Wimperg

Early Gothic Wimperg with pinnacles above the west portal of the town church Bad Hersfeld (around 1330)

Bay window with eyelets and pinnacles on the Reichssaal of the Old Town Hall in Regensburg in Bavaria

A Wimperg (also Wimperge or Wimberg ) is a gable-like crowning over portals and windows in Gothic architecture and is also called ornamental gable .

The word has been used in German since the 10th century (ahd. Wintberga , mhd. Wintberge ). The initial meaning was "what protects from the wind hides". Originally, it meant gable parts that protrude over the roof. In this context, Wintberge can also be found in older sources with the meaning " pinnacle ", occasionally also "Wimperg" as a "tooth-like top of the parapet wall of a pinnacle".

The Wimperg is considered an architectural element that, as an ornamental gable, reinforces the gothic height. It can be flanked, framed or occupied by pinnacles . The sloping gable of the eyelash was often framed or occupied with crabs . Its gable tip is often designed as a gable flower , for example in the shape of a finial . For eyelashes with a tip that overhangs to the front, the term “lady's slipper” has been handed down. The pediment can be left smooth, but it is often filled with pre-blinded or openwork tracery .

Outside of the immediate architecture, the Wimperg can also be found as a motif in Gothic carving .

heraldry

The eyelash also made it into some coats of arms as part of a coat of arms figure in heraldry . The architectural object is mainly used to attach a coat of arms in the free space under the legs for filling and decoration. For heraldry, it is more important that it is shown in the coat of arms. The structural part in the coat of arms is mentioned in the coat of arms description and should then be appropriately appreciated by the coat of arms painter. A good example is the coat of arms of the city of Kamenz . Here, according to the description of the coat of arms, stands a golden eyelash decorated with crabs on a golden battlement wall. The eyelash is often described with a triangular gable and crabs do not always have to be flanked or a finial on the tip. The number of coats of arms with the eyelash remains manageable. In the description of the coat of arms of Fehrbellin before 1993 one could still read about Vierpass in Wimperg.

• 

  Kamenz

• 

  Fehrbellin

• 

  Frankfurt (Oder)

• 

  Luneburg

• 

  Montabaur

Web links

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

Wiktionary: Wimperg  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

References and footnotes

1. ↑ ^{a b c} set by Wilfried Koch: Architectural Styles , 27th edition, Gütersloh / Munich, 2006 Index Wimperg, -e [843]
2. ↑ ^{a b c} sentence after Günther Wasmuth (ed.): Wasmuths Lexikon der Baukunst , Berlin 1929–1932 (4 volumes), Lemma Wimperg, Wimberg
3. ^ Sentence based on Fritz Baumgart: DuMont's Kleines Sachlexikon der Architektur , Cologne 1977, Lemma Wimperg , but this definition can also be found in other standard works
4. ^ Sentences on etymology according to Kluge Etymological Dictionary of the German Language , 24th edition, 2002
5. ↑ Kluge Etymological Dictionary of the German Language , 24th edition, 2002 mentioned by mhd. Wintburgelin "Zinne"
6. ↑ in Wilfried Koch: Baustilkunde , 27th edition, Gütersloh / Munich, 2006, index Wimperg, -e [843] as secondary meaning. Other standard works use the term exclusively for the Gothic ornamental gable above doors and windows. Günther Wasmuth (Ed.): Wasmuths Lexikon der Baukunst , Berlin 1929–1932 (4 volumes), Lemma Wimperg, Wimberg mentions “wintberg” as a derivation of the lemma.
7. ↑ Composition based on Rolf Toman [ed.]: Die Kunst der Gotik , Cologne 1998, glossary, p. 506
8. ^ Heinz Machatscheck, Karlheinz Blaschke , Gerhard Kehrer: Lexicon cities and coat of arms of the GDR VEB Verlag Enzyklopädie Leipzig, 1979