Josef Wilhelm Rinck von Baldenstein

Josef Wilhelm Rinck of Baldenstein ( born February 9, 1704 Saignelégier, † September 13, 1762 in Pruntrut ) was from 1744 to 1762 Prince-Bishop of the Bishopric of Basel.

Life

He was the son of the prince-bishop's bailiff of Saint- Ursanne and later court councilor Joseph William Rinck of Baldenstein. Josef Wilhelm began his education at the Jesuit College in Pruntrut and then studied law in Freiburg im Breisgau. Already in 1728 he became a member of the Prince Bishop's Court Counsellor and 1732 he was elected to the cathedral chapter. The appeal to the canon ( 1735) and the priesthood ( 1736) followed soon. The election of the Prince-Bishop took place in 1744 and the confirmation of the Pope and the episcopal ordination were in the same year. When he first tried a neutral position between the German Empire and the Kingdom of France to take, he approached later France where he since 1758 even hired Subsidienregiment. Its mercantilist economic policies promoted the infrastructure ( road construction ), the iron industry and forestry. At the Jesuit College in Pruntrut he founded a theological faculty.

During his reign the Arlesheimer cathedral underwent major reconstruction, with the Silbermann organ was installed.