Coat of arms of the city of Siegen
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Siegen North Rhine-Westphalia |
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| Blazon | |
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| City colors and flag | |
| Blue and yellow ("orange") | |
| Basic data | |
| Introduction: | 20th August 1975 |
| Supporting documents: | Approval from the District President Arnsberg |
The coat of arms of the city of Siegen is the official heraldic emblem of the German district town of Siegen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia . The emblematic of the coat of arms goes back to the Siegen city seal from the middle of the 13th century. The emblematic nature of the coat of arms gives several references to the history of the city. The city of Siegen has had the current form of the coat of arms as a national emblem since August 20, 1975 with the approval of the District President Arnsberg .
Blazon
“In silver, a growing red battlement wall with an open gate flanked by two black grooved, lowered towers each with three arched windows and a tent roof, raised by two four-pass openings in black and silver, an (arch) bishop growing out of the battlements in natural colors with flowing blond hair, blue regalia and miter and silver pallium, in the raised hands on the right a silver crook with a golden curvature turned to the left, on the left an open silver book with gilt edging, an empty page with black inscriptions underlaid with gold, a small label in the archway, portal pages and lower edge of the shield touching, in it a golden, red armored and tongued lion in blue . "
description
The coat of arms of the Siegen city coat of arms has the shape of a French shield , which shows several common figures . The basic form is a heraldic shield that is half-divided by red and silver with battlements . In the upper field is a figure of a bishop, depicted from the waist up, in blue regalia with a silver pallium and a blue miter , arms spread out. In the right hand the figure holds a golden crook with the crook turned towards him, in the left hand an open silver book with an implied text. The lower field is formed by the graphic representation of a red wall with seven battlements, two loopholes (according to another interpretation, holes for the chains of a drawbridge ) and an archway flanked by two towers. In the open archway there is another coat of arms on silver in the old French form, with a golden lion with a red tongue and red claws, heraldically upright on blue.
The city seal of Siegen as the predecessor of the coat of arms
The seal of the city of Siegen, from which the city coat of arms emerged, was first mentioned in a document dated April 27, 1248. This document, of which only a copy from the 15th century has survived, also names councilors and aldermen of the city. A total of nine copies of the first version of the city seal from the years 1270 to 1317 have been preserved. The approximately elliptical seal already shows the same symbols as the later city arms in its first version; it is also provided with the all-round Latin lettering SIGILLUM BURGENSIUM OPPIDUM IN SEGEN . From around the year 1364 until the early 17th century, the city of Siegen used a new version of the seal with the changed inscription S (IGILLUM) SECRET (UM) (OP) PIDI SIGEN ("secret seal of the city of Siegen"); the last version of this city seal is dated to the year 1742.
Symbolism of the city arms
Figure in the bishop's robe
There are two competing views on the identity of the person depicted on the coat of arms, clearly identifiable as a member of the clergy due to his ornate with miter and crook . Some authors believe that the figure in the bishop's robe is St. Martin (316 / 317–397), Bishop of Tours and patron saint of the oldest preserved church building in the city, the Martini Church . The fact that the city seal has been documented since 1248, but the Martini church was first mentioned in a document in 1311, could speak against this view. But there was a previous building on the site of the Martini church in the 11th century - a collegiate church , the remains of which were integrated into the church building that has existed to the present day. It is true that parts of the literature refer to this previous building as the Martinikirche; due to a lack of historical documents, however, a consecration for St. Martin should no longer be verifiable. An indication that the figure of the coat of arms is St. Martin is the location of the Martinikirche outside the historic Siegen city fortifications ("Church in front of the wall" - ecclesia extra muros, as depicted in the city coat of arms): According to legends, moved Martin of Tours also as an ordained bishop a life outside the city walls (see: St. Martin in the fields ) before urban life.
The interpretation of the figure as St. Martin is supported by the fact that she is holding the crook with the crook turned towards her; in ecclesiastical use a symbol that this bishop is in "foreign" territory outside his own sphere of influence ( jurisdiction ) . A de facto ruler of the city would hold the baton with the crook turned away from you ("outward"). This means that there is a likelihood that the person depicted is an auxiliary bishop .
Other authors assume that the archbishop Engelbert I of Cologne (1186-1225) is depicted on both the city seals preserved from the 13th century and on the coat of arms created from them . The interpretation of the figure as Archbishop Engelbert is supported by the fact that the first documented mention of Siegen comes from a treaty from 1224. In this contract, Engelbert and the then ruling Count of Nassau, Heinrich the Rich (1190–1251), shared the coin, customs and other income of the "newly built city of Siegen" (Latin wording: oppidi Sige de novo constructi ), which suggests that Engelbert played a more important role in the development of the city than that of St. Martin during this period.
Coat of arms of Nassau-Siegen with lion
The round arch of the gate in the wall on the city seal and city coat of arms is filled with a simple coat of arms of the House of Nassau-Siegen with a lion figure. This form of the coat of arms was in use by the Nassau-Siegen rulers until 1221 at the most; Heinrich the Rich had already had the coat of arms extended by several rectangular shingles as a sign. The reason for the use of the older form of the Nassau coat of arms in the first Siegen seal and in the city's coat of arms does not emerge from the literature.
literature
- Heinrich von Achenbach : History of the City of Siegen, Part I to VII, Volume One. Supplementary reprint of the Siegen 1894 edition, published by Die Wielandschmiede, Kreuztal 1978
- Wilhelm Güthling (ed.): History of the city of Siegen in demolition . Vorländer, Siegen 1955
- Albert Ludorff : The architectural and art monuments of Westphalia. Volume 12: District of Siegen. Schöningh, Münster iW 1903. PDF (8.9 MB) on Wikimedia Commons
- Wilhelm Ochse: Church local history . Regensbergsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Münster (Westf.) 1946
Web links
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Main statutes of the city of Siegen according to the council resolution of December 14, 2005.
Therein: § 3 - National emblem (PDF file, 84 kB, accessed on April 16, 2011)
Individual evidence
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↑ Main statute of the city of Siegen ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. according to the Council resolution of December 14, 2005. Therein: § 3 - National emblem (PDF; 84 kB, accessed on April 16, 2011)
- ↑ § 3 of the main statute of the city of Siegen: National emblem ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 84 kB)
- ^ Albert Ludorff: The architectural and art monuments of Westphalia: District of Siegen, p. 113
- ^ Güthling: History of the City of Siegen in Demolition , p. 12
- ↑ a b c d Güthling: History of the City of Siegen in Demolition , p. 14
- ^ Güthling: History of the City of Siegen in Demolition , p. 24 f.
- ↑ Manfred Seifarth: The Martinikirche in Siegen . Booklet on the history of the building, published by the presbytery of the Evangelical Martini parish in Siegen, 1999
- ↑ Various authors: "ecclesia extra muros" - 1311–2011, 700 years Martini Church in Siegen. Anniversary Festschrift, published in the series Siegener Posts - Yearbook for Regional History. Special volume 2011, Vorländer, Siegen 2011 ISSN 1435-1412
- ^ Wilhelm Ochse: Kirchliche Heimatkunde , p. 11
- ^ Achenbach: History of the City of Siegen , p. 5
- ^ Wilhelm Ochse: Kirchliche Heimatkunde , p. 13
