Place Names with Sankt in Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg
2. Origins
2.2. Chronological classification
worldly claims (cf. TR 115 and 653, FLACHENECKER 1999: 145–146, BACH
II/2: § 491). The patron of the church was regarded as the actual owner of the material wealth of the church and, at the same time, as its true protector.
Donations took place in the name of the saint at his or her altar (TR 116, FLACHENECKER 1999: 150). In contrast to other personal names which serve as components in toponyms, here we know the relationship between the bearer of the name and the respective place: the place was named after the patron saint of the local church, chapel or monastery (cf. GREULE 1997: 246 and 252, FEIGL 1986: 219, WIESINGER 2000: 341, BACH II/2: § 337 and § 340, GREULE 2000: 21).
The reasons for the choice of a saint as church patron vary according to the time, the region and the reasons of the persons or institutions for choosing the patrociny (cf. TR 116, FLACHENECKER 1999: 146–147, DORN 1932: 6). The choice of saint as church patron often shows the affiliation of a church or its founder to a certain group or establishment. There are saints who receive special veneration in certain dioceses, e.g. Saint Wolfgang and Saint Emmeram in the diocese of Regensburg, saints appearing frequently in patrocinies of monasteries, e.g. John the Baptist for the Benedictines, or saints indicating certain class interests, e.g. the knights’ saints George, Mauritius and Sebastian (cf. FLACHENECKER 1999: 148, MITTERAUER 1993: 106). Such a connection between the church’s patrociny and its founders can exist, but this is not necessarily always the case. The name alone cannot provide information about such a relationship; rather the historical background would have to be examined in each individual case (cf. FLACHENECKER 1999: 147). It would certainly not be possible to discover the reasons for the choice of a certain saint as church patron in every case.
In some cases the saint’s name in a toponym can also be derived from the monastery and not the patrociny of the respective minster (cf. FEIGL 1986:
219). A saint’s name in a place name can also express the fact that the place belonged to a monastery, because the name of the founder of the order or a saint particularly venerated by the order was chosen (cf. WIESINGER 2000:
341–342).
the same pattern (cf. BACH II/2: § 491, EBERL 1925: 93, DORN 1932: 3). That is why the origin of Sankt names cannot be generally assigned to a certain time frame. For Upper Austria WIESINGER observes that saints’ names are documented in some toponyms as early as the 9th century. Nevertheless, the vast majority of such settlement names do not appear until the time of the growing veneration of saints, from the 12th century onwards. At this time also, the latest phase of settlement expansion begins with the names of forest clearings (cf. WIESINGER 2000: 343). It may be assumed that there was a similar development in the area under investigation. It would be wrong to assume—as is often the case in older research literature (cf. DORN 1932: 4)—
that toponyms containing saints’ names are always the original names in forest clearing areas and could not have superseded older settlement names.9 In the case of very early documented Sankt names, research assumes that these generally have replaced older settlement names (cf. BACH II/2: § 491, EBERL
1925: 93). The replacement of an older place name is often difficult to prove, because the historical records for earlier ages are often only fragmentary (cf.
FEIGL 1986: 220). Sometimes the structure of a village throws light on the origin of the settlement name: usually the settlement was founded first, and only when it had grown to an appreciable size, was a church built for the inhabitants of the place. In such cases, either the toponym contains no indication of ecclesiastical persons or establishments, or it has been renamed (cf. EBERL 1925: 94, FEIGL 1986: 218), for instance, because a church or the pilgrimage resulting from it has become the defining feature of the place.
There are some examples where the church really forms the nucleus of the settlement. It can then be supposed that a place name pointing to an ecclesiastical establishment is the original one (cf. FEIGL 1986: 218).
However, the results of such analyses are not necessarily conclusive and cannot ultimately explain why the place name was given.
At the time of the Reformation, there was a wave of renaming of settlements with Sankt in their names. Since Martin Luther rejected the intercession of the saints (cf. TR 654, Wörterbuch des Christentums 464), it was only consistent that the Protestant Church should have ridded itself of all its patrocinies, but no uniform regional development can be ascertained. It may be that, in reformed areas, old patrocinies have indeed been perpetuated in the names of churches and places, or it may also be that, in places which have reverted to the Catholic faith, former patrocinies, together with their names, were forgotten and have now been replaced (cf. TR 117).10 The history of such developments would have to be examined in each individual case.
9 A good example illustrating this is the toponym Sankt Oswald discussed later in this point.
10 A similar development can be observed for first names (cf. KOHLHEIM–KOHLHEIM 2004: 691).
From the point of view of linguistics three alternatives can be given for the origin of Sankt names.
a) The Sankt name appears as a place name without supplanting an older settlement name.
In most cases, it is not evident from the records when the name of the patron saint was used not only in naming the church, but also for the nearby settle-ment. It is usually not possible to establish when the name was transposed.
Often the Sankt name has probably supplanted an older settlement name, because the eponymous church or the eponymous monastery was founded first and the settlement developed later. One example of this type is the name of both the settlement and the monastery Sankt Märgen (Breisgau-Hoch-schwarzwald, Freiburg): 1125: monasterium sancte Marie, 1275: cella sancte Marie in Nigra silva, 1311: sant Marien, 1399: sand Marienzell, 1468: sant Meryen, 1530: sant Mergen (KRIEGER II, 762–768).
b) The Sankt name supersedes an older settlement name.
Originally Sankt Oswald (Freyung-Grafenau, Lower Bavaria, 1396: Sand Oswald … closter zue Sand Oswald, 1431: monasterium sancti Oswaldi, 1578:
Sannct Oswalts Closter, REITZENSTEIN 2006: 243–244) was the name of the monastery estate only, the place itself was called Draxlschlag. It was only in the course of the 19th century that the name of the former monastery was transferred to Draxlschlag. Today the patrociny settlement name has almost completely supplanted the older toponym (ELLER 2007: 30).
c) The Sankt name is superseded by another toponym altogether.
Today Sankt Jörg (Füssen, Swabia) is the unofficial name of the town centre of Rückholz: 1474: der Kirchen zu Sant Jörgen vff dem Berg, 1569: im Rickholcz bey Sannt Jörgen, 1579: im Holtcz bei Sanndt Jörge, 1673: ex Rickholz de S. Georgis (HONB Füssen 151).
This settlement name originally served as a more exact place description within the bigger district named Holz, later Rickholz. Since the actual centre of Rückholz has now developed there, this more precise designation is no longer necessary (HONB Füssen 151).
2.2.2. Patrociny settlement names as an age criterion?
To what extent can saints’ names and patrocinies be utilised for the investiga-tion of settlement history? This quesinvestiga-tion has often been posed in literature (cf.
FLACHENECKER 1999: 150) and there is no simple answer.
Although there are—as explained above—different saints’ circles and saints who were particularly revered by different classes, no universally valid timeline can be established for the founding or naming of churches and places after
certain saints (cf. TR 115). The saints reflect their respective era—which means that the degree of veneration can change (cf. Wörterbuch des Christen-tums 464, FLACHENECKER 1999: 52).11 For instance, there is no particular saint to whom altars in forest clearings were consecrated (cf. DORN 1932: 7).
As with all other place names, it is also valid for Sankt names that the settle-ment may be considerably older than the first record leads us to suppose (cf.
WIESINGER 2000: 343).
It becomes clear that research in the field of patrociny settlement names also relies on complete, closely examined records. Only with the help of these records is it possible to interpret a place name with any certainty, or to find out anything about the potential age or about a former divergent name. More-over, for this special name type it is also necessary to look into the history of the respective church or chapel on which the eponymous patrociny is or was based, in order to be able to give a safe etymology of the place name and its age.
It is nevertheless possible to make some universally valid statements:
a) The name Maria—which presumably refers in nearly all cases to the Mother of God—is not documented at all in German toponyms before the year 1100 (cf. BACH II/2: § 492).
b) The place names which include Sankt offer—as with the spreading of Christian names—no indication that the names of saints particularly venerated in certain regions occur more often in the place names of the area (cf.
TIEFENBACH 1996: 1200, KOHLHEIM 1996: 1053, BAUER 1998: 146).
c) If “Müllers großes deutsches Ortsbuch” is taken as a basis for investigation into the occurrence of Christian names in patrociny settlement names, it is found that of 131 Sankt names listed for Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg only 13 are formed with female saints’ names. Thus male saints’ names are obviously more frequently represented in settlement names. In place names with male saints’ names, the names Johannes or Johann (12) and Georg (9) are most frequent, followed by Leonhard (8) and Wolfgang (8) (Ortsbuch 873–875). Research into patrocinies would have to investigate whether these saints were chosen exceptionally often as patron saints of churches and monasteries and, therefore, appear more often in settlement names.
11 WIESINGER observes in the case of Upper Austria with great caution, as he puts it, that Peter, Paul and Stephan are documented earlier in place names than Thomas, Bartholomäus, Philipp, Joseph, Georg and Leonhard (2000: 344). To posit such a thesis for the area under investigation it would be necessary to do a historical and etymological analysis of all—even the former—Sankt place names first.