Mohr of Mörlau
The Mohr von Mörlau is an Ober-Mörler carnival figure and symbol of the Ober-Mörler Fassenacht . It is a typical example of the so-called blackface , similar to the Zwarte Piet .
In the Codex Laureshamensis , a copy book from the 12th century, there is the name “Moruller Marca” for the year 790, which is usually interpreted as the “Mark of the Moor ”. This designation later gave the municipality of Ober-Mörlen its name.
The coat of arms of the municipality is called the speaking coat of arms . In the upper half it shows a Kurmainzer wheel in front of the Eppstein rafter and below the head of a Moor . This coat of arms was replaced on May 31, 1967 by the current coat of arms in the course of the Hessian coat of arms reform, in which all coats of arms received the typical shield shape.
The old Ober-Mörler coat of arms is used by the 1st Ober-Mörler Carnival Society “Mörlau” (1. KG “Mörlau”) as the club's coat of arms. It is unclear whether the black head depicted in the coat of arms is historically a Moor who lived with the Romans in Hesse, or a soot-blackened charcoal burner . Based on the coat of arms, the Mohr von Mörlau was christened in 1959 by Walter Max, but from 1963 onwards no actor could be found for this carnival figure. In 1974 Manfred Sprengel took up the figure of the Moor again. He was followed by Otto Heil and Walter Rau. He embodied the Moor for 22 years and also introduced the custom of the Moor throwing around 1,500 Moor's heads into the celebrating crowd from his car, a giant owl, during the Ober-Mörler Carnival procession on Mardi Gras Sunday. He was followed by his son Thomas Rau and the current actor Torsten Sprengel. During the campaigns from 2004 to 2009, he accompanied the ruling couple of Mörlau fools to all official occasions. Therefore, this actor expanded the name "Mohr" with the addition of "von Mörlau".
The term "Mohr von Mörlau" is a registered trademark with the left-looking Mohrenkopf with earring.
old Ober-Mörler municipal coat of arms based on a court seal from 1716
Municipal coat of arms since 1967
