Coat of arms of Prussia

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coat of arms of the State of Prussia (until 1918)
Coat of arms of the Free State of Prussia (until 1933)

The coat of arms of Prussia always showed a gold armored , one-headed black eagle . The coat of arms at the time of the monarchy was as Small arms Prussia the arms of the " Kingdom of Prussia ", the standing-winning Royal Prussian eagle on a silver background, who in his right catch a scepter one and left orb was wearing.

Creation of the coat of arms

The eagle as the heraldic animal of Prussia is derived from the imperial eagle of the Holy Roman Empire . The Grand Master of the Teutonic Order , Hermann von Salza received after 1229 by Emperor Frederick II. The right in the central shield of his Grand Master Cross , which was black in the white box, on a golden background, pursuant to heraldic right black-looking imperial eagle with red tinged lead tongue. The eagle's fangs were open. From the Grand Master's personal coat of arms, it later became the emblem of the Teutonic Order , which contemporaries gave the country name Prussia .

Coat of arms of the Prussian royal share

In the middle of the 15th century, the areas of the Prussian Confederation split off from the monastic state by subordinating them to the King of Poland as the Prussian Royal Share . Its coat of arms showed around 1460 a armored sword arm growing out of the eagle's head and the Prussian eagle in the now white field got the Polish royal crown around its neck. The coat of arms kept the territory when it was incorporated into the Prussian state in 1772 after the First Partition of Poland as the province of West Prussia . The eagle can be found today in the coat of arms of the Polish district of Marienburg and, modified, in the coats of arms of some districts of the Polish Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship .

Coat of arms of the Duchy of Prussia

Coat of arms of the Duchy of Prussia in 1545

As a result of the Reformation , the remaining state of the Teutonic Order was converted into the secular Duchy of Prussia in 1525 . The feudal rule of the King of Poland, which was recognized as early as 1466, was condensed on the occasion of the re-elation of the Duke by King Sigismund I , which was reflected in the duchy's coat of arms: the cross was removed and the golden background of the eagle replaced with a white one. Now the Polish royal crown encircled his neck and he carried clover stalks . On the eagle's chest was the golden initial of the Polish king, initially an "S" for Sigismund I. When in 1568, following the death of Duke Albrecht, his son Albrecht Friedrich had to be re-elected, the latter refused the request of the Polish king Sigismund II. August Change of the initial to "SA". Since then, the coat of arms in Poland has always been updated with the initials, while in the duchy itself it has remained with the "S".

It was not until 1633 that both sides agreed to affix both the initials “V” for the feudal lord Wladislaw IV and “G” for the vassal Georg Wilhelm on the eagle's chest, who also got a ducal hat on his head. When, with the Treaties of Labiau , Wehlau and Oliva, the Polish feudal rule over the duchy had ended in 1660, the initial “C” of the Polish King John II Casimir disappeared and only the “F” for the now sovereign Friedrich Wilhelm remained in the coat of arms.

The coat of arms of the duchy from the time of Sigmund I with an initial on the chest lives on as part of the coat of arms of the Polish Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship .

Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Prussian state

Main shield of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia with the Royal Prussian eagle
Prussian coat of arms emblem on the building of the new Altona train station built in 1979 . The clock face on the station building from 1898 was previously in the square field
Officer's button "FR" Prussia
The imperial eagle with the coats of arms of the federal states of the German Empire (1871–1918) on the outer corner of the Mürwik naval school ( Red Castle ). The coat of arms of Prussia is above the head of the imperial eagle.

The increase of the Duchy of Prussia to a kingdom in 1701 resulted in several changes to the Prussian coat of arms. The eagle's head now wore a closed royal crown and an open ducal crown around its neck, its fangs held a scepter and an orb . The golden initials of the first Prussian King Friedrich I stood on his chest forever : "FR" for Fredericus Rex .

In this form, Friedrich put it as a heart shield in his new sovereign royal Prussian coat of arms for the now Prussian state in place of the golden scepter of the arch chamberlain of the empire in the blue shield . This symbol of the now secondary electoral dignity of Frederick and his successors thus moved to second place in the large and middle coat of arms of Prussia .

The name and coat of arms of the kingdom were transferred to the now Prussian state of the Hohenzollern as the emblem of the monarch in the 18th century , with the black eagle as its symbol on flags , standards , flags , medals and decorations , coins , seals and preprinted official forms and notices sometimes sat or blew up, looking back or ahead. He soon lost the open ducal crown around his neck, but he was almost never missing the "FR" on his chest.

Coat of arms of the Free State of Prussia (1921–1933)

At its meeting on April 4, 1919, the Prussian state government decided to keep the Prussian coat of arms for the time being. On July 5, 1921, the Prussian State Ministry decided on a new coat of arms and made provisions for the acquisition of coat of arms seals and stamps for all authorities.

At the time of the Weimar Republic , the Prussian eagle in the Free State of Prussia no longer bore any monarchical symbols. The beak was closed, which eliminated the tongue. An eagle soaring to the right and looking backwards was shown. The eagle in the coat of arms of the province of East Prussia did not change except for the loss of monarchical attributes, but no longer matched that in the state coat of arms.

Coat of arms of the Free State of Prussia (1933–1945)

In the coat of arms of Prussia at the time of National Socialism , since October 2, 1933, the eagle, which was still not tongued and now soaring to the left, also looked heraldically to the left, but due to the changed direction of flight forward, there was a ribbon with the Prussian motto " God with us ”. He wore a silver swastika on his chest . In the right muzzle the eagle held a silver sword, in the left two golden lightning bolts .

Uses today

In the coat of arms of Saxony-Anhalt there is the Prussian eagle in the upper left field due to the fact that most of it formerly belonged to Prussia. Likewise, the coat of arms eagle from the Polish feudal period from 1525–1633 can be found in several voivodeship and district coats of arms of Poland on the territory of the former East Prussia.
In addition, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation uses the republican eagle and the crowned one, the Prussian Palaces and Gardens Foundation Berlin-Brandenburg and the Pour le Mérite Order additionally with scepter and imperial orb.

Small, medium and large coat of arms of the Kingdom and State of Prussia

Small coat of arms

Small coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia

In small arms can be seen except the coat of arms of the Kingdom of two wild men as a sign holder . The coat of arms also has a crown.

Middle coat of arms

→ Main article: Middle coat of arms of Prussia

Middle coat of arms of Prussia

The middle coat of arms also shows two wild men as shield bearers and a crown, but the coat of arms with the applied coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia shows the provincial and territorial coats of arms of the Prussian state (from left or heraldic top right):

  1. Duchy of Silesia
  2. Mark Brandenburg
  3. Grand Duchy of Lower Rhine
  4. Grand Duchy of Poznan
  5. Kingdom of Prussia (launched, at the same time the coat of arms of the entire state and the province of East Prussia)
  6. Duchy of Saxony
  7. Duchy of Pomerania
  8. Duchy of Westphalia
  9. Duchy of Lueneburg
  10. Divided into three parts for the duchies of Holstein , Schleswig and Lauenburg
  11. Burgraviate Nuremberg (traditional) in the upper half and the Hohenzollern Lands below
  12. Divided into three parts for the Landgraviate of Hesse , the Duchy of Nassau and the rule of Frankfurt am Main

Great coat of arms

→ Main article: Great coat of arms of Prussia

The great coat of arms of Prussia in the 19th century is also framed by two wild men as shield holders, there is also a coat of arms with the motto “God with us” at the top , and above it the crown of Prussia. The flag of Prussia is located above the crown. Below the coat of arms are the four medals (from inside to outside):

The coat of arms consists of 52 fields, three of which are coats of arms. In the center is the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia (also East Prussia ) as a heart shield , above it as a shield of honor Brandenburg , below as an umbilical shield the coat of arms of the Burgraviate of Nuremberg in the upper half and below the coat of arms of the Hohenzollern Lands . The regalia field is located at the bottom of the escutcheon . The other coats of arms are (from the left (= heraldic right) above):

Large coat of arms of Prussia around 1873
  1. Duchy of Westphalia
  2. Grand Duchy of Poznan
  3. Duchy of Silesia
  4. Grand Duchy of Lower Rhine (was also the coat of arms of the Rhine Province )
  5. Duchy of Saxony
  6. Duchy of Engern
  7. Duchy of Magdeburg
  8. Duchy of Holstein
  9. Duchy of Pomerania
  10. Duchy of Lueneburg
  11. Duchy of Schleswig
  12. Archdiocese of Bremen
  13. Duchy of Wenden
  14. Duchy of Jülich
  15. Duchy of Guelders
  16. Duchy of Cleves
  17. Duchy of Berg
  18. Duchy of Pomerania-Wolgast ( Kassuben )
  19. Landgraviate of Thuringia
  20. Duchy of Mecklenburg
  21. Duchy of Krossen
  22. Duchy of Lauenburg
  23. Landgraviate of Hesse
  24. Margraviate of Upper Lusatia
  25. divided: Principality of Paderborn and County of Pyrmont
  26. Principality of Rügen
  27. Margraviate Nieder-Lausitz
  28. Principality of Orange
  29. Principality of East Frisia
  30. Prince diocese of Halberstadt
  31. Principality of Verden
  32. Principality of Osnabrück
  33. Principality of Münster
  34. Principality of Minden
  35. Principality of Hildesheim
  36. Principality (principality) of Kammin
  37. County of Glatz
  38. County of Moers
  39. Principality of Fulda
  40. Duchy of Nassau
  41. Prince Count zu Henneberg
  42. divided: Grafschaft Mark and Grafschaft Ravensberg
  43. Veringen County
  44. Mansfeld County
  45. County of Hohnstein
  46. divided: Grafschaft Tecklenburg and Grafschaft Lingen
  47. Sigmaringen county
  48. Frankfurt am Main

In the Prussian coat of arms of 1804, the Principality of Hildesheim was placed behind the Duchy of Cleve in terms of rank and behind Nuremberg in terms of title. The noble order did not match the ranking of Nuremberg. But the representation there with the shield split in gold and red can be traced back to the fault of the sealer. The front (right) field has been added to the coat of arms in silver and is the same as that of the Principality of Halberstadt .

According to the cabinet order of August 16, 1875, it found its place in the royal Prussian coat of arms behind the Principality of Osnabrück . Divided lengthways by red and gold.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ So in Powiat Świecki , Powiat Toruński and more strongly changed in other circles
  2. ↑ Contrary to the eagle shown here from a picture of the flag of the duchy, the initial is sometimes incorrectly shown in a red center shield. This shape does not match the facsimile image of the eagle in the duchy's coat of arms from 1525 as in: Adlers Fittiche (see literature list), Fig. 21, p. 31. Even and to this day, in all later forms of the heraldic eagle at the time of the duchy and later the kingdom, the ruler initial is not in a red heart shield, but directly on his chest
  3. ↑ On this and the following agreement: Adler's Fittiche (see list of literature), p. 35, there also a picture of the coat of arms from 1649 with the initials C / F
  4. ^ Coat of arms on the Reichstag building. A clearly calculated dramaturgy , p. 3; Retrieved on: November 9, 2015
  5. ^ Protocols of the Prussian State Ministry, Volume 11 / I (PDF; 2.7 MB), page 63.
  6. ↑ Minutes of the Prussian State Ministry, Volume 11 / I (PDF; 2.7 MB), page 244.
  7. ↑ See e.g. B. here on a private website about Gut Paradeningken

literature

  • Brandt-Salloum, Christiane (arr.): Adlers Fittiche. Changes of a heraldic bird. Documentation of a presentation of the Secret State Archives of Prussian Cultural Heritage (cited here as: Adlers Fittiche ), Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-428-12959-1

See also

Web links