....
is there, although unfortunately not proven. Maybe the lucky owner will one
day give it to an expert to have it examined and described ?!
Looking at the coat of arms shown on that signet, from a heraldic point of
view it has to be said that strictly speaking the image was wrongly designed.
The seal shows water flowing from left to right (see page 2). The rules of
heraldry however, prescribed that an image on a shield had to lead away from
the heart which means in the direction of the right of
the carrier's view and repectively
to the left from a viewer's perspective. Maybe Johann Heinrich had the signet
made by an amateur.
An expert of heraldry (Dr. Adolf von den Velden/Weimar) issued a certificate
to my grandfather dating back to 03.03.1911 which stated "that
the seal/signet or rather the image of it was not heraldic". Another
expert (Rodo von Haken/Berlin) who was additionally consulted agreed with
this observation. Both men were recognized experts of heraldry at that time.
Both criticised the design of the crest: “The
design of crest decorated in accordance with the style of the Empire is most
peculiar”… They added: “ As … the helmets themselves
belonged to a completely different era, the crest ... should have been designed
accordingly”. Based on this criticism grandfather Eric designed
a new coat of arms. He only kept the centre piece of the traditional signet
which was a shield with the image of a well on it. Consequently, our coat
of arms as it still exists today celebrated its 180th birthday in October
2005.
In 2004 I found the coat of arms of
Johann Heinrich (as the non-heraldic mirror-inverted version) on the gravestone
of his grandson Otto (1850-1908/13-159).
