Ulrich Cross

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Replica of the Ulrich Cross from the 16th century; Inscription: CRVX VICTORIALIS - S [ANCTI] V [DALRICI]

The Ulrichskreuz (Latin Crux Victorialis Sancti Udalrici , Victory Cross of St. Ulrich ) is a preciously set cross relic in the Augsburg healing chamber , which is associated with Ulrich von Augsburg and the battle on the Lechfeld near Augsburg . In the early modern period it was widespread in countless replicas and as a military decoration and also became the heraldic symbol of Ulrich's cross . The Ulrichskreuz has the shape of a Greek cross with straight broadening hooks (special form of the paw cross ).

history

Balthasar Riepp : Presentation of the victory cross at the battle on the Lechfeld , ceiling painting in the parish church of St. Ulrich (Seeg) , 1744 (detail)

According to legend, an angel presented or shown a cross to St. Ulrich during the Battle of Lechfeld, which he, like Constantine the Great before the battle of the Milvian Bridge , interpreted as a sign of victory : “Too ainem zaichen and certainly the future must be overcome Against the enemy. ”So he is said to have held up the cross during the course of the battle to give the fighting soldiers courage and confidence in victory. Therefore, with God's help, as the legend tells, the battle was won.

The Ulrichskreuz relic is a small wooden cross made of three parts. It could be from St. Ulrich was brought from Rome as a particle of the cross of Christ and carried in his pectoral cross . The connection with the Lechfeld Battle is only attested from the 15th century. According to this, Ulrich is said to have received the cross from an angel before or during the battle and carried it on his chest during the battle, which gave him protection from the arrows and stones of the enemy, while he was otherwise unarmed and without armor . He also held it up to encourage those who were fighting.

Around 1320 this pectoral cross was secured with sheet silver. In 1494, the Augsburg goldsmiths Nikolaus and Georg Seld inserted it into a reliquary in the shape of a Greek cross adorned with gold and precious stones . Today the Ulrich's cross is kept in the healing chamber in Augsburg.

In the late Middle Ages and in the early modern period , the Ulrich's cross was widely used as an amulet and pilgrimage souvenir from Augsburg, including slogans that conjured up the devil, throughout southern Germany and Alsace. This is also shown by the discovery of the Schelklingen cross pendant in 1992 in the Schelklinger Hohlen Felsen near Schelklingen . Means of protection were also associated with the Zacharias and Benedictine blessings. In the form of a paw cross, the Ulrich's cross was worn as a pectoral cross for protection like a talisman , as jewelry, possibly also as a badge of honor by soldiers of the cavalry . The cross was mostly decorated with different representations. A uniform design has never prevailed. Mostly it showed Emperor Otto at the moment of victory and / or Bishop Ulrich at the moment of the handover of the cross by angels, the battle or other floral or arabesque motifs. Furthermore, the diocese of Augsburg honors well-deserved laypeople with the Ulrich Cross and issues Ulrich Crosses in commemorative years. But the Ulrichskreuz is not reserved for a single organization. Aindling brought out a medal for the Lechrain Volksmarsch Aindling of 1971 and 1972 in the form of the Ulrich's cross.

The shape of this cross was adopted in heraldry and is part of various local coats of arms .

The Augsburg city pastor Joseph Maria Friesenegger (1855–1937) acquired and cataloged more than 500 Ulrich crosses from 1887 onwards.

To mark the millennium of the battle, the diocese of Augsburg celebrated a week of festivities in the so-called Ulrich year from July 2 to 11, 1955, which was mainly shaped by the Western movement . The identity-creating effect of the battle and the importance of the Ulrich Cross as a symbol of a Christian-Western Germany were emphasized. The German Federal Post Office issued a special postage stamp on the occasion, however, on which the Ulrich's Cross was not shown , probably to avoid confusion with the Iron Cross .

literature

  • Josef M. Friesenegger (Ed.): The Ulrich crosses with special consideration of their religious customs. Walch, Augsburg 1937.
  • Hannelore Müller: Ulrich Cross and Ulrich Cross. In: Yearbook of the Diocese of Augsburg. Vol. 2, 1955, ZDB -ID 516762-0 , pp. 48-53.
  • Crux Victorialis. A souvenir book of the St. Ulrichs Festival Week and the Days of the Occidental Confession from July 2 to 11, 1955 in Augsburg. Issued by the local committee. Edited by Leopold Schwarz and Max Hohenester. Publisher Winfried-Werk, Augsburg 1955.
  • Wolfgang Augustyn : The Ulrich Cross and the Ulrich Cross. In: Manfred Weitlauff (Ed.): Bishop Ulrich von Augsburg. 890-973. His life - his time - his veneration. Festschrift on the occasion of the thousandth anniversary of his canonization in 993 (= yearbook of the Association for the History of the Augsburg Diocese. Vol. 26/27, 1992/93). Konrad, Weißenhorn 1993, ISBN 3-87437-321-5 , pp. 267-315.
  • Klaus Schreiner : Signa Victricia. Sacred signs in armed conflicts of the Middle Ages. In: Klaus Schreiner: Rituals, Signs, Images. Forms and functions of symbolic communication in the Middle Ages (= norm and structure. Vol. 40). Böhlau, Cologne et al. 2011, ISBN 978-3-412-20737-3 , pp. 20-22: on the Ulrichskreuz.
  • Charles R. Bowlus: The battle on the Lechfeld. Translation from the American Barbara Bowlus. Thorbecke, Ostfildern 2012, ISBN 978-3-7995-0765-3 .

Web links

Commons : Ulrichskreuz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Quoted from Klaus Schreiner: "sygzeichen". Symbolic communication media in armed conflicts of the late Middle Ages and early modern times. In: Ute Frevert , Wolfgang Braungart (Ed.): Languages ​​of the Political. Media and mediality in history. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 2003, ISBN 3-525-36274-9 , pp. 20–94, here p. 44.
  2. ↑ Medical Chamber
  3. ↑ Museum Schelklingen ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.museum-schelklingen.de
  4. ↑ Museum Schelklingen ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.museum-schelklingen.de
  5. ↑ Augsburger Allgemeine ; Augsburger Allgemeine ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.augsburger-allgemeine.de
  6. ↑ Augsburger Allgemeine
  7. ↑ Gert Oswald : Lexicon of Heraldry. Mannheim, Vienna et al. 1984, ISBN 978-3-411-02149-9 , p. 402.
  8. ↑ Stefan Miedaner, Erwin Naimer, Martin Riss: Crux victorialis. Ulrich crosses from the Friesenegger collection (= archive of the Diocese of Augsburg. Catalog. Vol. 2). Exhibition of the archive of the Diocese of Augsburg on the 60th Ulrichswoche 2015, Basilica St. Ulrich and Afra, July 3 to September 14, 2015. Diocese of Augsburg, Augsburg 2015, p. 11, ( digital copy (PDF; 2.72 MB) ).
  9. ^ Diocese of Augsburg
  10. ↑ Vanessa Conze: The Europe of the Germans. Ideas of Europe in Germany between imperial tradition and western orientation (1920–1970) (= studies on contemporary history. Vol. 69). Oldenbourg, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-486-57757-3 , p. 164, (also: Tübingen, Universität, Dissertation, 2001).