 On 30 November 1909 Schulte was elected Bishop of Paderborn, a choice confirmed by Pope Pius X on 7 February 1910.He received his episcopal consecration on the following 19 March from Cardinal Anton Fischer, with Bishops Michael Korum and Hermann Dingelstadt serving as co-consecrators, in the Paderborn Cathedral.Schulte, who during World War I organized a large relief force for the British and French prisoners in German prison camps, was later named Archbishop of Cologne on 8 March 1920.