I just got back from a few days in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in southern Bavaria, and while trying to research a bit of the heraldry I saw in the area, ran across this phenomenal resource provided by the Bavarian State Ministry for Science, Research, and Art: "Bayerns Gemeindem: Wappen/Geschichte/Geografie" (Bavaria’s Municipalities: Arms/History/Geography).
http://www.datenmatrix.de/projekte/hdbg/gemeinden/bayerns-gemeinden_suche-gemeinden.php
Click on the map to get one of the state’s regions, then scroll down to pick the county (Landkreis) or municipality (Gemeinde). There’s also a search feature. Here’s an example of the entry for one place I visited during a free day:
Ettal
http://www.datenmatrix.de/projekte/hdbg/gemeinden/cgi-local/images.cgi?id=9180115
Blazon
Per fess Or and Azure, in chief a demi-eagle [sic; see below on the two heads] issuant Sable armed Gules, in base the word "etal" in Gothic miniscule letters Or.
History of the Arms
The establishment and development of the the commune of Ettal is closely tied to that of the famous Benedictine Abbey in the Graswang Valley. Thus the community arms include heraldic elements connected to the monastery. The black eagle, which in all emblazonments is shown as double-headed, refers to Louis the Bavarian, who founded the monastery in 1332 and who, as Emperor, bore the eagle in his arms. The double-eagle is also found in the modern arms of the monastery. The word "etal" in Gothic miniscules appears on the oldest known arms of the monastery from 1420 and remained the only arms of the cloister, despite changes in the style of lettering, until the beginning of the 17th century.
Data on the Arms:
Borne since 1968
Legal Basis: Decision of the town council and approval of the State Ministry of the Interior
Reference: Ministerial Resolution of 31 Jan 1968
Elements from family arms: Louis the Bavarian
Literature, Archival Material, Links
Unser Bayern. Heimatbeilage der Bayerischen Staatszeitung, 1968, S. 88
Zimmermann, Eduard: Bayerische Klosterheraldik, München 1930, S. 72 ff.
Albrecht, Dieter: Die Klostergerichte Benediktbeuern und Ettal (Historischer Atlas von Bayern, Altbayern 6), München 1953, S. 27 ff., 46
There are also links to photographs of the town, other historical material, etc. A fabulous site to explore.
(By the way, the arms of the abbey can be seen on the labels and other material associated with the various products produced by the monks, including a very good line of beers:
http://www.beer-coasters.eu/coasters/ettaler-klosterbrauerei-1-zadek.jpg
Or upon the breast of a double headed eagle Sable armed Gules nimbed of the field an escutcheon lozengy-bendy Argent and Azure on a chief Argent the word "etal" in Gothic miniscules Azure.)
This is very cool. I wish they had it for all of Germany
Excellent resource. Joe, your post about this area brings back fond memories for me. I was stationed in Southern Bavaria, at Oberammergau and Murnau in
1964-65 while in the US Army. My unit provided instructional support for the US Army School, Europe branch there. We used to drive past Ettal all the time. I still have several of the heraldic patches that are sold all over Germany. Very strong tradition of heraldry that persists to this day.
david;95783 wrote:
Excellent resource. Joe, your post about this area brings back fond memories for me. I was stationed in Southern Bavaria, at Oberammergau and Murnau in
1964-65 while in the US Army.
Not to make you feel old, David, but I was living in Erding and Freising east and northeast of Munich as an Air Force dependent at the same exact time.
Erding:
In Silber eine schräg gestellte blaue Pflugschar. (Silver a blue plowshare placed bendwise.)
Freising:
http://www.datenmatrix.de/projekte/hdbg/gemeinden/cgi-local/images.cgi?id=9178124
Unter Schildhaupt mit den bayerischen Rauten in Gold ein schreitender schwarzer Bär, der auf dem Rücken ein mit silbernen Bändern verschnürtes rotes Bündel trägt. (Under a chief with the Bavarian lozenges, gold a walking black bear carrying on his back a silver-banded red bundle.)
GaP!!!??? I spent the last six months of my USAF enlistment in Garmisch working at the Olympic Ice Stadium in 1978. I was billited in the old Gebirgsdivision kaserne, so I would cross-country ski to and from work. The old WWII frescos (indoor and outdoor) showing mountain troops and packmules were maintained as a part of the kasern’s history.
http://imageshack.us/a/img10/3750/garmischgjmural2.jpg
I spent many weekends at the Grasberg’s bergwirtschaft St Martins Hütt’n where I was a member of the stammtisch. We’d pull rödln (sleds) all the way up to the hut, drink beer and listen to local folksongs, then sled all the way down! What a thrill.
Garmisch’s coat of arms is per pale Or a double-headed eagle displayed Sable and Gules a fess Argent:
(I’ve a krug just like this one)
[Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze, is in Garmisch and literally borders Austria—half is in Germany and half is in Austria ... So I guess the coat of arms more or less reflects that fact.]
I left my heart in Garmisch.
Small world, isn’t it. The three branches of our school occupied former Kaserns. Those buildings were meant to endure.
Guy Power;95785 wrote:
Garmisch’s coat of arms is per pale Or a double-headed eagle displayed Sable and Gules a fess Argent:
Make that "Per fess Argent...":)
By the way, I was puzzling over the blazon of these arms the other day and came to the conclusion that the best approach is to say "Argent a double-headed eagle Sable armed Gules dimidiating Gules a fess Argent."
Joseph McMillan;95808 wrote:
Make that "Per fess Argent...":)
(with a turret). I attended Christmas Mass at the "new" church (built 1730-4) with my friend and his family while there. A very nice church.
—Guy
Well, the "Or" does appear to be "Argent"—but "Per fess"??
Michael F. McCartney;95847 wrote:
Well, the "Or" does appear to be "Argent" ...
OUCH! double face-palm! I’m killin’ myself here!
Quote:
...[to Joe]...—but "Per fess"??
[big, calming breath ... think of my happy place] Thanks for pointing that out, Mike.
(^__^)
—Guy
Doh!!
Did visit Garmisch-Partenkirchen with my parents at the closing years of the 1980ies. My interest in heraldry hadn’t realy woken back then so no heraldic memorablia from that tripp.
