Libertatem quam peperere
Libertatem quam peperere , completely Libertatem quam peperere maiores digne studeat servare posteritas , with the meaning "The freedom that the ancients achieved may be worthy for posterity" or "The freedom that the fathers acquired may seek to be worthy for posterity "Is a Latin motto that is carved in stone and covered with gold paint above the portal of the Hamburg City Hall .
The saying is considered to be Hamburgensie because it contradicts a resolution of the Hamburg citizenship from 1894, according to which only inscriptions in German were provided for the then new town hall . The exception was achieved by declaring the motto a Hamburg tradition. However, there are other Latin quotations in the town hall. In the gate hall, above the door to the small ballroom, the sentence is written: Nam concordia parvae res crescunt, discordia maximae dilabuntur (“The small grows through unity, the greatest disintegrates through discord”). This is a quote from the Roman historian Sallust from his work De bello Iugurthino .
Already from 1663 to 1806 the Libertatem quam peperere was carved in stone above the gateway of the Millerntor at that time and from 1673 to 1828 on the inner side of the Deichtor facing the city , supplemented by the slogan Salus civitatis pietas et concordia (“The well-being of the community lies in piety und Eintracht ") on the outside. After the demolition of the Deichtor, the inscription was stored with the building deputation and was attached to the building of the Museum of Hamburg History between 1914 and 1922 as an architectural fragment in the gable of the eastern risalit on the north side below a Hamburg coat of arms.
The saying itself has been adopted in the town hall on the Trostbrücke , it was written in large, raised metal letters in the so-called Senate enclosure there until the building was blown up in 1842 during the great fire .
Web links
- Libertatem - freedom in Latin . In: Hamburger Abendblatt. September 30, 2002.
Individual evidence
- ^ Franklin Kopitzsch , Daniel Tilgner (ed.): Hamburg Lexikon. 4th, updated and expanded special edition. Ellert & Richter, Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-8319-0373-3 , p. 435.
- ↑ Tour of the Hamburg City Hall
- ^ Lexikus.de: History of the Hamburg City Hall