The Coolidge examiner., 1932-07-29

same time Chat he received this
commission the city fathers of
nearby Nordlingen engaged him TO
build their cathedral. But NOrd
fingers had just reason to complain
of their bargain, for they saw lit
tie of the great artist His heart
was in the work at Dinkelsbuhl, and
there he spent most of his time.
Saint Georges was under cOnstruc-
tion for nearly half a century. and
when the time came to build the
great tower planned for it, funds
were not available. The masters
vision was never completely real
ized. but the stamp of his greatness
abides in the interior with its soar
ing arched ceiling.
Dlnkelsbuhl was founded long be-
fore the Normans conquered Eng
land. More than a thousand years
ago a group of Franconlan peasant
warriors had settled on an eleya-
tion in the Wornitz valley. There,
when not engaged in fighting for
their existence against raiding
Franks or Magyars, they raised
grain. About the year 92S, at the
command OF Emperor Heinrich the
First, walls were erected around
the tiny settlement, and there came
into being a fortified city destined
TO withstand the strifes and in
trigues of a millennium and TO play
an important role in the pageant of
history which those ten centuries
were to unfold.
Origin Of city's Name.
There is division of opinion as to
the origin of the city's name. Some
authorities claim the early Fran
CONAN settlement was on a low
hill (buheD belonging to man
named Dinko or Tinko. Thus Dink-
elsbuhl. Others assert that the
chief crop OF the locality gave the
city it's name, and that 1t means
wheat (Dinkel) hill (BuheD. How
ever the city came by its name, 1t
prospered. The location was a ia
vored one, easy of defense, and on
a much-frequented route from the
old Roman empire into Germany.
From the beginning 1t belonged
to the imperial family. and its gov
ernment passed by gift or grant or
sale to various South German
mobiles. The famous Frederick Bar
barossa intended at one time to give
the city as a wedding present to
his son Konrad, duke OF Rothen-
burg, but his plans miscarried. and
nearly two centuries later, in 1851,
Emperor Karl " granted it as an
hereditary feudal tenure to the
prince of Oettingen. The same year
the citizens bought the nobleman's
rights from him in perpetuity and
Dinkelsbuhl began It's career as
free city"
Many of the emperors of the Holy
Roman empire visited Dinkelsbuhl
and whenever one came there was
q ceremonious reception on the mar
ket square, at which the council
presented to the emperor and his
encourage the customary" gifts.
What these amounted to is shown
by record in the municipal
archives dealing with a visit of En-
peror Macmillan II on June u,
1870.
The Dinkelsbuhlers have been
known for centuries as Die Blaus-
ieder," the blue cookers" A IA
vorite method of serving carp,
trout, and certain other fish in Ger
many is blue cooked"-that is,
boiled in water to which a little vim
egar has been added The process
is called "blausieden," and those
who do the blue boiling" are
''Blausieder."
In the early middle ages the au-
thorities of Dinkelsbuhl succeeded
in catching a robber and murderer
who had been carrying on his grue-
some occupation for a long time. A
special session of the council was
called on a hot summer afternoon
TO decide what punishment to mete
out to him. One of the cOuncilmen,
who was trifle deaf. went to
sleep during the debate and
dreamed that his cook was about to
prepare fine carp for him. When
the time came for him to vote on
the question before the council, a
fellow member poked him in the
ribs and asked:
"Hannes, what do you say we
shall do with our robber?"
Hannes, rudely awakened from
his dream, thought it was his cook
asking about the carp.
"Blausieden!" (Boil him biue), he
answered