officially and in full, the title and coat of arms of a Prince of Cammin until the end of the German Empire in 1918. From an administrative perspective, the name remained in use until a local government reform in 1872. Indeed, the so-called ‘Fürstentumer Kreis’ (Cammin Principality District) continued to exist within the territory of the former archbishopric until it was divided into the districts of Kolberg-Körlin, Köslin and Bublitz.

With the Reformation, the ecclesiastical leadership within the Duchy of Pomerania had assumed secular authority, which it administered through consistories established specifically for this purpose, including one for the Cammin Bishopric in Kolberg. Following the House of Greifen, this function was taken over by the Swedish Crown in Western Pomerania and by the House of Hohenzollern in Eastern Pomerania. The latter gradually centralised the ecclesiastical administration of most of their territories in Berlin. Ultimately, the Church Province of Pomerania within the Prussian Regional Church was administered by a consistory in Stettin, which was subordinate to the Supreme Church Council in Berlin.

• Sabine Bock, Werner Buchholz, Michael Lissok, Jana Olschewski, Haik Thomas Porada: The Diocese and the Bishopric of Cammin. Report on the field trip organised as part of the 38th Annual Conference of the Working Group for Pomeranian Church History. In: Pommern – Journal of Culture and History 49 (2011), No. 4, pp. 36–43.
• Werner Buchholz: The Residences of Ecclesiastical Imperial Princes in the North of the Sacrum Imperium Romanum: Between Expansion and Threat, 1500–1806. In: Gerhard Ammerer, Ingonda Hannesschläger, Jan Paul Niederkorn, Wolfgang Wüst (eds.): Courts and Residences of Ecclesiastical Princes: Structures, Regions and the Example of Salzburg in the Middle Ages and Modern Times. Ostfildern 2010 (Residenzenforschung 24), pp. 303–343.
• Erwin Gatz, Jürgen Petersohn: The Diocese and Prince-Bishopric of Kammin around 1500. In: Erwin Gatz (ed.): Atlas of the Church in History and the Present. Holy Roman Empire – German-speaking Countries. Regensburg 2009, pp. 86–87.
• Andreas Niemeck: Bishops of Cammin. In: Werner Paravicini (ed.), Jan Hirschbiegel, Jörg Wettlaufer (eds.): Courts and Residences in the Late Medieval Empire. A Dynastic-Topographical Handbook. Vol. 1: Dynasties and Courts. Ostfildern 2003 (Residences Research 15.1.1), pp. 519–522.
• Jürgen Petersohn: Bishop, Council and Collegiate Town. The Bishops of Kammin and the Hanseatic City of Kolberg in the Struggle for Obedience between Basel and Rome. In: Heribert Müller, Johannes Helmrath (eds.): Studies on the 15th Century. Festschrift for Erich Meuthen. Munich 1994, pp. 255–268.
• Jürgen Petersohn: Kammin. In: Erwin Gatz (ed.), with the collaboration of Clemens Brodkorb: The Bishops of the Holy Roman Empire, 1198 to 1448. A biographical encyclopaedia. Berlin 2001, pp. 251–266, 307–309, 696–697.
• Jürgen Petersohn: Kammin. In: Erwin Gatz (ed.), with the collaboration of Clemens Brodkorb: The Bishops of the Holy Roman Empire, 1448 to 1648. A biographical encyclopaedia. Berlin 1996, pp. 92ff., 195–197, 225ff., 333ff., 361, 457ff., 578, 684ff., 731ff., 742, 752, 759, 797ff.
• Jürgen Petersohn: The Bishops of Cammin in the Middle Ages. Biographies of their tenures and diocesan structures from the 12th to the 16th century. Schwerin 2015 (Contributions to Pomeranian Regional, Ecclesiastical and Art History 19).
• Haik Thomas Porada: On the Significance of Denomination and Dynasty in the Life of the Last Bishop of Cammin, Ernst Bogislaw von Croy. In: Michael Lissok, Haik Thomas Porada (eds.): ‘Willingly to Promote and Protect the Glory of Christ and the Common Good’. Contributions to the Ecclesiastical, Art and Regional History of Pomerania and the Baltic Sea Region. Festschrift for Norbert Buske. Schwerin 2014 (Contributions to Pomeranian Regional, Ecclesiastical and Art History 18), pp. 511–572.
• Ralf-Gunnar Werlich: The Coat of Arms of the Diocese of Cammin and its Appearance in the Heraldry of the Dukes of Greifen. Dedicated to Norbert Buske on his 75th birthday. In: Pommern – Journal of Culture and History 49 (2011), No. 4, pp. 4–13.
• Ralf-Gunnar Werlich: Lost Sources on the History of the Diocese of Cammin from Bast and Cammin in Old Photographs. Notes on Episcopal Coats of Arms and Evidence of the Griffin Lords’ Rule. In: Pommern – Journal of Culture and History 50 (2012), No. 2, pp. 4–7.

Haik Thomas Porada: Cammin (Hochstift). In: Online Encyclopaedia on the Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe, 2014. URL: ome-lexikon.uni-oldenburg.de/p32541 (as at 30 July 2021).