Stained glass coat of arms, 1480

Museum Tucherschloss, HI MM 002
Stained glass coat of arms of the Nuremberg patrician family Tucher: The "Moor" with the headband, 1480

The coat of arms with the so-called "Moor" was used by the Tucher family from 1345. Unlike the coats of arms of most of Nuremberg’s patrician families, it has not undergone any lasting changes over the centuries.

There is just one exception: this stained glass coat of arms from 1480 with a "Moor" wearing a red headband trimmed with rosettes above a curious white bonnet tied under the chin. This stained glass is the only known deviation of the otherwise unchanged Tucher coat of arms.

The unusual depiction was associated with the ancient emperor’s heads with headbands, which were also used as emperor’s and king’s seals in the Middle Ages. This could have been given as a symbol to the Tuchers as imperial officials (ministerials). A later identification of the head with Saint Mauritius in his function as patron saint of the empire could then have brought about the change from the emperor’s head to the "Moor’s head". However, this theory is problematic, since the head with the headband in the Tucher coat of arms is only documented this one single time. So it’s still a mystery why he is wearing a headband.

The family, at any rate, does not seem to have been permanently irritated by the one-time exception – for them, the "Moor" was probably always to be equated with Saint Mauritius.

Antonia Landois