[HN Gopher] Ask HN: How can I find a German family by their crest?
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Ask HN: How can I find a German family by their crest?
I just inherited a ring that has been passed down in my family
since WWI. My great grandfather (who was a scoundrel) took a brooch
off of a dead German officer in 1915 in Belgium. He had it
converted into a ring. In 1931, my great grandfather
coincidentally met the brother of the dead officer. The brother saw
the ring and said, "That looks remarkably like a brooch that has
been in my family in Bavaria for a long time." I'm not actually
sure if it's a crest, now that I write this. And it's pretty small.
If possible, I'd love to figure out how to get it back to that
family, but I have no idea where to begin.
Author : christophilus
Score : 80 points
Date : 2023-01-12 14:26 UTC (8 hours ago)
| scanny wrote:
| First step is to post a link to an image of the supposed crest.
| SHAKEDECADE wrote:
| Try the Heraldry subreddit. Those people love this stuff.
|
| https://old.reddit.com/r/heraldry/
| d3vmax wrote:
| Google lens
| smcl wrote:
| It sounds like an interesting thing to look up. One thing you
| might want to remember though is that some in Europe, Irish and
| Scots particularly, get a kick out of winding up guys from
| America who look a bit gullible and inquire about some connection
| they have to someone's country. You'd be surprised how many times
| I've heard Oh you're from Scotland, do you know
| Kenneth/Hamish/Calum/etc?" and it is genuinely tempting to say
| "Yes" and make something silly up.
|
| So just mentally prepare yourself that this could end up being
| the punchline of a joke that was originally told 100 years back
| :-)
| jimnotgym wrote:
| Don't leave out the English or Welsh.
|
| Winding up Americans unites the UK.
| christophilus wrote:
| It's so easy to do, so how can you resist?
| smcl wrote:
| Oh no doubt but, and no offence to the English intended, I
| think the number of Americans who will proudly say "I'm a
| quarter English!" is miniscule compared to those claiming the
| same for Irish or Scottish and I haven't heard anyone
| claiming Welsh heritage personally (despite there being a
| decent number of American Jones-es)
| anotheryou wrote:
| In theory in here are a lot:
| https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Koerner%2C...
| shimonabi wrote:
| If the OP would just post a picture of the ring he would probably
| have the answer by now.
| christophilus wrote:
| Good point. I don't have it in my possession yet, but I'll post
| it again when I do. I'll try Reddit as well.
| googlryas wrote:
| Is your reddit username the same as this one? I want to see
| the ring and how long it takes reddit to solve it.
| ROTMetro wrote:
| Well this account is burnt now and linked to whatever
| account next posts a bavarian looking ring on Reddit.
| Someone with a super strange post history on Reddit is this
| very moment making such a post just for the lols.
| christophilus wrote:
| No, it's not. I'll have it in a few weeks, I think, so I'll
| see if I can post an update then. Otherwise, I'll make a
| new HN post just so interested folks can find it.
| weinzierl wrote:
| I'm based in Munich (with roots in north-eastern Bavaria), so if
| you have something specific only a local can do to help, I can
| see what I can do. Contact details are in my profile.
| londons_explore wrote:
| Post on reddits /r/whatisthisthing
|
| They can find almost anything.
| TSiege wrote:
| Reddit would be my bet as well
| ekpyrotic wrote:
| In spite of all the various potential high-tech solutions --
| i.e., Google Lens -- I would strongly advise just contacting an
| antiques brooch specialist. They will know where to look, or may
| even know the crest from taking an immediate look.
|
| I love the power of technology to make knowledge accessible, but
| sometimes I feel that we forget that deep expertise exists in
| people too. There will be someone -- if not a couple of people --
| have have likely spent their full life /only/ learning about
| Bavarian brooches.
| [deleted]
| speedylight wrote:
| Use r/whatisthisthing that subreddit is like the research
| department of the internet.
| ogig wrote:
| I'd try a google lens, or google image search, as a first try.
| Reddit and history stackexchange could prove useful too.
| hprotagonist wrote:
| You will have to ask some heralds. You probably have a "badge",
| which is a diminuitive/selected feature set of a "crest". The
| design elements of a crest or badge are described as as "a
| blazon".
|
| https://pro-heraldica.de/en/heraldry/
|
| https://pro-heraldica.de/en/heraldry/terms-of-heraldry/
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_heraldry
|
| https://heraldica.hypotheses.org/1767
|
| heraldric blazons are their own little DSL, so you'll need to
| know how to encode the crest into that language. And of course,
| it's not just one language; it's many that vary by nation-state-
| ish-thing, time, etc. You'll want to find a herald who knows
| about the continental blazoning styles.
|
| a database of german arms from ~1600+:
| https://data.cerl.org/siebmacher/_search/
| dghf wrote:
| > You probably have a "badge", which is a diminuitive/selected
| feature set of a "crest".
|
| Maybe things are different in German heraldry, but in English
| heraldry, a badge need bear no relation to the owner's coat of
| arms or crest -- for example, the Tudor Rose of Henry VII
| (arms: the fleurs-de-lys of France quartered with the lions of
| England; crest: a crowned lion in a standing pose), or the
| Stafford knot of the dukes of Buckingham (arms: a red chevron
| on a gold background).
|
| In England at least, the key difference between a coat of arms
| (with or without a crest) and a badge is that the former could
| only be properly worn/carried/displayed by its owner (and his
| heralds), while the latter could be worn by his followers as a
| sign of allegiance.
| hprotagonist wrote:
| what you say is true for england and sometimes france, for
| certain, and likely about germany too. germans are different,
| though: iirc they allow two metals to touch, too, and other
| stuff.
|
| it's also possible that OP has a badge of a city or council
| or guild or whatever too.
| jansan wrote:
| Add this to the list:
|
| https://eherold.org/wappenliste/
| vadansky wrote:
| Canada has one too!
|
| https://www.gg.ca/en/heraldry/public-register
| Bouncingsoul1 wrote:
| https://www.heimat-bayern.de/fachbereiche/heimatpflege-und-h...
| In Bavaria we have "Heimatpfleger" on communal level which are
| knowlegable about stuff like this. Maybe ask the statelevel
| parent organisatiim (link above) and they may forward you to the
| correct Heimatpfleger
| themulticaster wrote:
| When I opened HN today I really did not expect to find a
| comment mentioning the Bayerischer Landesverein fur
| Heimatpflege e.V.
| isbjorn16 wrote:
| well, you should have, and that's on you.
| eddsh1994 wrote:
| At least in the Nordic countries there's a book released every 5
| years with a list of all noble families including the very minor
| ones, and all currently living members of said families, with
| their crests. There's probably a German equivalent if you look
| for it and you could find it there.
| mbnull wrote:
| Maybe you can find a search mask for
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siebmachers_Wappenbuch somewhere.
|
| Edit: source
| https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Siebmachers_Wappenbuch
| defulmere wrote:
| The Society for Creative Anachronism has a heraldry group on
| Facebook there that might be able to help you (if you're on FB):
| https://www.facebook.com/groups/SCAHeraldryChat
| sakex wrote:
| Have you tried Google Lens?
| blueflow wrote:
| I'd probably just post it here or on Reddit, there are people
| who'd take up the challenge for free.
| mometsi wrote:
| I happen to be extraordinarily familiar with a similar situation
| (long story). I think you should be careful who you discuss this
| with, particularly if the previous owners might get involved.
|
| My advice would be to go to Bavaria yourself, and destroy the
| ring.
| SirLJ wrote:
| You'll have to recruit fellow friends, because you will need
| help along the way!
| datenhorst wrote:
| He could just ride the federal eagle to Bavaria
| [deleted]
| Filligree wrote:
| Why? And why on earth in Bavaria?
| darknavi wrote:
| If we do not heed the lessons of the past, we are doomed to
| repeat them.
|
| https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/One_Ring
| athorax wrote:
| Because the hearts of men are easily corrupted
| jonfw wrote:
| The only place that the ring can be destroyed is the place
| where it was forged
| hef19898 wrote:
| Then it would be Belgium...
| dharmab wrote:
| Have you ever heard of an event called the First World
| War?
| rozularen wrote:
| brilliant
| _a_a_a_ wrote:
| So discretely stated it went right over my head. Riiiight over.
| Brilliant.
| leobm wrote:
| it is also best to ask at https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/
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(page generated 2023-01-12 23:02 UTC)