Tyrolean Sacrament Guard

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The Tyrolean Sacrament Guards are a protection and honor escort for the Holy of Holies (sacrament) in church processions . Because of their traditional weapon, the partisan , they are usually called partisans . The gardens were registered as an intangible cultural heritage of Austria by UNESCO in 2013 .

On the Sacrament Guards as an institution

Partisan Guard in Hall in Tirol during the Corpus Christi procession in 2006

The origins of an accompaniment to the sacraments go back to the Middle Ages.

When a priest brought the wafers to sick parishioners in the home, this was sometimes associated with dangers from highwaymen and predators.

The history of the Sacramentary Guards that exist today is closely linked to the Feast of Corpus Christi , which was introduced in 1264 by Pope Urban IV as a festival for the whole Church.

Corpus Christi brotherhoods have been documented since the 14th century . Since the Council of Trento (1545–1563) in what was then the county of Tyrol , following the Spanish influence, the Corpus Christi feast was made ever more splendid in elaborate processions.

This also included honor guards who accompanied the processions in honor of the Blessed Sacrament. They carried the so-called partisan, a polearm with a large main tip and two smaller side tips.

Partisans of the Partisan Guard in Hall in Tirol

The partisan is a defensive weapon and was carried by life guards from the 16th century. Because of this guards weapon, the sacrament guards in Tyrol were called partisans .

The Sacrament Guards existed in numerous places in Tyrol, but have mostly been forgotten in the course of history. The last sacramental guards were finally banned by the anti-church regime of the National Socialists in March 1941. In the towns of Hall in Tirol , Schwaz , Thaur and Volders , this church tradition was resumed immediately after the end of the war and continues to this day.

Because of the almost 500-year-old tradition, the Tyrolean Sacrament Guards were entered in the register of intangible cultural heritage in Austria in 2013 .

Logo of the Federation of the Four Tyrolean Sacrament Guards
The captains of the four Sacrament Guards of Tyrol and in the middle Mr. Karl Wurzer at the awarding of the intangible cultural heritage of UNESCO Austria on November 14, 2013 in the Hofburg (Cafe Sacher) in Innsbruck

The certificate was handed over to the Association of the Sacrament Guards in Tyrol on November 14, 2013 (founded October 31, 2013), consisting of the four remaining Garden of Tyrol.

The garden

Partisan Guard in Hall in Tirol

The Partisan Guard in Hall in Tirol is the oldest of the still existing Sacrament Guards in Tirol.

1326 is the oldest documented mention of an accompaniment to the sacrament.

In 1435 the “Brotherhood of Our Lady” accompanied the accidents.

In 1523 a guard of armed citizens was formed.

Other important milestones are the Marian Congregation, founded in 1578, and the Corpus Christi Brotherhood, founded in 1609. From this time, at the instigation of Archduchess Magdalena of Austria (1532–1590, founder of the Haller Damenstift ), the Haller Guard wore the Spanish court costume .

Partisan League Thaur

According to oral tradition, the founding year is 1660. The costume of the Thaur partisans is derived from the clothing of the young men around 1700. They carry the partisans as weapons like the Hallers .

Salva Guardia to Schwaz

In 1635 a Corpus Christi brotherhood was founded in Schwaz by the knight Hieronymus Stauber von Tratzberg.

In 1686 a mounted honor guard was introduced, which was called Salva Guardia . Her old uniform was destroyed in the great fire in the city of Schwaz during the Tyrolean struggle for freedom in 1809.

The Salva Guardia has been wearing the uniform of a disbanded Austrian National Guard since 1860, which is why the Salva Guardia today carries historical rifles and no longer partisans.

Volders Partisan League

The "lancers" were first mentioned in a church bill from 1854.

While the captain is wearing a partisan, the guardsmen wear elaborate helmets from 1558 and 1564, which were originally in the possession of the Tyrolean Prince Archduke Ferdinand II at Ambras Castle .

It was not until 1900 that a uniform costume was introduced for the Partisan League.

literature

  • Grass Franz: Studies on the sacred culture and church legal history of Austria . Wagner University Press, Innsbruck 1967
  • Hochenegg Hans: cultural images from Hall and the surrounding area . University of Innsbruck, 1970, essay p. 79: "A baroque pomp procession in 1709"
  • Hochenegg Hans: Brotherhoods and similar religious associations in German Tyrol up to the beginning of the twentieth century (Schlern-Schriften 272), Wagner University Press, Innsbruck 1984. ISBN 3-7030-0135-6
  • Sternad Hans: God with us. Festschrift for the 300th anniversary of the sacrament company of Schwaz Salva Guardia , 1990
  • Moser Heinz: The documents of the parish Hall in Tirol 1281–1780 , Tiroler Landesarchiv , 1998, ISBN 978-3-901464-08-9
  • Wurzer Karl, Spötl Ludwig, Linder Edith: Sacrament Guard in Tyrol . Festschrift for the award of the intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, Golf-Verlag Innsbruck 2014, ISBN 978-3-900773-83-0
  • Gostner Fritz, Feichtner Martin: Die Partisaner in Thaur , self-published, Thaur 2016

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Tyrolean Sacrament Guard. Austrian Commission for UNESCO: List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Austria. immaterielleskulturerbe.unesco.at (accessed April 1, 2016).