Last modified: 2018-12-02 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: illerkirchberg | oberkirchberg | moorish woman | cross | coronet | mitre | abatement |
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![[Illerkirchberg municipal banner]](../images/d/de-ul-ik_.gif)
image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Nov 2013
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It is a red - yellow vertical bicolour. The coat of arms is shifted to the top.
Source: this webpage
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Nov 2013
The shield is divided per pale. The dexter side displays a Moorish woman (German: Mohrin), i.e. a dark-skinned woman, standing on green triple mount. She has long blond hair and wears a red garment. On her head is a golden (= yellow) pagans' coronet. She holds a red and golden mitre in her right hand. The sinister side displays a golden (= yellow) Patriarchal Cross in a black field.
Meaning:
The municipality of Illerkirchberg was formed on 1 April 1972, when the upper (Oberkirchberg) and lower (Unterkirchberg) part merged with several other small villages. Since then both major parts already displayed the Moorish woman in their arms. The woman appeared in the arms of the Counts of Kirchberg, later Counts of Fugger-Kirchberg. The triple mount was added in Oberkirchberg in 1954 as a distinguishing element. The cross is taken from the arms of the monastery in Wiblingen, which had the patronage over the local parish church in the past.
Source: Landeskundliches Informationssystem Baden-Württemberg
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Nov 2013
![[Oberkirchberg borough banner]](../images/d/de-ul-ik-ok_.gif)
image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Nov 2013
It is a black - white vertical bicolour. The coat of arms is shifted to the top.
Source: information provided by Mrs. Sigrid Lehner, head of Bürgerbüro Oberkirchberg
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Nov 2013
In a silver shield is a Moorish woman (German: Mohrin), i.e. a dark-skinned woman, standing on green triple mount. She has long blond, braided hair and wears a black garment with wide sleeves made of ermine fur. On her head is a golden (= yellow) pagans' coronet. She holds a golden and red mitre in her right hand.
Meaning:
The arms show the arms of the former Counts of Kirchberg. These arms were overtaken by the Counts of Fugger in 1507, when the family gained the Lordship of Kirchberg, granted by Emperor Maximilian. The black figure probably is the black bride as mentioned in the biblical Book Song of Songs 1;5 "I am black but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem, ...". The oldest image of the arms of the Counts of Kirchberg displays the "Black Madonna", holding a fleur de lis, which in later images changed to a mitre. This was probably done, when Eberhard of Kirchberg became Bishop of Augsburg in 1407.
Another story claims that the arms of the counts simply showed their devotion to St. Mary and thus showed St. Mary holding her symbol, a fleur-de-lys.
The woman's black colour is said to be a degradation, ordered by Emperor Rudolf in 1273. The former white woman, symbolizing St. Mary, was changed into black as a mark of abatement in order to punish the Counts of Kirchberg.
Sources: Stadler 1971, p.81 and this webpage
Banner and coat of arms of Illerkirchberg were approved on 11 July 1973 by Minister of Interior of Baden-Württemberg, published in GABl 1085/1973.
The banner of Oberkirchberg was approved on 27 July 1967 by Minister of Interior of Baden-Württemberg, published in GABl 618/1967 The coat arms of Oberkirchberg was approved on 12 July 1954 by Minister of Interior of Baden-Württemberg, published in GABl 376/1954.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Nov 2013
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