Thursday, April 30, 2026

The Arms of Two Abbots


We have often seen in many countries along with the arms of a church establishment the arms of the man who leads it. For example, the arms of a bishop displayed in his diocesal seat; the arms of an archbishop in his archepiscopal seat. Here, in Göttweig Abbey, a Benedictine monastery near Furth bei Göttwei in Lower Austria, we find the arms of two of its Abbots.

First, we see the carved and painted arms of Abbot Gregor Heller (1648-1669), placed by themselves on an interior wall of the Abbey.


These arms would be blazoned: Quarterly: 1 and 4, Argent a fleur-de-lis vert; 2 and 3, Azure on a pale sable three bezants each charged with a cross couped sable; overall on an inescutcheon Or a fleur-de-lis vert.

I've not found these arms in any of "the usual suspects" (to borrow a line from the movie Casablanca): Rietstap's Armorial Général, Siebmacher's Wappenbuch von 1605, the Heraldry of the World website, and several others.

Next, and placed immediately above the Abbey's large organ, next to those of the Abbey we find the arms of Abbot Berthold Mayr (1689-1713). Abbot Mayr was a prominent leader of Göttweig Abbey, and is best known for commissioning a renowned panorama of the Danube Valley from artist Matthäus Küsel and significantly expanding the abbey's collections.


Here again, I've not found these arms in any of "the usual suspects" listed above.

My attempt at a blazon would be: Quarterly: 1, Gules a dove(?) atop argent atop a mount/hillock vert; 2, Gules a tree proper atop a terrace vert; 3, Gules three mullets(?) or; and 3, Gules on a bend sinister argent a (fleur-de-lis? bird volant?) or.

I'd love to know more about both of these coats of arms. If you know anything of their history or even just a better blazon, I'd love to have you share it with us here.

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