Holy cow

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Heilig's Blechle is a Swabian phrase to express the astonishment that is derived from a municipal ID card for poor relief. The term is also used jokingly for “car” today.

origin

After the introduction of the Reformation , the administration of state and church in the Duchy of Württemberg was reorganized. The care of the poor was entrusted to the church at the communal level, which set up a " poor box " or "saint" which was administered by the "saints carer". Public begging was forbidden, but in addition to the collection, the proceeds of church goods and financial transactions as well as fines for offenses against church regulations went to the poor box. With its funds, only local poor, so-called “house arms”, were cared for, strangers were deported with the “begging”.

The Thirty Years' War worsened the economic situation in the duchy, which could not improve in the following period due to repeated incursions by French troops. Begging increased so much that individual municipalities employed a “beggar” to drive away the beggars. Since the collections no longer provided enough funds to support the poor, they were allowed to beg. Those who got into trouble through no fault of their own received a piece of sheet metal from the “Heiligenpfleger” as an authorization card in the 18th century - since the issue was for the purposes of the “Holy”, the name Heilig's Blechle resulted .

Why an exclamation of amazement developed from this is unclear, especially since the allocation of sheet metal was discontinued in the 19th century, so there was no tradition of this custom in everyday life. It could be confused with the swear rifles, which were also introduced in the 18th century and were installed in inns. Anyone who was caught cursing had to pay a sum of money into the can, the proceeds of which then went to the "saint".

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hermann Fischer , Hermann Taigel: Swabian Concise Dictionary . Swabian-German / German-Swabian. 3. Edition. Laupp'sche Buchhandlung / Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 1999, ISBN 978-3-16-147063-9 , p. 85.
  2. ↑ Cay by Fournier & Silvia Danne: Different and not good. Impulses and practical strategies for a successful company positioning. Linde, Vienna 2011, ISBN 978-3-7093-0325-2 , p. 90.
  3. ^ Anne Zielke : Nobody, zero and coati. The best word portraits from Sunday. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 2008, ISBN 978-3-7857-2332-6 , p. 18.
  4. ↑ State Statistical Office of Baden-Württemberg (ed.): Heilig's Blechle. 125 years of the automobile. Stuttgart 2011; statistik-bw.de (PDF).
  5. ↑ Peter Johanek (Ed.): Urban health and welfare system before 1800. Böhlau, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2000, ISBN 978-3-412-10998-1 , p. 161.
  6. ↑ Ernst Schubert : poor people, strong beggars: restrictions and transformations of the alms idea around 1400 and around 1500. In: Otto Georg Oexle (ed.): Poverty in the Middle Ages. Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2004, ISBN 978-3-7995-6658-2 , pp. 283-348.
  7. ↑ Werner Rösener (Ed.): Communication in rural society from the Middle Ages to the modern age. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, ISBN 978-3-525-35472-8 , p. 145.
  8. ↑ Markus Meumann: foundlings, orphanages, infanticide. Unserved children in early modern society. Oldenbourg, Munich 1995, ISBN 978-3-486-56099-2 , p. 191.
  9. ↑ Cf. in general on the southern German area Karl Härter : Policey and criminal justice in Kurmainz: Legislation, norm enforcement and social control in the early modern territorial state. Volume 1. Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 978-3-465-03428-5 , p. 960 .
  10. ^ Begging bailiff . In: Prussian Academy of Sciences (Hrsg.): German legal dictionary . tape 2 , volume 2 (edited by Eberhard von Künßberg ). Hermann Böhlaus successor, Weimar ( adw.uni-heidelberg.de - publication date 1932 or 1933). Collected sources on the subject of "begging bailiff"
  11. ↑ Klaus Herbers (ed.): City and pilgrims. Social communities and cult of saints. Narr, Tübingen 1999, ISBN 978-3-8233-4010-2 , p. 168 .
  12. ↑ Heiligenpfleger. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 10 : H, I, J - (IV, 2nd division). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1877, Sp. 840 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).
  13. ↑ Christa Pöppelmann: I think my pig whistles! The most famous idioms and what's behind them. Compact-Verlag, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-8174-6604-7 , p. 109.
  14. ^ Franz Georg Brustgi et al .: Eningen under Achalm. Portrait of an old Württemberg trading place. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1976, ISBN 978-3-7995-1061-5 , p. 208.