The Franconian Rake (german: Fränkischer Rechen) is the name given to the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of the region of

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It is described heraldically as ''

per fess In heraldry, the field (background) of a shield can be divided into more than one area, or subdivision, of different tinctures, usually following the lines of one of the ordinaries and carrying its name (e.g. a shield divided in the shape of a c ...

dancetty of three points

gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). In engraving, it is sometimes depict ...

and

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to ...

''. The points represent a stylised heraldic

rake Rake may refer to: * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (theatre), the artificial slope of a theatre stage Science and technology * Rake receiver, a radio receiver * Rake (geology), the angle between a feature on a ...

Design and use

The Franconian Rake is an heraldic ordinary with a simple zig-zag line of partition that divides the escutcheon or shield into red and silver fields. This simple and regionally widespread symbol was first officially recognised as the Franconian

in 1804 when Prince Elector Maximilian IV Joseph incorporated it into the Bavarian coat of arms.''Fränkischer Rechen''
at www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de. Retrieved 2 Sep 2018 The colour "Franconian red" ( de , Franken-Rot) used for the coat of arms is HKS no. 14. The shape of the rake represents the holism of heaven and earth and was thus used by

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

bodies, such as the

Bishopric of Würzburg In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

, as a seal or in their coats of arms. Its three upward or heaven-facing points symbolise the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

of God, while its four downward or earthward-facing points represent the four

points of the compass The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

on earth.''Die Grafen des Klettgau, die Grafen von Sulz – und ihre Herkunft''
at www.klettgau-historia.de. Retrieved 2 Sep 2018 The present name of the Franconian Rake derives from its appearance, which superficially resembles a flotsam filter or "flotsam rake" ( de , Treibgutrechen), and it was therefore probably used as an emblem for villages based around timber-rafting facilities which grew up as a result of the transportation of logs by river.

History

The Franconian Rake is first recorded in the early 14th century on the grave of the

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

Prince-bishop, Wolfram Wolfskeel von Grumbach (d. 1333), and in a seal for the city of

Gerolzhofen Gerolzhofen () is a town in the district of Schweinfurt, Bavaria, Germany. The town is the former center of the district of Gerolzhofen and has about 7,000 inhabitants. The mayor of Gerolzhofen is Thorsten Wozniak (CSU). GerolzhofenStadtpfarrkirc ...

. The Franconian Rake was initially chosen by the Bishops of Würzburg as a symbol of their (albeit rather nominal) Franconian ducal status. It was however not a symbol for Franconia as a whole, as the former

stem duchy A stem duchy (german: Stammesherzogtum, from '' Stamm'', meaning "tribe", in reference to the Franks, Saxons, Bavarians and Swabians) was a constituent duchy of the German Empire at the time of the extinction of the Carolingian dynasty (death of ...

had ceased to exist as an administrative entity a long time ago. From 1835 the Rake appeared in the coat of arms of Bavaria; referring to the East Franconian regions which had been incorporated into the newly established

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

after the

German mediatization German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by means of the mass mediatisation and secularisation of a large numbe ...

of 1803. Only at this point did it become a symbol for the whole of Franconia in the public consciousness. Today the emblem is found as part of the coat of arms of many administrative bodies in the Franconian region e.g. the

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

n provinces of Upper, Middle and

Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (german: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. History After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally ...

, as well as in adjacent districts covering the territory of the historic East Franconian lands, e.g. Main-Tauber-Kreis in the state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

or Hildburghausen in southern

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

, and many towns and villages, e.g. in the coat of arms of Volkach or Frankenhardt. So the Franconian Rake demonstrates an allegiance to the common heritage, although the Franconian lands have been split between many lords over the centuries. The Franconian Rake is also part of the large armorial achievements of the Free State of Bavaria and of Baden-Württemberg.

Examples

File:Coat of arms of Bavaria.svg, Armorial achievement of Bavaria File:Greater coat of arms of Baden-Württemberg.svg, Armorial achievement of Baden-Württemberg File:Wappen Bezirk Oberfranken.svg, Province of

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (german: Oberfranken) is a ''Regierungsbezirk'' (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle F ...

File:Mittelfranken Wappen.svg, Province of

Middle Franconia Middle Franconia (german: Mittelfranken, ) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the west of Bavaria and borders the state of Baden-Württemberg. The administrative seat is Ansbach; however ...

File:Unterfranken Wappen.svg, Province of

File:DEU Landkreis Würzburg COA.svg,

File:Wappen Landkreis Haßberge.svg, Haßberge File:Wappen Landkreis Hildburghausen.svg, Hildburghausen File:Wappen Main-Tauber-Kreis.svg, Main-Tauber-Kreis File:Wappen des Landkreises Ansbach.svg, Ansbach File:Wappen Veilsdorf.png,

Veilsdorf Veilsdorf is a municipality in the district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It lies on the river Werra The Werra (), a river in central Germany, is the right-bank headwater of the Weser. "Weser" is a synonym in an old dialect of G ...

File:Wuerzburgsiebmacher.JPG, Coat of arms of the

Diocese of Würzburg In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

File:Wappen gerbrunn.gif, Gerbrunn File:Wappen von Frankenwinheim.png, Frankenwinheim File:Wappen Elfershausen.svg,

Elfershausen Elfershausen is a municipality in the district of Bad Kissingen in Bavaria in Germany. Elfershausen is a market town (''Markt'') or municipality that includes the following towns: *Elfershausen *Engenthal *Langendorf *Machtilshausen *Trimberg H ...

File:Wappen Frankenbach.svg, Frankenbach File:12. PzDiv.svg, Formation sign of the 12th Panzer Division (Bundeswehr)

References

Literature

* Eugen Schöler: ''Fränkische Wappen erzählen Geschichte und Geschichten'' (= ''Die bibliophile Reihe bei Degener.'' Bd. 1). Degener, Neustadt an der Aisch, 1992, .

External links

{{Commonscat, Frankenrechen, Franconian Rake
Detailed information on the history of the Franconian Rake
Franconia