Katholikentag

The first official Katholikentag festival was organized by Adam Franz Lennig and held in Mainz from 3 to 6 October 1848.

The 87 delegates and about 100 visitors met with the aim of improving relations between the Catholic Church in Germany and the German government.

During recent years the Austrian event has become attended by visitors from other participating countries, namely Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The most recent such Central European Katholikentag occurred during 2004 and featured more than 80,000 visitors, including Pope John Paul II.

The theme of the event was "Christ — the Hope of Europe" (German: Christus — Hoffnung Europas).