In the mid-fifteenth century, Frederick III made an important step forward in the centuries-long efforts of the House of Habsburg and, before them, the House of Babenberg, to establish their own territorial dioceses (Landesbistum). In 1469, the Diocese of Wiener Neustadt was established. However, owing to its small size and weak material foundation, the diocese could not serve Frederick as an effective instrument for strengthening imperial authority in relation to the powerful and long-established bishoprics. The motives for its foundation must therefore be sought elsewhere. Based on an analysis of the foundation documents of Frederick’s ecclesiastical institutions in Wiener Neustadt, this master’s thesis argues that the emperor established the diocese as his tomb diocese, an institution intended to accompany him in death through intercession, prayer, and the proper performance of liturgy, while also preserving the memory of his piety and worldly greatness. To answer the question of why Frederick was ultimately buried in Vienna, the thesis introduces an analytical distinction between the place of burial and the place of remembrance. This duality explains why Frederick’s son, Maximilian I, could bury his father in St. Stephen’s Cathedral, which held greater symbolic importance for Habsburg dynastic representation, without thereby diminishing the significance of Wiener Neustadt as the central site of Frederick’s memorial project.
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