Discover

Munich Free state of Bavaria
The current Coat of Arms
Emblazoning
"'Small Crest:' The coat of arms of the city of Munich shows, on a field argent, a monk wearing an or-trimmed sable cowl and gules shoes holding a gules oath book in the left hand and the right hand in vow of the oath." ---- "'Large Crest:' On a field argent, an open gules city gate between two gules tin towers each decorated with or and sable zig-zagging bands on the top, above which is an observing crowned and embattled or Lion; in the gate stands the monk of the small crest."
Basic data
'Introduction:'	13th Century Royal Seal: 1304
'Legal basis:'	Main seal: 1239 City council ruling: 1957
'Supporting Documents:'	11th June 1865: Royal Approval24th December 1936: Ministerial Resolution17th December 1957: City council ruling
'Alterations:'	1808, 1818, 1834, 1865, 1936, 1949
'Former munincipalities with their own crest:'	Au, Aubing, Feldmoching, Milbertshofen, Obermenzing, Pasing, Schwabing, Untermenzing

'Munich's' 'coat of arms' depict a young monk dressed in black holding a red book. It has existed in a similar form since the 13th century, though through the course of history has had many alterations and at certain points it has not depicted the central figure of the monk at all. The coat of arms in its current form was created in 1957 and is still an important symbol of the Bavarian state capital .

Contents

The Monk

History

Coat of arms after ratification by Max I. Joseph

Coat of arms after ratification by Ludwig I.

Coat of arms in the Third Reich

New Coat of arms

See also

Notes

Bibliography

External links

The Monk

As the German name for Munich, i.e. München, means ''"of Monks"'',^[1] the monk in this case is a self-explanatory symbol who represents the city of Munich. The figure is portrayed wearing a golden trimmed black cowl with a black hood and red shoes. The right hand is raised and the left carries a red book.
The figure is generally interpreted within the Christian tradition, namely that the monk is making a blessing gesture with one hand and the red book in the other is the gospel. However there is no direct proof of this, and as such the meaning of the coat of arms is open to debate. Another possible interpretation is that the red book in the left hand, when considered together with the oath-like gesture of the right hand, is instead the oath book of the city or the book of city laws. This book has, in fact, been handed down from the year 1365 and is bound in red. This is also the official interpretation of many Munich historians who rely on sources found in the city archives.
The monk as a sole heraldic figure can be found on a seal dating from the year 1304, and on flags of the city since the middle of the 14th century. In the course of the few centuries up until the current version of 1957, the coat of arms has undergone some distinctly visible changes. The monk had already taken a somewhat more childlike appearance in the 15th century. By the 18th century and especially the 19th century, the monk had been minimised into the Münchner Kindl. The description of the figure under the former name was first documented in 1727.

History

The Munich coat of arms is verifiable from seals in 1239 and 1268. These seals show a monk in a gate, above which is an eagle that is very likely to stem from the crest of the Bishop of Freising. The city belonged to him and this is most likely a reference to his authority over it. From 1313, the city was in possession of the Wittelsbach Dukes and the eagle was replaced with a lion. Since the Fiefdom of Duke Ludwig in 1214, the golden lion has been the symbol of the old Bavarian and Palatine Wittelsbachs.

Coat of arms after ratification by Max I. Joseph

In 1808, King Maximilian I Joseph granted the city a historicist city emblem depicting a classical portal, atop which the King's crown lies. A golden lion sits in the gate's threshold with a sword in one paw and a shield with the letter "M" in the other. As an enlightened monarch, Max I. Joseph wanted the city's symbol to show its culture and at the same time dispel the stereotype of the "''Mönchsbarbarei''", or the barbarianism of the monks. However, the township decided against the complete elimination of the historical reference to the monk and thus in 1818 the M was replaced with the previous monk's head design.

Coat of arms after ratification by Ludwig I.

In 1834, King Ludwig I granted the city its old coat of arms again in the form of large and small crests. These embodied the small crest seal of 1304 amd the large one of 1323. The 1835 coat of arms had a blue background, though this was later corrected to argent under Ludwig II in 1865. Generally speaking, the background was quite rarely changed. One example of its occurrence, however, was when or was used in the 16th century instead.

Coat of arms in the Third Reich

Under the leadership of the Third Reich, the lion was once again replaced by the eagle from the years 1936 to 1945, only this time the one of the Nazi party. When the National Socialist version was abolished after the Second World War, no official emblem was specified from 1945 until 1948.

New Coat of arms

Both a small and large coat of arms existed from 1949 until 1957. Representations of how they were before 1936 were used. In 1957 both the large and small city coat of arms were newly arranged by the designer Eduard Ege. At the same time, the city council set the resolution on the 17th of December, 1957 that the large one was no longer for official use, but only for particular representative purposes.
The official version used to this day is, within the terms of heraldry, not quite correct. The colour of skin is used, which in regard to blazoning is not allowed. Similarly, the colours are also not always set apart from each other, for example the head and the hand. Today this is ultimately not important, as these rules served the purposes of distinction and easy identification on medieval battlefields over long distances.

See also

★ Coat of arms of Germany

★ Coat of arms of Bavaria

Notes

1. Specific information of the Etymology of the name ''München'' can be found at Wiktionary

Bibliography

★ K. Stadler: ''Deutsche Wappen – Bundesrepublik Deutschland.'' Angelsachsen Verlag 1964–1971. 8th Volume.

External links

★ House of Bavarian History: Coat of Arms and Coat of Arm history

★ ngw.nl: Coat of arms description

★ Information of the state capital Munich's Coat of arms