The lavish lifestyle of a bishop who is spending €31 million on building a new headquarters in west Germany was exposed on Friday, when it emerged he has spent €783,000 on a garden, €25,000 on a table and €15,000 on a bath tub.
His own apartment in the complex is costing €3 million with €478,000 going on furnishings.
Guest rooms will cost €1.1 million and the new chapel €2.67 million.The Nassauische Neue Presse newspaper also reported on Wednesday that the bishop's bathtub cost €15,000.Although the money is coming from church funds, the bishop has been criticized for setting a poor example.
The 53-year-old has defended himself. He told the Bild on Wednesday: "Those who know me, know that I don't need any kind of grandiose lifestyle."