Swiss pine nut

This article deals with the Swiss stone pine nut as a coat of arms figure, for the pine cones and seeds of the same name, see Swiss stone pine # Blossoms, cones and seeds .

The stone pine nut (also Pyr ) is a heraldic figure in the form of the closed, upright cone of a stone pine . It is also generally referred to as a pine cone .

So-called pine cones made of stone, decorated with net patterns and possibly related to a phallic symbol, come from Portuguese megalithic systems from the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. BC (e.g. Martinho de Sintra, Carenque-Bautas).

The cone was later the standard of a Roman legion , which was founded in 15 BC. Took part in a campaign of conquest to Raetia . Their Augusta Vindelicum camp at the confluence of the Lech and Wertach rivers is considered to be the nucleus of today's city of Augsburg , in whose coat of arms the stone pine nut can still be found today (“city pyr”).

The term "Pyr" apparently goes back to the Latin word for "pear" ( pirum ). In addition to its use as a military standard and city coat of arms, the stone pine adorned countless Roman pillar tombs in Raetia as a symbol of fertility and immortality . In this context it goes back to the Egyptian cult of Isis and the cults of Dionysus and Cybele . Christianity interprets the pine tree as a tree of life and understands the pine cone as a sign of resurrection and immortality.

In the Augsburg city ​​area, stone pine nuts can be found in many places. Numerous painted, chiseled or cast Pyrenees adorn many historical buildings in Augsburg's old town . Large copper pine nuts sit on the two gable tops of Augsburg City Hall .

By mistake, cast-iron Augsburg pine nuts were also attached to the Memmingen Stadtbach railing.

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  Swiss pine, the coat of arms of Augsburg

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  Swiss stone pine (decoration)

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  Swiss stone pine cones

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  Pine cones in Aachen Cathedral

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  Antique pine cones in the Cortile della Pigna of the Vatican Museums

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See also: Article on the history of the so-called stone pine nut in the Augsburg city coat of arms with sources in the Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte portal , accessed on August 26, 2011
2. ↑ Eckard Bieger (SJ): Pine, pine cones - symbol of resurrection , article in the online portal kath.de , accessed on August 26, 2011

Web links

Commons : Swiss pine nuts artistically represented  - a collection of images, videos and audio files

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

• Pine nut in the Augsburg Wiki