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German heraldry is the tradition and style of heraldry in Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, including national and civic arms, noble and burgher arms, ecclesiastical heraldry, heraldic displays and heraldic descriptions. German heraldic style is one of the four major broad traditions within European heraldry and stands in contrast to Gallo-British, Latin and Eastern heraldry, and strongly influenced the styles and customs of heraldry in the Nordic countries, which developed comparatively late. Together, German and Nordic heraldry are often referred to as German-Nordic heraldry.
p.129.
The German heraldic tradition is noted for its scant use of heraldic furs, multiple crests, inseparability of the crest, and repetition of charges in the shield and the crest. Mullets have six points (rather than five as in Gallo-British heraldry), and beasts may be colored with patterns, (barry, bendy, paly, chequy, etc.).
As in other European heraldic traditions, the most prominent among the birds and beasts are the eagle and lion.
p.90.
The furs are referred to as follows: Ermine is Hermelin, Ermines (or counter-ermine) is Gegenhermelin, Erminois is Goldhermelin, Pean is Gegengoldhermelin, Vair is Feh or Grauwerk, Countervair is Gegenfeh, and Vairy of (tincture) and (tincture) is Buntfeh ob (tinktur) und (tinktur).Ströhl, H.G. (1898). Heraldischer Atlas. Stuttgart. In addition to these, and Krückenfeh (potent), German heraldry includes Kürsch (natural fur, which is unknown in English heraldry). Kürsch is typically shown as dags of fur overlapping like roof tiles, and even ermine and vair are sometimes shown in this fashion, called Schuppenfeh. While each of these variations and some others exist in German heraldry, it is worth noting that even ermine is uncommon, vair is seldom found, and the others are rarer still.
As in English heraldry, the names for the lines of division and variation are closely related with those of the corresponding ordinaries. The apparent exceptions to this rule, however, are that a shield divided per fess is simply termed geteilt (divided) and a shield divided per pale is termed gespalten (split). German heraldry (and with it, Nordic heraldry) does take a distinct approach to divisions of the field, however, in dividing by the scheme of " im (Gemeine Figur)-schnitt (X:Y) (Richtung des Schnitts)," or, "by (common charge)-section (X:Y) (direction of the cut)," where X signifies the number of charges issuant above the cut, and Y signifies the number issuant below. Thus, Im Lindenblattschnitt (1:1) schrägrechtsgeteilt, or, "by linden leaf section (1:1) party per bend," yields a line that starts at the dexter chief corner, slanting down per bend, then makes the form of two conjoined linden leaves (the first inverted) in pale, and then continues to the sinister base. This also works with many other charges, and may divide the shield per pale, per fess, or other ways.
Due to the early practice of marshalling by dividing the marshalled arms through the middle of the charge (called "dimidiation"), some charges took on the appearance of being themselves divided, such as the arms of Hochtaunuskreis. Even as marshalling per pale (charges remain intact and are shifted to accommodate the division of the shield) supplanted dimidiation, some marshalled arms retained some aspects of dimidiation, yielding a half eagle on one side and a whole lion on the other in some cases, such as the arms of Goslar. Similarly, when the crosier was incorporated into the arms of Biberach, the result was the dexter half of an imperial eagle and, in the sinister half of the shield, a (whole) crosier.
In the heroic poem by Heinrich von Veldeke based on the story of Aeneas, the bearer of the arms of a lion is set against the bearer of the arms of an eagle. If one takes the latter to be the historical and geographical forerunner of the Holy Roman emperor, then the bearer of the lion represents the unruly feudal lords, to whom the emperor had to make more and more concessions, particularly to the powerful Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, Henry the Lion (1129–1195) of the house of Guelph. Duke Henry did not bear arms in the technical sense, but he used a naturalistic picture of a lion as a seal and erected a monumental and lifelike bronze lion outside his castle of Dankwarderode in Braunschweig. It was left to his descendants to adopt a formal coat of arms, with two lions passant, which was derived from the arms of England, which had three such lions. Henry referred to himself in Latin as Henricus Leo... in German, Heinrich der Löwe and Heinrich Welf (Guelph).
According to Neubecker, the German imperial eagle goes back to the ancient Romans, and the newly crowned emperor Charlemagne erected an imperial eagle – a symbol that would carry over all the way to modern Germany – at his palace at Aachen. From the 13th century, Neubecker continues, the view was generally held that the eagle of the emperor should have two heads, while that of the future emperor should have one, a policy that was codified by the emperor Sigismund in 1401. The imperial double eagle was again resurrected by the emperor Francis II and became the symbol of the Austrian Empire.Neubecker (1979), p.111. In medieval Germany, the eagle also represented the house of Hohenzollern.Neubecker (1979), p.114. Even while the double eagle became the symbol of the Holy Roman Empire and the emperor, the single-headed eagle became the symbol of the German king.Volborth (1981), p.71. The emperor even granted certain princes and free cities in the empire the right to use the imperial eagle as supporter. Notably, the Minnesang Reinmar von Zweter formed the Klee-Stengeln ("Clover-Stems", the heraldic Eagle's stylized wing-bones) of his heraldic eagle into a second and third head.
In German heraldry, where multiple crests appear frequently after the 16th century, each crest is always treated as inseparable from its own helmet and turned in agreement with the helmet. pp. 322–323. Multiple helmets were usually turned inward, with the center helm (if an odd number) turned affrontê, while in Scandinavian heraldry the helmets were usually turned outward.Fox-Davies, 1909. p. 323. The arms of the last of Brandenburg-Ansbach consist of a shield with twenty-one quarterings topped with a record thirteen helmets and crests.Neubecker, 1979. p. 165.
The coat of arms of Berlin depicts a black bear upon a white shield, crowned overall in the fashion of German/Nordic . have prominently featured a bear since the 14th century, and bears were used as supporters even earlier. An eagle appeared on the first seal of Berlin in the 1250s, and was soon supported by bears. The eagle and the bear changed their positions and attitudes but remained together in the seals and arms of Berlin until around 1600 when the eagle went on hiatus, returning by 1700 and remaining into the 20th century.
Modern arms either represent the history of the state, or their parts, or both. For example, the arms of Baden-Württemberg specify that they represent Baden, Württemberg, Hohenzollern, Palatinate, Franconia and Further Austria.
The Red Eagle of Brandenburg is said to have been adopted as early as the 10th century and endures today.
A 14th-century seal of Bremen featured a key, symbolizing Saint Peter, and this symbol endures to the present coat of arms of Bremen.
The coat of arms of Hamburg, since a city seal dating from 1245, have featured two stars over a white castle upon a red shield. Note that the stars have six points rather than five, in the custom of German/Nordic heraldry.
Trier, the oldest city in Germany, is represented by a haloed Saint Peter, the patron saint of the city, holding the key to the city in his right hand and the Bible in his left. Older city seals show Saint Peter holding up his key and surrounded by the city wall, often with the inscription Sancta Treveris ("Sacred Trier"). From the 13th century, the Archbishop of Trier was one of the three ecclesiastical of the Holy Roman Empire.
The arms of Weimar, since the 14th century, has depicted a black lion rampant upon a semy of red hearts on a gold shield.
The jousting was prescribed for arms of non-nobles, while the barred helmet was restricted by the imperial chancellery to the nobility as upholders of the tradition of tourneying. this privilege was also shared by certain people who enjoyed the same standing as the nobility, e.g. those who had a doctor's title in law or theology.Ottfried Neubecker: A Guide to Heraldry. Cassell, London 1981, p.161. Custom of the use of the barred helmet was also followed by city Patricianship.Handbuch der Heraldik: Wappenfibel. (19th expanded edition). Edited by Ludwig Biewer. (Degener & Co, Neustadt an der Aisch 1998), p. 173 Although the rule of the use of the tilting helmet by burghers was not always obeyed, it has still become the norm in many countries of the German-Nordic heraldic tradition, e.g. in Swedish heraldry.
After the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, arms were no longer granted to burghers except in the Kingdom of Saxony, where such grants continued from 1911 until 1918. Elsewhere burgher arms were assumed. Such family heraldry is still alive in Germany and burgher arms are protected by law.
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