A Plaque With Five Coats of Arms

This plaque is found on the New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus) in Munich, and the translated text reads:

This town hall was built and furnished in the years 1867 to 1880 by the architect Georg Hauberrisser, born in Graz. In honor of his achievement, this plaque was erected by the City of Munich, in the year of Our Lord 1881.

“Rathhaus” is the older spelling of Rathaus (“town hall”).

The plaque says 1867–1880, referring to the initial construction phase. The New Rathaus was subsequently expanded in later phases and ultimately dates to 1909.

The first construction phase, from 1867 to 1874, was conceived and executed by Georg Hauberrisser. From 1898 to 1892, work continued on the section at the corner of Dienerstraße and Landschaftsstraße. Georg Hauberrisser finally completed the third construction phase in 1905 with the completion of the town hall tower.

In 1901, Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria awarded Georg Hauberrisser the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown. This raised him into the noble class as Ritter von Hauberrisser.

There is a small shield embedded in the text of the plaque on the fourth line, in the form of a hausmark. Since it immediately follows the German word baumeister (builder) and immediately precedes his name, I suspect that this shield is the runic-style burgher arms of Georg Hauberrisser.

The four coats of arms at the base of the plaque are (from left to right):

Hauberrisser? Argent a lion rampant gules crowned or, according to AI, but that doesn't explain the semy of billets bendwise sinister, and I have found AI not all that helpful in identifying coats of arms. It will sometimes just make stuff up. So is this Georg von Hauberrisser's noble coat of arms, or is it the arms of another city associated with him? I don't know; 

the city of Munich (small arms), which we have seen earlier recently; 

the Kingdom of Bavaria (small arms), which we have also seen recently; and 

the city of Graz (Vert a panther rampant argent breathing flames and crowned proper) (https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/wiki/Graz).

And Sometimes, This Job Is Easy

In my last post, I talked about the frustrations of having a photograph of a married couple's coats of arms, knowing their names, when they died, and even a little bit about what the husband did for a living, and being unable to find out anything more about them, or their heraldry, anywhere.

And then there are (some of) the other times, when I can look up a coat of arms and find the person to whom it belongs, and what they did, and even entire Wikipedia articles about them.

Today is one of those better times.

Here in the interior of the Cathedral of Our Lady in Munich, Germany, we find the arms of Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of München-Freising, 2008-present. And he has his own Wikipedia article at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhard_Marx.

The arms on the shield are those of the Diocese quartering Marx.

Riestap's Armorial Général cites the arms of Marx as Gules a lion of St. Mark or. The arms of the Diocese of München-Freising are: Or a Moor’s head proper crowned and wearing a shirt collar gules. https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/wiki/Archdiocese_of_M%C3%BCnchen-Freising.

Isn't that nicer? I didn't have to do a whole lot of frustrating research, looking in one armorial after another, and then spend a lot of time writing about all of the information I couldn't find. I didn't even have to spend a lot of time writing about either the Archbishop or the arms of the Archdiocese. I can just include the links for you to click on and read as much or as little about each as you would like.

If only all of my heraldic research could go this well!

Sometimes This Job Is Frustrating

Well, and by "job", I mean my self-imposed work of identifying coats of arms that I, or one or another friend of mine, has photographed.

Sometimes, even many times, I would say that it works out well.

And then there's today's picture.

This is the armorial memorial to Sebastian Reitter von Hallenburg and his wife Maria née Kainen, affixed to the exterior of the cathedral in Munich, Germany.

We know that it is memorializing this couple because we can read the inscription on its face:

A.D.ij den XIIII Maii Anno MDCXX starb der ernueste und wolfürnem Herr Sebastian Reitter von Hallenburg, der loblichen Landschafft in Bairn Zeugwart gewesen. Den IIII. Oct. Anno MDC [Z4] starb die erndreich Frau Maria, ain geborne Kainen, sein eheliche Hausfrau. Deren Sellen Gott genedig und barmherzig sein welle A

In English, it reads:

On the 14th of May in the year 1620, the honorable and highly distinguished Sebastian Reitter von Hallenburg—who had served as Master of Ordnance for the noble Estates of Bavaria—passed away. On the 4th of October in the year 1600, the virtuous Lady Maria née Kainen, his lawful wife—passed away. May God be gracious and merciful to their souls.

So far, so good.

But, for the life of me, I cannot find any additional biographical information anywhere about Herr Reitter or his wife, Maria.

And what's worse (in my not so humble opinion), I cannot find any information about their coats of arms, either! Not in Rietstap's Armorial Général, not in any of the Siebmacher volumes I have access to, not in the other German armorials that I have. Not even in the Neues Allgemeines Deutsches Adels-Lexicon (in 9 volumes), much of which I cannot read, knowing but a little German, but whose blazons generally I can parse. Nothing. Nada. Or, more appropriately for the location of this memorial, nichts.

Leaving me sitting here in a funk, looking at two lovely coats of arms, and not having a clue as to what they are supposed to look like in color.

And not really knowing much of anything at all about the people who bore them.

Which is sad, because I know that they have to have a story behind them, but which story may, at this point, be lost in the mists of time. Or a least the mists of a time some 400 plus years ago.

The Heraldry of a Husband and Wife

Andreas Anton, Graf [Count] von Capris (1716-1776) was a Bavarian major general of French-Italian origin. He has his own Wikipedia entry: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Anton_von_Capris 

His wife was Maria Theresia Countess von Spreti (1746–1818), the daughter of Lieutenant Field Marshal Hieronymus von Spreti and his wife Maria Caroline Charlotte, née von Ingenheim.

There are two coats of arms on the memorial: Capris (left) and Spreti (right).

Both arms are found (and blazoned in French) in Rietstap's Armorial Général:

Capris de Ciglié: D'or, à une tête et col de bouquetin de sable, accornée d'argent. (Or, a goat's head and neck sable armed argent.)

Spreti: D'argent, à un mont de trois coupeaux surmonté d'une fougère de cinq feuilles au naturel. (Argent, on a mount of three hillocks, a fern with five fronds proper.)

Memorial Heraldry in the Heart of Munich, Germany

The Frauenkirche (Cathedral of Our Lady) in the historic center of Munich serves as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising and seat of its Archbishop.

The cathedral can hold approximately 20,000 people; this is surprising when one considers that at end of the 15th Century, when the cathedral was built, the city only had about 13,000 inhabitants

Around the exterior of the cathedral are many memorial stones. They came from the cemetery which surrounded the church. For reasons of hygiene the cemetery was to have been moved, but several times, citizens successfully resist against that. In 1800 the cemetery was paved over. On the exterior wall of the cathedral the preserved stone epitaphs of the wealthier citizens are attached. Some of them are decorated with figures, and some with coats of arms. Some texts are almost no longer legible due to weathering over the centuries.

Today we begin looking at some of those memorials with heraldry on them, or at least the ones about whom I can find information.

The first is the memorial of Wolfgang Christoph Edler [noble] von Spitzel auf Unterspan, who (as the memorial tells us) died 12 February 1786, aged 81. The family had arms since 1707, and were named knights of the Holy Roman Empire 1 September 1756.

The arms are found in Rietstap's Armorial Général, where they are blazoned: Écartelé: au 1, d'or, à une couleuvre ondoyante en pal et contournée d'azur, derrière une grille d'argent, posée sur un tertre de sinople; aux 2 et 3, coupé de sable sur argent, le sable chargé d'une paire de tenailles d'argent, posée en fasce; au 4, d'azur, à un griffon d'or, tenant de ses pattes une masse à picotons d'argent.

An English blazon would be: Quarterly: 1, Or, a serpent undy palewise and contourny Azure, behind a grille Argent, set upon a mound Vert; 2 and 3, per fess Sable and Argent, the Sable charged with a pair of pincers fesswise Argent; 4, Azure, a griffin Or, holding in its paws a spiked mace Argent.

A fairly complex coat of arms, and unusual in having the second and third quarters being the same while the first and fourth quarters are different.

Nonetheless, an interesting coat of arms on a memorial to a member of this old Bavarian noble and civil servant family.

Fun With Heraldry in Munich, Germany

Our heraldic item today isn't a true coat of arms; it's a non-heraldry amalgam of two different coats of arms.

The item seen here is a quasi-heraldic decoration of a ceiling boss, an ornamental, projecting keystone or knob located where the ribs of a vaulted ceiling or roof beams intersect.

And what they have done to decorate this ceiling boss is to take elements from the coat of arms of Bavaria and from the coat of arms of the city of Munich, and combine them!

Because it is quasi-heraldic, using real heraldic items, I'm even willing to attempt a blazon: Per chevron throughout ployé paly bendy argent and azure (for Bavaria), and gules a monk's head and shoulders facing dexter proper hooded sable (for Munich).

The ployé in the blazon denotes that the line of division (in this case, per chevron) is "bent", or curved.

Anyway, I thought it was an interest combination of two different coats of arms to (1) decorate a ceiling (2) located in Munich, Germany, which is in the state of Bavaria.

The Lesser Arms of Munich, Germany

Having seen the Greater Arms of the city of Munich, Germany, last time, which incorporate "the monk from the lesser coat of arms", today we're going to see what that "lesser coat of arms" looks like.

And in the process, we're going to see some international heraldry!

This plaque, found in the New Town Hall (Neues Rathaus) in Munich, shows the lesser arms of Munich surrounded by her sister cities around the world.

The “small arms” of Munich, seen in the center panel here, are blazoned: In Silber ein stehender Mönch mit golden bordierter schwarzer Kutte und Kapuze und roten Schuhen, der ein rotes Buch in der Linken hält; die Rechte segnend erhoben. (Argent a monk statant habited Sable trimmed Or with shoes Gules [arms outstretched] the right hand in benediction the left holding a book Gules.) This is the monk who appears within the gateway of the town gate of the greater arms.

Of Munich and her sister cities from around the world, we have the arms (or logo or seal, when no coat of arms exists for that city. I'm looking at you, Cincinnati!) of: from left to right, and top to bottom: 

Kyiv, Ukraine; Harare, Zimibabwe; Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.; 

Sapporo, Japan; Munich, Germany; Bordeaux, France; 

Edinburgh, Scotland, U.K.; Be’er Sheva, Israel; and Verona, Italy.

Not flashy, not all that showy, but what a great display of international heraldry!

The Greater Arms of Munich, Germany

Continuing our virtual tagging along on my friend Katie's river cruise to Europe, and all of the pictures of heraldry she took for me while she was there, we come to Munich, Germany.

Where we find two examples of the "greater arms" of the city over different doorways. (As always, you should click on the image(s) below to see the full-size photograph(s), where you can zoom in and see these arms in greater detail.

The German blazon for this coat of arms is: In Silber ein offenes rotes Stadttor zwischen zwei roten Zinnentürmen mit von Schwarz und Gold mehrfach zickzackartig gebänderten Dächern; oben ein wachsender, golden gekrönter und bewehrter goldener Löwe; im Tor der Mönch des kleinen Wappens. 

In English blazon, we have: Argent, an open red town gate between two red crenellated towers with roofs banded horizontally in a zigzag pattern of sable and or; above, a lion issuant crowned and armed or; within the gateway, the monk from the lesser coat of arms.

The monk (mönch) in both the greater and the lesser arms is, of course, a cant (an heraldic term for a pictorial pun)* on the German name of the city: München. 

The use of the greater arms of Munich was abolished by law from December 17, 1957 and only the small arms have been used since. Though, obviously, you can still see the greater arms depicted here and there about the city.

Next time, we will see the Lesser Coat of Arms of Munich, along with some international heraldry!

* This definition leads to yet another pun, in English, anyway: "Heralds don't pun; they cant".

The heraldic term "cant" being a homophone of "can't", a shortened form of "cannot".

An Heraldic Interior Decorating Tip

For our final stop in Salzburg, Austria, we have tips on how to decorate a room with heraldry, courtesy of the Golden Hall (Goldener Saal) in the Hohensalzburg Fortress (Festung Hohensalzburg).

The Fortress was erected at the behest of the prince-archbishops of Salzburg, and the Golden Hall was begun in 1498, when Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach (whose arms we have seen in our post of August 24, 2026) had these magnificent state apartments installed on the third floor. The state apartments were primarily used for representative purposes and for festivities.

And here are two examples the von Keutschach arms (on the right) painted over a doorway in the Golden Hall:

But it is the 17-meter-long (55-3/4 foot) beam, supporting the ceiling, is particularly worth mentioning. The coat of arms of Archbishop of Salzburg Leonhard von Keutschach (near the center of the first photograph, next to the arms of the Archdiocese of Salzburg), together with those of the Holy Roman Empire, the most powerful German towns, and the bishoprics that were connected to Salzburg, in the other pictures, are painted on it.

As always, please click on any of the images here to go to the full-size photograph so you can really see the details of these coats of arms.  

And then, as you may havae noticed from two of the photos above, a side wall has three more coats of arms painted on it:

So there you have it! Some home re-decorating ideas for the next time you want to heraldically spruce up your own castle/mansion/humble abode. All courtesy of Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach and the Golden Hall of the Hohensalzburg Fortress in Salzburg, Austria.

A Final Coat of Arms of an Archbishop

This will be the final coat of arms of an Archbishop of Salzburg, but it is, I think, pretty special. (Or at least, unusual.)

No, not the inscribed plaque on this tower; the painted coats of arms at the top of the photograph. (You will probably want to click on the image above to see the full-size photograph where you can zoom in to see these arms more clearly.)

As in some other instances of combining the arms of the Archdiocese with the personal arms of the Archbishop, the shield on the left (heraldic dexter) is the arms of the Archdiocese of Salzburg: Per pale: dexter, Or a lion rampant sable; sinister, Gules a fess argent (Austria).

The shield on the right (heraldic sinister) is the family arms of Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg 1469-1540 (Archbishop of Salzburg 1519-1540) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matth%C3%A4us_Lang_von_Wellenburg). These arms are blazoned: Argent a quatrefoil gules dimidiating Gules a fleur-de-lis argent.

The family arms are somewhat unusual, and yet they fully serve one of the most basic needs of heraldry; they are clear and easy to identify! Even using the "postage stamp" test I first heard from former State Herald of South Africa Frederick Brownell (shrink a coat of arms to the size of a postage stamp and see if it is still clear and identifiable), this coat of arms passes. (I am tempted to say "passes with flying colors", but I will refrain. Espcially given that there are only two colors on the shield!)

In any event, as a "last stop" for displays of the arms of Archbishops of Salzburg, Austria, I think it makes a nice example.