Large Tucher coat of arms

Tucher’sche Kulturstiftung, SP Kh 002
Coat of arms of the Nuremberg patrician family Tucher

The splendid baroque coat of arms shield made of painted wood can be found on the Schoppershof manor in Nuremberg today. It hung originally in St. Sebald, where the Tucher family tomb was located near the altar of St. Nicholas until the burials were moved outside the town walls in 1519. The shield topped one of the family’s funerary plaques. As early as the 16th century, the Tucher family no longer opted for the commemorative form of individual plaques for each deceased person, which was otherwise customary among patricians, but had large funerary plaques with a list of names created for the collective commemoration of the lineage’s deceased.

The upper part of the Tucher coat of arms, "a bend of six argent and sable", is a "common heraldic image" and belongs to the simplest and oldest forms of heraldic images. The head in the bottom part is supposed to represent St. Mauritius. Due to the frequent equation of the two German words "Mauren" and "Mohren" (Moor), the saint is depicted with dark skin. Legend has it that Mauritius was a commander of the "Thebaic legion" consisting of Christians in the 4th century and suffered martyrdom under Emperor Diocletian. The legend and person of the saint are considered very questionable today. The fact that Mauritius is in the coat of arms of the Tucher family that is supposed to originate from the imperial ranks, could be due to their claim to be equal to nobility.

Antonia Landois