Cologne farmer
The Kölner Bauer or the Kölsche Boor is a historical depiction of the medieval history of the city of Cologne . It shows a person in contemporary clothing, armed with the attributes of his class , a flail and a scythe . The additional equipment with city keys and one with the imperial eagle ornamented shield symbolized overall the peasant origins of the city including the mitgeprägten by the peasantry legal system (Burgeding) readiness to defend them, and the ties with the kingdom.
history
The origin of the symbolic figure of the “Cologne farmer”, who survived to this day in the customs of the Cologne Carnival as a member of the Cologne triumvirate , has not been clearly clarified. In connection with the symbols shown in contemporary illustrations, it probably symbolizes the ties between the city and the estates and the empire . Since Cologne in Quaternionensystem with the cities of Regensburg , Konstanz and Salzburg to the rustuci , the "peasants (cities)", was the chronicler wrote Heinrich von Beeck on the cover of his "Agrippina": Collen, de Hilligen Roymschen Rich gebuyr ' (gebuyr : Middle High German for peasant class).
Cover picture of Agrippina and its symbolism
The Cologne chronicle "Agrippina", written by Heinrich von Beeck between 1469 and 1472, was intended to cover the entire history of the city. However, it ended with his work in 1419. Beeck's work, which is based on other medieval universal chronicles, begins with the note in the foreword: Agrippina ys dyt boich genant (“Agrippina is called this book”). It is divided into three sections. The first is about the history of kings and emperors, the second is a brief treatise on the history of the popes. The last one is dedicated to the city of Cologne and its archbishops . The work, which concludes with around fifty documents as an appendix , was adorned with a full-page illustration of the Cologne farmer before the texts began .
Beeck's work, which is so informative for the history of the city, is only available in handwritten copies and is in the historical archive of the city of Cologne . One of the copies shows subsequent notes. These are notes that were made in the 16th century when this copy of the “Agrippina” was in the possession of the Sudermann family of Cologne mayors . The Beecksche Chronik Agrippina was overtaken by the Koelhoffsche Chronik in 1499 after the introduction of book printing .
Symbol of the city
The main motif of the Agrippina illustration is the double-headed imperial eagle , which Emperor Sigismund chose as the official coat of arms symbol in 1433. A crucifix is depicted above the eagle under the imperial crown floating above . In the wings of the eagle, the city's three-crowned coat of arms is placed on both sides , between which the "Cologne Boor" was incorporated as the centerpiece of the depiction.
In the medallions that surround the eagle in the drawing of the Agrippina Chronicle, twelve names of rulers are given, who are referred to as the noble heren of the city of Collen . Beeck named ancient and post- ancient rulers, especially Carolingian rulers, some of which were of legendary origin, but were considered real in his time.
- The Cologne farmer a symbol of the council and the city
Cologne farmer on the town hall arbor
Town hall hall, "Cologne farmer"
The original from the 19th century, detail
Farmer and councilors
On the arbor in front of the town hall in the Renaissance style , which was built in the years 1569–1573 according to the plans of the builder Wilhelm Vernukken from Kalkar on the Lower Rhine, the council had the statue of the Cologne farmer placed on top of it as an expression of Cologne's loyalty to the Reich .
In 1891, the sculpture of a "Kölschen Boor", originally created by Christian Mohr in 1885 for the Hahnentorburg , was attached to the side of the Eigelsteintorburg facing the city . In the meantime, the original of the work has been replaced by a copy (1978) and has graced the "Piazetta", the great hall of the town hall , since 1986 .
Other connections
The painters and engravers of the 17th and 18th centuries often used the term “Kaiserlicher Bauer” in their depictions of the “Cologne peasant”, since Cologne, as a free imperial city, was only subject to the emperor , as in a depiction from 1820. In the “ Directory of the figures of the great Cölln mask procession in 1825 ”, the farmer appears as“ The representative of the sturdy peasant benches ”with the city keys bravely defended in Worringen in 1288 and the flail, as the forerunner of the“ Cologne farmer ”in the “ fifth season ” , the carnival. Whether the "peasant bankers" fought in the Worring Battle is not proven, but it is likely. The free citizens of Cologne had to make themselves available for arms service in the event of war.
The change from the name to “Cöllnischer Bauer” can be found on a color print by the draftsman “Levy Elkan” from 1847. In the 1880s, the sculptor Wilhelm Albermann added the monument to the Jan von Werth fountain on the Alter, which he created Market , a figure of the "Cologne farmer" integrated. On the historic street, the " Eigelstein ", on which one of the five farmers' benches had their "Gebuirhaus" and court seat, a traditional Cologne inn reminds us of times gone by with its name . It is the Em kölsche Boor brewery , which itself looks back on 250 years of existence.
Literature / sources
- Robert Meier: in sources on the history of the city of Cologne , Volume II. Late Middle Ages and early modern times. Friends of History in Cologne V., JP Bachem Verlag Cologne, ISBN 3-7616-1285-0 .
- Adam Wrede : New Cologne vocabulary . 3 volumes A - Z, Greven Verlag, Cologne, 9th edition 1984, ISBN 3-7743-0155-7 .
- Carl Dietmar: Die Chronik Kölns , Chronik Verlag, Dortmund 1991, ISBN 3-611-00193-7 .
- Peter Fuchs: The City Hall of Cologne , Greven Verlag, Cologne 1973 - 15th edition 1997.