Guild sign
The medieval guilds symbolized their professional and community understanding in the form of guild signs . These signs are partially surrounded by a coat of arms . Besides guild signs in the form of a symbol, there are other guild signs.
Guild signs as symbols
The guilds are long gone, their signs in the form of symbols still exist. They are recognized and recognized as a professional mark; can still be found today in modified forms on company vehicles, advertisements and letterheads. They are still used today as symbols, sometimes still traditionally as nose shields . At meetings of guilds, these symbols are sometimes shown on guild flags. Symbolized tools of the respective crafts were used in guild signs. In addition to the speaking signs , such as a pretzel for the baker or the hammer for the blacksmith, the guilds also identified themselves through signs , through the use of patron saints. In Catholic areas they were saints and in Protestant later figures from ancient mythology. Like the composition of the guilds (which sometimes combined different professions), the characters also varied depending on the region.
The guild signs not only had a meaning for the understanding of the respective guild internally, but also served as advertising or as a sign for people who were not able to read or multilingual groups in different languages.
The traditional spread of the guild signs meant that such signs were also devised for professions that emerged long after the guilds dissolved, e.g. B. for electricians or the automotive industry.
Further guild signs
Other guild signs were the guild drawer or chest to the guild flags and table signs in taverns. The guilds had special metal or ceramic drinking vessels, and even had their own death shields and towels . At meetings there were guild sticks, guild candles and the already mentioned guild flags as symbols of the respective guild. These guild symbols and their use were integrated into very specific regulations. For example, only certain people were allowed to speak during the time when the guild chest was open, and drinking and eating were prohibited.
List of guild signs
| guild | description | character |
|---|---|---|
| pharmacist | Mortar with pestle . |
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| Bader | ... in the golden shield a bloodletting band, twisted in knots, in the middle of which a green parrot was emblazoned ... | |
| baker | A pretzel or two upright lions hold a pretzel and a sword each. The swords are crossed through the pretzel. There is a crown over the pretzel. Often there is also a 4-bun under the crown. |
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| Concrete and reinforced concrete constructors | Claw hammer crossed with an ax; behind the braiding pliers (Rabitz, Monier pliers) with a compass on the same level as the frame saw and a triangle. |
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| Beer brewers and maltsters | Brewer's star or crossed mash crutch , malt scoop and beer scoop | |
| Bookbinder | Three crossed tools over a book press. |
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| Book printer | Double-headed eagle holding angled hook and tenacle in its claws. |
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| roofer | A slate hammer crossed with a Saxon brick deck hammer together with a compass. |
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| Fisherman | Two crossed fish. |
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| Butchers , butchers, butchers, butchers | (Variant 1) Lamb with flag. |
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| Butchers, butchers, butchers, butchers | (Variation 2) Bull's head with two axes below. |
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| hair stylist | Barber's (razor) basin hanging on a wall. From the barbers, bathers and surgeons guild. |
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| Tanner | Bucks, shrub. |
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| Glaziers | Four crossed tools:
VHNV Kröseleisen , Glaziers diamond / glass cutter , Glaziers Hammer , soldering iron / Pulpit |
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| Goldsmith | Three rings and a cup surrounded by a hexagon. |
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| Glove maker | A pair of gloves. |
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| Farrier | Horseshoes over a brick forge. |
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| Hatter |
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| Button maker |
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| Confectioner | Baumkuchen. | |
| Cooper | Hammer and crossed ribbon hooks. |
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| Krämer / Kramer, dealer | A hand holding a scale. |
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| Furrier | An ermine coat of arms between two upright lions. |
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| painter | In the shield three smaller shields, two next to each other at the top, one in the middle below |
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| Bricklayer | Seal with a slightly flared compass in the middle , surrounded by a hammer and trowel in a drawing triangle. |
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| Müller |
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| optician | Glasses and telescope under a comet. |
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| optician | as before, Viennese commercial coat of arms. |
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| pawnbroker | Three (golden) balls, the middle hanging a little lower. | |
| Trimmers | Viennese commercial coat of arms. |
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| Cleaner | Woman's head with a hat. |
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| Riemer | Belt harness in the Viennese commercial coat of arms. |
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| Saddler | Saddle and tools. |
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| locksmith | Two crossed keys, sometimes with a gear. |
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| Blacksmith | Hammer, anvil. |
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| cutter | An (open) pair of scissors with a loop of fabric through the handle holes. Underneath a thimble. |
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| Carpenter or carpenter | Plane, square and compass. |
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| Schröter | Shot ladder, barrel hook and wine barrel with so-called support. | |
| Shoemaker | Half-moon knife, boots, double-headed eagle. |
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| Stonemason or stone sculptor | Symbol with three clubs in a ring for apprentice, journeyman and master. |
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| Draper | Rough scraper and cloth scissors. |
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| Weber | Three shuttles arranged in a triangle. |
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| Windmillers | Millstone in front of it, a sack of flour with a post mill. |
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| Carpenter | Seal crossed with a shot saw, hatchet and ax and a compass. |
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literature
- Alfred Grenser: guild coat of arms and craftsmen's insignia. A Heraldry of the Arts and Crafts. Rommel, Frankfurt am Main 1889, DNB 99676688X .
- Leopold Schmidt: guild mark. Evidence of old craftsmanship. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-7017-0085-0 .
- Gisela Pekrul: Craft, guild and historical guild mark. Part 1. Construction and finishing trades. edition digital, Godern 2010, ISBN 978-3-931646-42-4 .
- Gisela Pekrul: Historical craft marks . Edition digital, Godern 2011, ISBN 978-3-931646-55-4 .
- Gisela Pekrul: The signs of the craftsmen. Edition digital, Godern 2011, ISBN 978-3-9804256-2-9 .
- Gisela Pekrul: Nice old guild signs. Edition digital, Godern 2011, ISBN 978-3-931646-15-8 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ In a travelogue from Galicia at the beginning of the 20th century, Bertha Pappenheim describes the practical function of signs on shop signs for a society that is not fully literate: It is characteristic of the average illiterate population that company signs are not only in Hebrew and Polish, with names and trade or proclaim handicraft, but that, as in the children's fairy scissors and a tangled cubit for the men's tailors, a tightly wrapped child looking like a beetle larva on the signs of the midwives, etc. Bertha Pappenheim , Sara Rabinowitsch : On the situation of the Jewish population in Galicia. Travel impressions and suggestions for improving the situation. New Frankfurter Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1904.
- ↑ E.g. on the facade of the (former) building of the Trier Chamber of Crafts, built between 1924-26 : Jens Fachbach, Stefan Heinz, Georg Schelbert, Andreas Tacke (eds.): Architekturführer Trier. Imhof, Petersberg 2015, ISBN 978-3-86568-728-9 , pp. 61-62.
- ↑ Quotation: “When Emperor Wenzel was rescued from captivity by a heroic bath maid, he rewarded this service in 1406 with a privilege, according to which the handicraft of bathers should in future be regarded everywhere as flawless, honest and pure; at the same time he ordered the bathers to have a guild coat of arms, namely in a golden shield a bloodletting band twisted in knots with a green parrot emblazoned in the middle. ”E. Götzinger: Reallexicon of German antiquities. Leipzig 1885, pp. 1027-1031.