Wandering around cobblestone streets in medieval Germanic towns,
one finds an incredible collection of very old guild signs.
Many are preserved from Medieval times, but the tradition of making these distinctive signs continues to this day. In my next post I will show you more contemporary signs that are seriously charming.
These old guild signs are made of wrought iron, and advertised the trade or services available inside.
German-speaking countries have saved the largest collection of medieval and old guild signs in Europe. They are a treat to look for and find.
We are now home so it’s cheers to you from the Holler~
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Ooooh, I loooove them!! They’re magnificent!! 💖😊💖😊
Thank you! Aren’t they wonderful. It would be a dream to just go all over and photograph all of them! If you like them, check out my next post where I found even more!
I will! 😊
I love these! Guild symbols, tabards, and other heraldic décor has always fascinated me…beautiful!
🙂
Ditto. So many have been destroyed. It is wonderful to see towns full of them!
It’s a shame that so many historical things are destroyed without care! It boggles the mind to think of how many treasures have been burned, bombed, razed and otherwise trampled underfoot…and that horrendous practice still continues today.
I share your feelings exactly!
I’m looking forward to your next post and the accompanying photography…you capture everything magnificently.
🙂
Oh so encouraging and motivating.! Thank you~
Welcome back!
Thank you Eliza. I was so happy to be able to catch the glorious Christmas markets in three cities!
Those are beautiful. I think attractive and original signs dress up a street and are so inviting. Thanks for sharing these. 🙂
Yes, they preserve the town’s orginal appearance which is such a treat for someone from the US, especially at Christmas time. These towns ooze beauty~
Someday, Cindy. I’ll get there. 😀
Welcome home! They are charming. Such interesting iron work!
It makes you feel like you are walking down the street 500 or more years ago…..except for the cars of course!
The wrought-iron filigree was especially delightful to my calligrapher self, but I was especially impressed by the colors of the buildings….how lovely!
You have to go to Europe or Latin America to see whole towns where people celebrate color. I love it to pieces too!
Wow such beauty! I love these signs all so different and interesting! Thanks for sharing! they are all so unique!
Wouldn’t it be incredible to go on a trip and see all of them! The tailor, the pharmacist, the needle worker etc. So charming……
yes it honestly would be amazing! I have never seen such a thing, yes totally charming. that is the best word!
<3
You have a good eye for details Cindy. Great pictures…I always loved the signs. I love the old “Posthorn” sign, from back then. Lovely, just lovely
I am so happy that they were preserved! So many have been lost.
I imagine they have Christmas decorations up now too. Would add even more charm to the towns.
Exactly! I made it to the Christmas markets in Vienna, Wurzburg, Bratislava and Budapest. They start celebrating at Advent. The markets are absolutely amazing! Every sense is tantalized. I ate so much incredible local traditional food.
Sounds wonderful!
Wouldn’t it be nice to have one outside your house!
Yes, mine would have said, “Casa de los Gringos Locos,” but my husband wouldn’t let me do this, so I have to settle for The Holler!
Am I the only one who thought of spider webs as the first thing? But, wow, just wow! I think they are quite something.
I do too! I would love to go on a Misson to find them all!
Was that a dragon eating a woman in the top one? What business was that??? Love the signs. Love the history and pride of the shop owners.
Hehehe, I always look forward to your comments Brenda! Maybe it was a service for dealing with pesky people…. 😉 Just kidding. It may be a fish or a whale? Jonah and the whale. A religious reading shop? Or a seller of tasty carniverous fish???? Laughing…..
Maybe it was a seller of fairy tales? Or maybe the Inquisition slept there? LOL I always look forward to your posts. XOXO
Maybe you might consider writing my photo descriptors. I love both of your explanations, but the inquisition is a topper! 😉 😉
So much better than neon signs!
This is precisely what I was thinking over and over, and in these old towns, the new signs are made to match the old so it all remains utterly charming. I will show you some of the newer ones and the blending of old and new in my next post.
What a fantastic set of Guild signs, they are really interesting, I wish all shops had to provide signs like that!
I wish we could pass a law in America stipulating artistic signs only. No more billboards or those hideous, gigantic electronic monstrosities……
Wonderful signs. So fabulous:)
Awwww, so pleased you enjoy them too!
So Charming 🙂
Indeed! Thank you~
Reblogged this on Kentucky Angel and commented:
These remind me of a trip I once took to Germany.
I am so glad you were able to see them and thank you for your thoughtfulness!
Great guild sign work.
Aren’t they wonderful. Adverts as true works of art. What a concept!
Lovely photos Cindy. I visited Germany about a century ago, and loved the architecture there. I have never seen anything quite so pretty in this area, until I saw some crafting at Berea St. College, Berea, KY, where the blacksmiths were doing some wonderful iron work. Nothing as historic as this however.
Oh, I would love to see that. I have never been to Kentucky and would love to go!
They are very interesting. Are they commonly found there?
In the very old towns, there are a lot of them. I will show you more of them and how they look on a long street in my next post. Cheers to you my friend~
These are simply gorgeous. Once life included artistic works even in everyday life and articles. Thanks for documenting them. Enjoyed it!
I know. Can you imagine? Having pride in what you put outside and in what you make with your own hands for the people you know, in your town, to use or consume. What a concept? No corporations. Dios Mio. The middle ages is sounding appealing!
The guild crafted signs look elegant, ornate and lovely, Cindy. Somehow, add “quaint” with all the other formal words I wrote. I just adore this since I had a grandmother born in Germany but immigrated here as a young girl. She would not talk about Germany abd claimed she was “Americanized!” 🙂
She may have had traumatic experiences from either of the last two wars depending on when she immigrated.
They are treats to look at, indeed! And the colors!
Compare them to the signs you see in America and it makes it look like we’re regressing!
Um, we are. But that’s for another conversation 😉
Yeah, sadly, I agree~
Intricate, elegant, and personalized! These signs have so much more personality than ones we have now – where signs seem to be created out of the same stencils and/or in neon. I’m so glad you shared these images with us as this is something that can sometimes be overlooked during travels. Welcome back home Cindy! ~Lynn
Thanks, it’s good to be back until I read the news. I agree with you. Talk about locally sourced. We have no idea where most of our consumed items comes from in America and we’d probably be very unhappy if we did know. These towns have local markets selling everything, fresh produce, like you don’t see here. I have photos. They sell produce I have never seen. All of it huge, healthy and fresh. You can go to market everyday for what you want to eat.
Those signs belong in an art museum–beautiful. 🙂 — Suzanne
You are right they are museum pieces, but the most wonderful thing is that they aren’t in museums. They are in the towns where they were made however long ago, cared for meticulously over time by the people who live there. How cool is that? You can just wander and find them.
So very cool!
Yes, I think so too!
these are great!
So glad you think so too!
Welcome home Cindy.I can only guess you had a fantastic time given the continued pictures. Some of the signs are obvious but I find the first one a puzzle. Is it a lobster??
xxx Huge Hugs xxx
You and me both! maybe it was just decorative? Or a fish shop? Of depicting Jonah and the whale? I am stumped like you.
LOVE!!
<3
Love these and the culture that goes with them.
Yes, both are special!
We travelled through Germany but haven’t paid attention to those 😐 You have got a good eye! They are incredible indeed!
This is the problem with travel and bucket lists. Once you tick everything off your list you want to go back to see what you missed! 😉
So intricate and charming.
I completely agree and am pleased you enjoy them too!
All I can say is: BEAUTIFUL 🙂
That is a beautiful word! 🙂
Beautiful Cindy.
So glad you think so too~
Oh Cindy, they are lovely! I do love the guild signs and there are two just down my street, one for the iron forge and the other (very important) the boulangerie! I’ve collected a few and would like to have enough to do a post just on photos of the guild signs. 🙂
Please do post! I know France has some and so does the Alpian area of Italy. I would love to see yours. Be well my friend~
Absolutely but I don’t really have enough photos yet to do it as I would like. Happy travels… 🙂
Oh, ich liebe diese wunderschönen Schilder. Es gibt sie auch im Elsass und in der Schweiz. Liebe Grüsse Ernst
Ja! Deutsch sprechende Länder haben die meisten von ihnen . Danke mein lieber Freund Ernst~
Nice photos, Cindy. 🙂
Thanks Ranu & cheers too~
Love these. And I like how you focused your post on just one kind of signs – guild signs. Thanks!
Oh, I appreciate this. I took a lot of photos of old and newer signs and I had to figure out a way to group them. I really appreciate you noticing! Have a wonderful day.
Oh, you found the golden key for the lost treasure! ◦°˚\(*❛‿❛)/˚°◦
Yes. and I searched and searched, but couldn’t find the treasure! 😉
Aw, the pirate must have taken it!
o(〃＾▽＾〃)o
I love these…so much artistry and imagination 🙂
Yes, I love this too. All this care and attention to first make the signs, and then generation after generation appreciating them and caring for them. It is very special.
Welcome home! You have captured the intricacies beautifully!
Well thank you Val, much appreciated my friend~
Fascinating! The guild signs are very decorative. Nice photos as always.
Gives us a peak into life in the past and not in a stuffy museum!
There is so much detail in them and I can see some depict the old fairy tales or similar type stories.
Ahhhhhhh, that’s what the first one is. I didn’t think of that! Thank you for filling in the blanks.
Lol…
Simply beautiful, Cindy. I marvel at how intricate this work is! Glad you’re home safe and sound, but I hope you’ve got more fascinating pictures to show us of your trip?!!
Intricate, old and conserved. These three things make them special to me too. So glad you enjoyed them too Debbie. And, yes you know I have more to show you. I am just very grateful that you want to see them. Be well my friend~
Beautiful gallery of these treasures, Cindy! I recall I was looking up a lot while walking on the streets while traveling Germany. 🙂
Yes, there is so much visual beauty in these medieval towns. It is a feast for the eyes and camera!
🙂 Thank you for posting and giving us a chance to enjoy!
I adore wrought iron. These are seriously special and gorgeous! Thank you , Cindy & welcome home!
Thank you Resa. I knew that as an artist and designer you would appreciate these beauties. Be well my friend~ <3
So much nicer than a more modern, traditional sign. The mention of your next post makes it sound like artists are still being commissioned to make them. Would love to walk downtown and see all that scrollwork. Welcome home, Cindy!
Yes, they are and the results are magical. The next post will show a mixture of old and new signs and a street with lots of them.
They are just so lovely. the town where I was born has many signs like that too and it looks so beautiful with the old houses.
It is simply beautiful. Yes, the old houses, the ancient street art, the old signage, the cobblestones. I can imagine how nice it would be to live in one of these towns, going to the outdoor market everyday to buy fresh ingredients for dinner. Wonderful.
Wow! I love the iron work!
It’s special isn’t it. It adds so much visual appeal to these already beautiful old towns.