Fraisenkette
The Fraisenkette (also Fraiskette ) is a protective amulet. It consists of a silk ribbon or a red cord on which several amulets and blessings are strung. It was mainly worn around small children and was used until the 19th century. The term "Fraisen" is a historical term for epilepsy or seizures . The latter were often caused by eating bread made from grains infected with ergot fungus .
Single amulets
A mostly odd number of individual amulets hung on the Fraisenkette. The large number of amulets is related to the belief that there are 77 or 99 different types of "fever". These include the Fraisensteine , small clay tiles with an image of the Trinity in the shape of the mercy seat from Sonntagberg . Some material was scraped off from it and used as medicine. Often there are also protection list, called Fraisenbriefe that combine the four most important blessing formulas: Saint Benedict Medal , Agathe blessing , Zacharias blessing and Epiphany blessing .
Furthermore, Franziskuspfennige , Kümmerer (stunted deer antlers), perforated stones (stones with a natural hole, to ward off witches), Marian medals, goatees and wolf teeth were used as amulets.
Related objects
The following objects were also used against the Fraisen:
- Fraisencap
- They consist of four wedge-shaped pieces of silk or linen sewn together, on which various religious motifs were depicted and which were worn on the head by the patient. But they were also put on women or children who were kissing when they were baptized, or put under the pillow of children. Fraise bonnets have been sold at many monasteries and pilgrimage sites since the 17th century.
- Fraisenhemdchen
- These small shirts are printed or embroidered with the miraculous image of Maria Loretto in Salzburg , the image of the “Holy House of Nazareth” and other images of saints. They, too, were placed under small children for prevention or healing of fractures.
- Fraise key
- Often three rings are attached to this key, which is given to children suffering from Fraisen. The origin of this amulet lies in the Rein Abbey near Graz .
- Fraisbetter
- A chain made from the vertebral bones of vipers or the seeds of the Job's Tear Plant (Coix Lachrima), placed under the patient's head, was supposed to heal the patient.
See also
literature
- Petra Schramm: The quacks. Heilkünstler und Scharlatans, Edition Rarissima, Taunustein, 1985, repros: Witzemann & Schmidt, Wiesbaden, ISBN 3-9800992-2-9 , p. 143 Photo of a “Fraiskette” from the 18th century; Munich, Bavarian National Museum
- Manfred Brauneck : Religious folk art. P. 299. DuMont, Cologne 1979, ISBN 3-7701-0967-8
- Ellen Ettlinger: The Hildburgh Collection of Austrian and Bavarian Amulets in the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum. Folklore 76, 2 (Summer 1965): 104-117, ISSN 0015-587X
- Fraisenkette. In The large art dictionary by P. W. Hartmann. Hartmann, Sersheim 1997, ISBN 3-9500612-0-7
- Hermann Maurer : "Sonntagbergsteine" from the Waldviertel. A contribution to the Schab or Fraisen stones from Sonntagberg. Our home, magazine for regional studies of Lower Austria 78 (2007): 43–47, ISSN 1017-2696
- Heiner Meininghaus: Von Fraisketten und -hauben , Weltkunst , 71st year No. 15, Dec 2001, pages 2395–2397
- Johann Andreas Schmeller : Bavarian Dictionary , Volume 1/1, Column 826, Reprint Munich 1985
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ description of a Fraisenkette in the Upper Swabian museum village Kürnbach , September 2015