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Puch is part of the town of Fürstenfeldbruck, near Munich. It is an isolated hamlet situated round a low hill. Walking from Fürstenfeldbruck to Puch, just before arriving there, you will come to a grove in whose middle you will see the memorial described here.
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General view of the grove |
Photos: Hans-Rudolf Hower, 2008 |
General view of the memorial |
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Emperor's bust as a relief |
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Imperial eagle as a relief |
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German Inscription
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Comment on the German Inscription
The German inscription briefly and succinctly tells us what happened on that october 11, 1347, on that site (or nearby): During a bear hunting, Louis the Bavarian, (the only Bavarian) emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, unexpectedly collapsed and died in the arms of one of his peasant subjects. The site is still being called Kaiseranger (Emperor's meadow) in commemoration of what happened at that time.
The emperor's bear hunting demonstrates that in the 14th century (and even later during a long time), the Upper Bavarian gravel plain was bears land. This is also proved by names like that of the Munich suburb of Perlach (= Bärloch = Bärenlohe = Bärenwald = bears forest). Only in the 20th century were there no bears left in Upper Bavaria.
The presence of bears living in the wild was typical for a region that to a great extent was covered by forests giving animals cover and frightening men. This is also demonstrated by names like Puch (= Buche / Buchenwald = beech / beech forest) or Puchheim (= Buchenheim = beech home), both near Munich.
Latin Inscription
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Linguistic Notes
The very beginning of the Latin inscription can be translated in various ways, depending on how we want to interpret it today or on what we want to insinuate was the intention of its authors, above all king Maximilian's. Let's have a glance on the Latin vocabulary used:
There is also a smaller problem concerning the abbreviations comprised in the Latin text. Some of them might be interpreted in another way. So we could read „GERMANORUM” (of the Germans) instead of „GERMANIAE” (of Germany) or „VIRI FORTISSIMI ET CONSTANTISSIMI” (of an extremely brave and very steadfast man) instead of „VIRI FORTIS ET CONSTANTIS” (of a brave and steadfast man). This would not be an important change of the meaning, would it? Was the vague expression chosen wilfully because of hidden reasons?
Comment on the Latin Inscription
Regardless of how we translate the Latin inscription, one thing is clear: Louis the Bavarian is intended to be presented as a man who with good reason was German emperor and who, as a righteous man, correctly met all of his duties.
But the donator of the memorial, the Bavarian king Maximilian, immortalizes himself here, too. Only shortly before, the Bavarian dynasty received regality from the victorious conqueror Napoleon I for (from his point of view, so far) loyal services, and Maximilian strived to use his early imperial ancestor to at least bring himself closer to the succession of Roman emperors in order to get a part of their glory.
For the services provided to Napoleon I by the Bavarians, see also An Obelisk for 30,000 Bavarians that Died in Russia.
The text of this inscription contains several more or less encoded references to Louis the Bavarian's agitated reign and life.
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PIIS MANIBUS: |
Whether we speak of the dead emperor's Manes in order to keep the antique-like style of the inscription or of his soul in order to make a christian reinterpretation or more concretely of his hands (= acts), each of these meanings is a frontal attack against the papacy because after all, the monarch described here as a righteous or devout one had to endure a a whole series of processes for heresy and to spend the last years of his life under an excommunication he was only liberated from nearly 300 years after his death. The reason of the Church's anger was that Louis IV, in his attempt to organize the imperial power in independence of the Roman Catholic church, went so far as to install an antipope and have himself crowned emperor against the wishes of the Church. By the way, in his efforts to expand his weak power base, Louis the Bavarian seems to have not only used a devout's means. |
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divine Louis: |
This expression inserts Louis the Bavarian in the list of divine Roman emperors of the ancient world - which is not really a christian undertaking... By the way, the expression included on top of the inscription comes from the pagan ancient world and can be considered as an invitation to take the Latin word manes (declined appropriately) for the German text in order to preserve the antique-like character of the whole text. |
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Louis the Bavarian: |
The fact that Louis IV was Bavarian naturally is a quality feature in the eyes of Bavarians. To use a capitalistic word, one could even call it a unique characteristic but as Louis IV has really been the only Bavarian monarch that succeeded in reaching imperial dignity, that singularity is a double-edged matter... |
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Roman emperor: |
Louis IV was Roman emperor in a double way, on the one hand quasi automatically (at least theoretically), like all German emperors before the 1803 Reichsdeputationshauptschluss (Principal Decree of the Imperial Deputation), which dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, and on the other hand because he had himself elected emperor by the people of Rome in 1328, against the wishes of the Pope. |
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defender of Germany's liberty: |
Obviously one can interpret Louis IV's struggle for a strong imperial power and against the power of Popes as a struggle for liberty but the main reasons of all this rather were the establishment of an inheritable Wittelsbach emperorship and the safeguard of the emperor's personal power. It is a similar matter with Louis IV's struggle against the military and political influence of his dear relations, who were not always such dear ones, such as the House of Habsburg and his own brother. In this matter Louis finally asserted himself. |
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founder of the Bavarian laws: |
This expression could allude to the „Schneitbacher Urkunde”, a document in which Louis IV (in conjunction with his brother Rudolf) gave the Bavarian estates the privilege of approval of taxes, or to the „Rheinischer Landfrieden” (Rhenish Peace), which was the first important law issued by King Louis IV in 1317. |
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a brave man having strength of character: |
His whole life Louis IV (perforce) was a combative monarch who spared no effort to firmly establish and extend his power, his worst enemies being his Habsburg relations, his own brother, and the Pope. Louis IV was the last German emperor compelled to manage the conflict between the power of the Empire and that of the Pope in such a violent way. And he stood this until death, in spite of the processes for heresy and the excommunication. |
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Maximilian King of Bavaria: |
Here the wheel turns full circle, so to speak, because even the man who ordered the inscription sees himself involved in a big dispute with the Church (though in a secondary role, because the driving force against the Church is Napoleon Bonaparte, and the solution will be reached by the latter by means of the concordat of 1801): The Napoleonic Era is the epoch of secularization, the expropriation of church property. That is why King Max, as he was called by the people, has good reasons for referring to his famous ancestor who finally asserted himself against the Church. |
Bibliography
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Author / Title / Subject |
Notes |
Info / Purchase |
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Munich, Bavaria and the Black Forest |
A guide to southern Germany. |
amazon.de/at: English. amazon.es: English. amazon.fr: English. amazon.it: English. |
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Bavaria |
A specialized guide to Bavaria. |
amazon.de/at: English. amazon.es: English. amazon.fr: English. amazon.it: English. |
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Michael F. Feldkamp, Regentenlisten und Stammtafeln zur Geschichte Europas (List of Reigning Monarchs And Genealogical Trees) |
This small book presents the Bavarian monarchs' genealogical trees, too. |
See my review (German language). |
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Georges, Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Wörterbuch< (Detailed Latin-German Dictionary) |
Voluminous dictionary that whoever studies the Latin language in Germany is bound to use. |
See my review (German language). |
Searching For Books, Roadmaps, Plans, And Other Useful Things
Using the following links to amazon you can find the books you are interested in. On the amazon sites you can retrieve books entering words, titles, authors, or ASIN / ISBN numbers in the related search fields. You will never be obliged to purchase anything if you do not want to.
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Amazon Sites |
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Simply use the search field of one of the national amazon sites after clicking on one of the following links. |
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Please note the delivery conditions of the different sites. In most cases it is more convenient to use the site that is located in the same country as the shipping address. |
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Internet
Be aware of our legal reservation concerning any Internet reference.
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Address / Owner |
Content / Subjects |
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Official pages |
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In the English Wikipedia |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on the municipality of Fürstenfeldbruck and its history. |
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In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on the Fürstenfeld Abbey and its history. |
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In the German Wikipedia. |
Short encyclopaedic article on this part of the town of Fürstenfeldbruck. |
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In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on the only Bavarian who succeeded in being emperor of the Roman Empire for a certain time. |
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Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on the first King of Bavaria, who came from an offshoot of the Wittelsbach family. He ordered the memorial in honour of Louis the Bavarian. |
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In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on governmental expropriation or use of church property in general and particularly in the Napoleonic Era. |
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In the English Wikipedia. |
Encyclopaedic article on this concordat by means of which Napoleon I imposed his will on the Roman catholic church, sanctioning the secularization and introducing the separation of church and state still valid in France (except in Alsace and Lorraine). |
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In the English Wikipedia. |
Detailed encyclopaedic article on the Final Recess of the Reichsdeputation (German: Reichsdeputationshauptschluss). This agreement dissolved the Holy Roman Empire in 1803. |
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Holidays in Fürstenfeldbruck, near Munich? Excellent idea! But where to stay? |
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Whether you are looking for a room, an apartment, a hotel, a guest house,
or any other accommodation, |
Arrival by Public Transport
For the arrival in Fürstenfeldbruck, see Inscriptions of Fürstenfeldbruck.
Exiting the railway station (S-Bahnhof) of Fürstenfeldbruck, cross the pedestrian bridge and the following parc to go downtown. At the end of the path, turn to the left, follow the street up to the bridge over the river. Cross the river and take the Schöngeisinger Straße to the left. Turn to the right into the Puchermühlstraße. Follow this street, whose name changes to Theodor-Heuss-Straße after a crossroad, up to its end. Turn left into the Kurt-Schumacher-Straße and almost immediately to the right into the country lane called Herrenweg. Go straight ahead, cross a road, and continue up to a fork junction that is near a big tree. Turn to the right and follow this lane up to the emperor's memorial. From the railway station to the memorial, this will be a 4 km walk.
Indications concerning the arrival correspond to our personal knowledge or even experience, but we cannot assume any responsibility for their rightness. When you are reading this page, things may have changed in reality.
For bus lines, see www.mvv-muenchen.de (German and English language).
Hans-Rudolf Hower, 2015
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Last updated: April 4, 2016
