Passau boobies
The Passauer Tölpel is a stone head in the old town of Passau (and one of the city's earlier landmarks).
“I fell off Passau's cathedral, breaking my beautiful body. I am still fine and cheerful, and only a bit weak in the head. "
These words are on a sign next to the Passau booby , which are supposed to express what happened to the Steinkopf.
It is believed that the stone head comes from a figure from the cathedral, which was destroyed in the city fire of 1662. The stone head has short hair, large eyes and thick, grinning lips.
After the city fire, the towers of the rebuilt cathedral were provided with flat roofs, which Father Gansler took as an opportunity in 1696 to refer to the Passau residents as "boobies" because they were too stupid and unable to put spikes on the towers. Since then, the people of Passau had this nickname.
The Passau booby had various “whereabouts” before it found its place in 1884 on the Veste Oberhaus .
Since August 1, 2003, it has been back on the wall of the Passau District Office in close proximity to St. Stephen's Cathedral . This so-called “booby return action” was initiated by the Passau city guides around Jürgen Hellwing, supported by his wife, city councilor Ursula Karl-Hellwing. "I climbed down from the upper house, the deep sleep is over, I feel fine and cheerful and also not so weak in my head", these were the words of Jürgen Hellwing at the welcome ceremony on May 15, 2004 on the wall of the Passau District Office.
The writer of the weekly column “Skewered and nailed down” in the Passauer Neue Presse , in which he humorously examines the problems, everyday occurrences and news of Passau's citizens, has given himself the name “Passauer Tölpel”.
Web links
- Passau boobies. ( Memento from March 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) City Archives Passau