The mayor's chain of office initially had a small flaw: It showed Saint Radegundis.
But it came from Wulfertshausen, a village near Augsburg.
Wolfratshausen
- When Wolfratshausen was promoted to town 60 years ago, Bad Tölz was the godfather. Mayor Anton Roth came to the ceremony at the beginning of December 1961 in the Wolfratshauser Kino by no means empty-handed. He had brought a chain of office for his colleague Peter Finsterwalder to wear on special occasions. The noble souvenir was made of silver. According to Roth, "the figure of the legendary Wolfratshausen saint Radegundis" was incorporated. The mayor of Tölz proudly declared that it was the commemorative coin of the Archbishop of Salzburg from 1521.
From then on, the Wolfratshausen town hall chiefs wore the necklace with appropriate dignity on festive occasions such as receptions and swearing-in ceremonies. But there were always rumors that something was wrong, because a Radegundis - unlike the local saint Nantovinus - was never venerated on the Loisach. Indeed, it was a pious mistake. How this came about can be found in the documents on the city survey, which can be found in the city archive. “It's pretty exciting,” says archivist Simon Kalleder.
The author of the first history of the city of Wolfratshausen, Josef Schnellrieder, who worked as a teacher in Wolfratshausen until 1924, plays a central role in the misunderstanding.
He had complained to Radegundis, who, according to legend, took care of lepers in the Middle Ages and was finally torn to pieces by wolves, citing the standard work "Bavaria Sancta" for Wolfratshausen.
In fact, Radegundis comes from Wulfertshausen near Friedberg near Augsburg, where she is revered to this day.
A small mix-up that can occur.
But one that had consequences.
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False saints: An old photo of the original medal with Radegundis has been preserved in the city archives.
The original was apparently sold to Augsburg.
© City Archives
Because: The people of Tölz, looking for a suitable motif for the chain of office, acquired a duplicate of a coin from Schnellrieder's estate showing Saint Radegundis.
The archbishop of Salzburg, Matthäus Lang, had the original minted in 1521 because he came from Wellenburg, the place where Radegundis supposedly worked as a cattle maid.
The coin shows the saint at the very moment when she is torn apart by the wolves.
But as great as the joy about the chain in Wolfratshausen was - just as great was the discomfort.
A false saint in one of the Loisachstadt's most important emblems?
An untenable situation.
Keyword chain of office
By definition, chains of office are necklaces with medals, coats of arms and emblems made of precious metal or ceramics. They are official insignia and thus part of the official costume of mayors. There are no government guidelines or even recommendations - such as how they should be designed and on what occasions they should be worn. “This is decided by cities and municipalities within the framework of their constitutionally protected right to self-government,” said the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior. Not all municipalities in the northern district have a chain of office. Egling and Münsing, for example, have none. Opinions differ as to whether a chain of office is still appropriate today.
The city fathers saw it that way too.
In 1976, the city's cultural committee under Mayor Willy Thieme agreed to replace Radegundis.
Because: An alternative suddenly appeared when the Munich auction house Gerhard Hirsch offered a coin with a clear reference to Wolfratshausen for auction.
Allegedly it was coined in the time of Heinrich I, Count of Wolfratshausen and Bishop of Regensburg in the years 1132 to 1155. With Heinrich, who also had the famous stone bridge built over the Danube, the influence of the Wolfratshausen counts reached its climax .
The coin shows a bishop blessing a kneeling man and an angel.
Experts interpreted the whole thing as a communion scene in which Heinrich von Wolfratshausen gives the blessing, with an angel handing him the host.
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Correct Count: Heinrich I was Count of Wolfratshausen.
The Wolfratshauser Citizen Medal was designed according to the Regensburg pfennig, which supposedly shows it.
© Steeb
The man who discovered the little coin was local historian Christian Steeb.
He not only knows the history of the castle and the Wolfratshausen counts inside out, but also knows about minting.
“I was electrified when I saw the ad,” he says.
Steeb gave Thieme the tip, and he bought the so-called Regensburg Pfennig for 800 marks.
The new acquisition, the size of a 5 D-Mark piece, was then incorporated into the chain of office with the approval of the Culture Committee.
Apparently the city offered the no longer needed Radegundis thaler to the city of Augsburg for sale.
Also read: This is how Wolfratshausen celebrated its town elevation
The irony of the story: the coin also has a minor blemish, and it was Steeb himself who noticed it.
In 1993 a standard scientific work was published on Regensburg pfennigs.
In it the author makes plausible that the coin could only have been minted in 1160 and 1170, i.e. many years after the death of the famous Wolfratshauser, presumably by a successor in the office of bishop.
That means: The coin does not date from the time of Heinrich I and does not show him either.
Steeb thought it was bad, the town hall didn't.
Also read: “Who knows the Hoch Wolfratshausen” march?
On the contrary: when the city of Wolfratshausen considered honoring deserving citizens with a medal, the Regensburg pfennig was taken as a model. The citizen's medal was awarded for the first time in 1977, to Anton Geiger, Heinz-Günther Wesarg and Karl Wülleitner (and most recently to Karl-Heinz Rauh in 2019). For this purpose, a skilful medalist had redesigned the motif with the blessing bishop, the kneeling man and the angel - a small work of art. The explanation is written around it in capital letters: “HEINRICH I. GRAF v. WOLFRATSHAUSEN + 1132 - 1155 BISHOP OF REGENSBURG ”. Because the presentation was successful, the medal was integrated into the chain of office. That means: Citizen's medal and chain of office are identical. In any case, there has been no talk of Radegundis for a long time.
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