Breverl
A Breverl (also Breve , Breferl or Heiltumstaschen ) is a leaflet with images of saints , sayings, prayers or Bible verses, which served as a talisman and remedy and was popular until the 20th century.
The Breverl was a small piece of paper, usually folded four times, on which a nine-part copperplate was depicted. Breverls were often kept in a small, locked cushion or cushion made from valuable, often embroidered fabric remnants such as brocade . Some brever cases were made of studded leather or other materials. A picture could also be attached to the outside, often from a sheet with small sip pictures . Some medical bags were heart-shaped and intended as so-called "Tüfelsjägerli" for the cradle or bed of small children.
Copper engravings by Breverln show various, occasionally colored depictions of saints, often also the miraculous image of the place of pilgrimage where it was purchased. In the middle part there is a collection of miniaturized religious symbols and various objects. These include crosses, Benedictine pennies , Sebastian arrows , Agatha notes , Epiphany notes , palm kittens , the dust of Shabemadons , pieces of colored paper, earth from holy places and the like. Breverln were always rejected by the Catholic Church.
Breverls could be worn on the neck, sewn into clothes or hung on the rosary . They were supposed to protect against evil influence, demons and obsession, plague, fire, storms and soldiers from bullets, which is why they were sometimes also called "bullet catchers".
literature
- Roland Halbritter: South Tyrolean Breverln - amulets between magic and belief. In: Der Schlern : Monthly magazine for South Tyrolean regional studies 72, 1 (1998): 39–64, ISSN 0036-6145
- Roland Halbritter: Amulets made of paper between magic and the expectation of salvation - "write these letters on a prieflein". In: Christa Pieske et al.: Arbeitskreis Bild Druck Papier Vol. 7 - Esslingen proceedings 2002. pp. 61–81. Waxmann, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-8309-1403-2
- Christoph Kurzeder : When things were sacred. Lived piety in the Baroque era. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2005, ISBN 3-7954-1769-4 .
- Peter Ochsenbein: On the Breverl typology: About a copy found in St. Gallen 1996. In: Österreichische Zeitschrift für Volkskunde 103, 1 (2000): 55-66, ISSN 0029-9669
- Georg Rehm: The Breverls in the Hergensweiler local history museum. In: Year book of the district of Lindau 5 (1990): 20-23, ISSN 0932-1594