Place Names with Sankt in Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg
2. Origins
2.1. Historical background 1. Church history
As early as the late Roman period, the church had imposed its structure on the Roman territory—to which large parts of the area to be examined belonged.
Therefore, in agreement withBACH (II/2: § 491) and EBERL (1925: 93), it can be assumed that place names influenced by the church came into existence at an early date. If we look at the Bavarian and Baden-Wurttemberg place name topography, we can see that numerous place names are to be found here which point directly to an ecclesiastical establishment or to persons from ecclesiastical life. As examples, names including -kirchen, -münster, Pfarr- or Bischofs- are given here.2 Some of these names are very old and can already be found in the earliest layers of the tradition of German place names, as e.g.
Pfarrkirchen (Rottal-Inn, Lower Bavaria): 874–897: Pharrachiricha, 1196:
Pfarrechirichen, 1288: Pharrchirchen, 1460: Pfarrkirchen (REITZENSTEIN
2006: 210).
The Christianisation of the German-speaking territory is intensified in the 6th and 7th centuries. The Iro-Scottish mission in particular influences the church of this period. The second wave of conversions by Anglo-Saxon priests is of greater significance in central and northern Germany. The structure of the
2 More information on the naming of places after ecclesiastical establishments or people from ecclesiastical life is given in chapter 7.
Bavarian church is decisively influenced by Boniface who was entrusted with this task by the Pope in 737 (cf. HERBERS 1988: 301–307).
After the conversion to Christianity of the Germanic tribes has been completed, veneration of the Christian saints increases significantly in the 10th and 11th centuries (cf. KOHLHEIM 1996: 1051). As a result, Christian first names become more widespread (cf. KOHLHEIM–KOHLHEIM 2004: 688). From the second half of the 12th century onwards, it is possible to speak of a new prin-ciple in name giving: chosen first names are based on the names of Christian saints (cf. TIEFENBACH 1996: 1200, DEBUS 1987: 67, BAUER 1998: 145).
The veneration of saints played an important role in the medieval church.3 Since the 2nd century tombs of martyrs are known to have been important places of prayer (cf. Wörterbuch des Christentums 1073). From the 4th century on, remains and other saints’ relics are transferred elsewhere to new repositories.
The relics then become an important part of the rituals of faith in the new sur-roundings (cf. Wörterbuch des Christentums 1073, GLEBA 2008: 46, HERBERS
1988: 316, TR 649).
2.1.2. Saints, relics and patrocinies: reasons for the giving of a name Up to the present day there exists no comprehensive, universally valid, defin-ition of a saint (cf. TR 641, HERBERS 1988: 298). According to FLACHENECKER
(1999: 145; see also TR 641–642), a saint is characterised by the duality of his or her earthly/heavenly existence. From beyond the grave, the saint succours his or her charges, who turn to the tomb or the relics of the saint for help.
The church recognises different circles of saints: first the apostles, then the martyrs and finally, from the end of the 4th century onwards, the confessors (cf.
Wörterbuch des Christentums 464–465).4 Very different saints are subsumed into the group of confessors, e.g. ascetics, reformist monks, founding bishops and secular leaders (cf. TR 651). This classification of saints reflects the development of the Christian religion and its institutions (GLEBA 2008: 45).
Over time, the cult of the saints changes: not only are very different kinds of people now welcomed into the fold and recognised as saints, but also the idea of the saint changes and with it his or her function. They gain additional powers, and the stories of their miracles are embellished (cf. HERBERS 1988:
315). For instance, certain classes of people chose a particular saint as their patron, and some saints could be appealed to in the case of certain illnesses (cf. HERBERS 1988: 339, TR 653, KNOBLOCH 1996: 1820). Saints intercede
3 The first official record of the sanctification of a person dates from the 10th century (cf. Wörter-buch des Chritstentums 464).
4 See also TR 648–652 and 115, the circles of saints are differently drawn, differentiated and confined in literature; see also GLEBA 2008: 45–46, MITTERAUER 1993: 104.
on behalf of believers before God; they take up people’s earthly concerns and, in addition, act as advocates at the Last Judgement (cf. FLACHENECKER 1999:
145, TR 649 and 653, HERBERS 1988: 331).5
In medieval times people had very graphic ideas of the actions of the saints.
The saints operated through the material things they had left behind: their remains and the objects they had been in contact with while still alive. The physical presence of the relics guaranteed the efficacious intervention of the saint (GEBA 2008: 47, FLACHENECKER 1999: 145, HERBERS 1988: 311, MITTERAUER 1993: 106). This is why colourful pilgrimages to the tombs and other repositories of the relics of saints evolved, turning these places into centres of faith and also of commerce. The pilgrims brought money and it was necessary to cater to their needs (cf. GEBA 2008: 46–47, HERBERS 1988: 338, TR 641).
The relics were kept in churches and were worshipped there. The actual patron of a church is always Jesus Christ. The Salvator patrociny therefore was the original one. However, it was soon supplanted by various saints’ patrocinies (FLACHENECKER 1999: 146; see also TR 116). Thus the settlement name Sankt Salvator (Passau, Lower Bavaria) is significant: 1289: predioli dicti ad Saluatorem, 1295: pro capella sancti Saluatoris, 1303: in cella sancti Sal-uatoris, 1305: dem gotshaus hintz sand Saluators, 1566/67: S. Saluator, 1797:
St. Salvator (REITZENSTEIN 2006: 244).
The first entries can—according toREITZENSTEIN (2006: 244)—be translated as at the holy saviour, for the chapel of the holy saviour and the holy saviour.
The name refers to the patron saint of the church and monastery, Jesus Christ, our saviour. The settlement name Sankt Salvator is, therefore, the only sur-viving Sankt name in the area under examination6 which does not show a saint’s name7 as second component.
A large number of churches have been consecrated to saints since medieval times.8 The saint assumed the patronage of the church, but also acquired
5 For more information on the idea of the saints’ functions in the Middle Ages see HERBERS
1988: 313.
6 A former place named Sankt Salvator (Ostalbkreis, Stuttgart) can be found in Baden-Wurttem-berg. The church in this place was also consecrated to the Holy Saviour. Today there is no longer a settlement in this place, only the pilgrimage church Sankt Salvator remains (cf.
REICHARDT 1999: 138–139).
7 In fact there is a Saint Salvator. However, this saint was not born until 1520 and was canonised in 1938 (cf. WIMMER–MELZER 1982: 730, SEIBICKE III, 704).
8 On the meaning of a church consecration see BENZ 1975: 5–7. Also the day of the church consecration can in some cases be the decisive factor for the choice of the patrociny if the church was consecrated on the anniversary of a saint. Similarly, children were often given the
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).