Coat of arms of the city of Kempten (Allgäu)
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Kempten (Allgäu) Free State of Bavaria |
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| City colors and flag | |
| black-and-white | |
| Basic data | |
| Introduction: | January 5, 1819 |
| Legal basis: | Seal management documented since 1313 |
| Supporting documents: | Coat of arms of December 12, 1488, awarded on January 5, 1819 |
| Former municipalities with their own coat of arms: |
Princely monastery Kempten , imperial city Kempten, Sankt Mang , St. Lorenz |
Today's coat of arms of the city of Kempten (Allgäu) has led the independent city since January 5, 1819. Before that there were a number of other coats of arms. The imperial city in particular changed its coat of arms due to history. The Princely Monastery of Kempten had its own coat of arms.
history
- The imperial city had a split, blue and white shield until 1488. In that year the imperial city received the imperial eagle coat of arms.
- The Imperial Abbey of Kempten showed until its dissolution in its tradition through the use of a breast image of Queen Hildegard , wife of Charlemagne , on red-blue divided blade.
- After the union of the two Kempten, the city received a common coat of arms in 1819, the city coat of arms that is still valid today.
Split blue and white shield and Hildegard
The city of Kempten received its first privilege from King Rudolf von Habsburg in 1289 to confirm freedom of the empire . 1313 the use of its own city seal is documented. In 1391 Charles IV confirmed the city's status as an imperial city. A seal of the imperial city is only preserved from the year 1379: In addition to the city patron knight Gordianus with sword and the inscription SIGILLVM CIVITATIS CAMPIDONENSIS, it depicts the older coat of arms of the city, the blue and white split shield.
The secret seal of the pen shows the coat of arms, a portrait of Queen Hildegard in a grid field. From 1434 a secretion seal was also used, which shows a combination of the city's blue and white shield and the Hildegard bust (above). It is a sign of how strong the influence of the prince monastery was on the imperial city.
Imperial eagle
Due to the help with the campaign in Flanders and the liberation of the emperor's son Maximilian , the grateful Emperor Friedrich III. the imperial city of Kempten a new coat of arms by a document dated December 12, 1488: It is a shield divided vertically into gold and black with half a black and half a golden imperial eagle with a golden crown. The field behind the eagle has been reversed in colors. This coat of arms led the imperial city until the end of its independence in 1803.
Despite the imperial eagle in the coat of arms, the imperial city still used the old city coat of arms. This is particularly noticeable in the cityscapes of the 16th and 17th centuries. Both coats of arms are shown next to each other, for example on the mayor's box in the St. Mang Church in the imperial city and on the town hall fountain .
In the 16th century, imperial city coats of arms that differed from the actual shape were often used: In a golden, unsplit shield, a one or two-headed eagle with a mostly blue heart shield with the silver letter K on its chest . However, official seals and representations never bore this coat of arms. This false coat of arms probably found its way into coat of arms calendars and other works depicting coats of arms through Siebmacher's book of arms . The creation of this false coat of arms is based on the activation of foreign coins with counterstamps . As early as 1400, Prague groschen were given the first letter of the city name in order to mark them as checked. In the other cities, the city arms were usually struck on coins. Kempten refrained from doing this because it could be confused with the Augsburg bishopric , which also used a split shield . Siebmacher probably adopted the outdated representation of these coins in his illustrations.
New coat of arms for the united Kempten
Through mediatization and secularization in 1803, Kempten became Bavarian. The state government objected to the use of the imperial eagle with the crown; the city council therefore pushed for a new coat of arms to be awarded. On November 26, 1804, a new city seal designed in colors arrived. It showed the same colors and the eagle, but did not contain a crown and had the inscription "Administrative Council of the Electoral Palatinate-Bavarian City of Kempten"
In 1811 the two previously independent cities of Kempten were united into one city. In 1818 Bavaria received a new constitutional constitution with a subsequent municipal edict, according to which every city magistrate was allowed to use an official seal. On December 15, 1818, the Kempten Council asked for a new official seal to be awarded for this new provision. The wish was that both cities should be represented in the coat of arms. The first drafts suggested the following solution:
"In vertical split shields in the front yellow field half black eagle of the coat of arms of the former imperial city, red or red at the rear, and blue split box on yellow crossbeams a half-length portrait of St. Hildegardis in natural colors as arms of the former collegiate city." This design was discarded.
By a resolution of January 5, 1819, the city of Kempten received its new city coat of arms, it said:
“ A vertically divided shield; in its first black field a half-simple golden eagle with outspread wings. In the other silver field on a three-sided green ground a red tower with three battlements, two loopholes and an open gate "
Thus one met the wishes of the city. The former imperial city was remembered by the half eagle, the pen by the tower. This is a symbol of the Burghalde , the seat of the monastery governors.
flag
The banner in the 15th century showed the double-headed eagle; in the 19th century the city flag was black and gold; since 1887 it has been kept in the city colors black and white. Occasionally, the city's coat of arms is inserted in the center of the flag.
The flag is mainly hoisted on special occasions, such as holidays, events or the like.
See also
literature
- Friedrich Zollhoefer: Coat of arms of the city of Kempten. In: Eduard Zimmermann, Friedrich Zollhoefer (Hrsg.): Kempter coat of arms and symbols encompassing the city and district of Kempten with the adjacent areas of the Upper Allgäu. In: Alfred Weitnauer (Ed.): Old Allgäuer sexes. XXXVIII. Allgäu homeland books. Vol. 60, Verlag für Heimatpflege, Kempten 1963, pp. V-VII.
- Wolfgang Petz, Josef Kirmeier, Wolfgang Jahn and Evamaria Brockhoff (eds.): “Citizen hard work and prince-luster.” Imperial city and prince abbey of Kempten. House of Bavarian History , Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-927233-60-9 , pp. 128ff.
- Franz-Rasso Böck : Kempten at the transition to Bavaria until 1848. In: History of the city of Kempten. Tobias Dannheimer publishing house, Kempten 1989, ISBN 3-88881-011-6 , p. 363f. u. 527
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry on the coat of arms of the city of Kempten (Allgäu) in the database of the House of Bavarian History (accessed on January 27, 2013)
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Friedrich Zollhoefer: Coat of arms of the city of Kempten. In: Eduard Zimmermann, Friedrich Zollhoefer (Hrsg.): Kempter coat of arms and symbols encompassing the city and district of Kempten with the adjacent areas of the Upper Allgäu. In: Alfred Weitnauer (Ed.): Old Allgäuer sexes. XXXVIII. Allgäu homeland books. Vol. 60, Verlag für Heimatpflege, Kempten 1963, S. Vff.
- ^ City of Kempten. In: kommunalflaggen.de (accessed on January 27, 2013)
Web links
- Kulturportal bavarikon - digitized certificate of the award of the coat of arms for the imperial city of Kempten, December 12th 1488