SUMMARY:
In the heraldry of many European countries the motif of golden
crescent moons and stars has been used since the very beginning
of the Middle Ages, (in Polish heraldry the coats of arms: Bojomir,
Cielatkowa, Drzewica, Leliwa, Sas). Known are also the charges
representing two crescent moons turned away from each other (in
Polish heraldry the coats of arms: Ostoja and Przegonia). The
coat of arms of the Dressel family represents a motif well known
from the earliest beginning of European heraldry.
"The oldest example of the coat of arms of the Dressel family
comes from the seal of Johann von Bennhausen, Sept.
15, 1314. The oldest example of the Dressel arms used by a
Dressel is the seal of Geunther von der Dressul on a document
dated February 6, 1361. On the shield
of this seal are two crescent moons (the points are turned away
from each other), accompanied by four stars. These charges appear
in all documents of the coat of arms of the Dressel family. Also
found are variants in the color of the field of the shield and
variants in the later drawings of the crest. These variants are
shown in Jozef Pilnacek's, "Famillien chronik
des Geschlechtes von der Dressel." The main variant consists
in the various colors of the field, which in most cases is black,
but in some documents is blue. Adam Boniecki in "Herbarz Polski,"
vol 5, for the Polish branch of the Dressel family gives the red
color for their field, which is an evident mistake. At the Main
Archive of Old Acts in Warsaw, there is preserved the original
diploma conferring the rights of a foreign nobleman, Jerzy of
Roszewo Dressel, Chorazy Bulawy Wielkiej (Standard Bearer of the
Great Baton) of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, enacted by King
Stanislaus August on November 18, 1778. It presents
the coat of arms on a black field.
The charges of the coat of arms of the Dressel family (i.e. two
crescent moons and four stars) are in all examples gold. From
the two basic color variants of the shield of the Dressel coat
of arms (i.e. black and blue) the first one is natural for the
charge which represents two golden crescent moons and four golden
stars in the black night sky. This is so because the Dressel coat
of arms draws the motif of its emblem from the observation of
the astral phenomena, therefore, the heraldric preference is black.
Since the color of the field should be black with golden charges
on it, then the mantling of the coat of arms should be black and
gold.
The crest of the Dressel coat of arms in later documents also
has variants, one has two arms in armor, the other has two arms
in black clothing, but both pairs of arms are holding a black
furled flag with two gold crescent moons and four gold stars,
repeating the charges in the field. The flag is turned to the
left. The variant of the crest with arms in black clothing is
found in the work of Valentin Koenig,
"Adelshistorie," 1727-1736, as well as in the quoted diploma
conferring the rights of nobility on the foreign nobleman Jerzy
of Roszewo Dressel from 1778. But the more
correct chivalric variant is the crest with arms in armor because
it represents the held flag as the early Dressel knights would
hold it in battle.
The blazon of the Dressel coat of arms should represent on a field
of black two crescent gold moons turned away from each other,
accompanied by four six- pointed gold stars. The crest should
represent two arms in armor holding a black furled flag turned
to the left, with the charges being the same as on the shield.
The mantling is black with gold lining. The gold of the crescent
moons and the gold stars of the charges as well as the lining
of the mantling can be replaced with the yellow color..."
Dr. Ottfried Neubecker, former president of the Wappen-Herold
Deutsche Heraldische Gesellschaft, agrees with Dr. Kuczynski
description of the Dressel Coat of Arms.
Two legends of the origin of the Dressel coat of arms are: in
early German tribal history the Dressel ancestors were priests
because the crescent moon and stars were symbols of the priestly
cast, and when the tribes were converted to Christianity, the
priestly families took the crescent moon and stars for their coat
of arms; that the Dressel ancestors were members of the first
Crusade against the Moslems, and when they returned to Europe,
they took the crescent moon and the star as their arms, which
is the symbol of the Moslems, to recall their service in the Crusades.
There is no documentary evidence for either of these legends at
this time.
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For sources see exhibit 37a
Translation of the above document:
Molberg (today called Mhlberg), "Guntheri de Drosul", sl to the
proclamation from Duke Rudolf of Saxony, his brother, and his
nephew that there should be a conference at Mhlberg to settle
the differences between the Archbishop of Magdeburg and the former
Bishop of Merseburg. The above German document with its 14 seals
which includes the oldest known Dressel seal still exists intact
and is to be found in the Dresden National Archiv, Nr. O.U. 3623
A translation of the seal's border (above); will be included when
it is found)
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