Stylized horizontal (left) and vertical (centre) forms of theWolfsangel (orcrampon), and a stylizedWolfsanker (orhameçon) (right).[1] . In heraldry, the vertical form of the Ƶ-symbol is associated with theDonnerkeil (or "thunderbolt"), and the horizontal form of the Ƶ-symbol is associated with theWerwolf (or "Werewolf").[1] | ||||
Wolfsangel (German pronunciation:[ˈvɔlfsˌʔaŋəl]ⓘ, translation: "wolf's hook") orCrampon (French pronunciation:[kʁɑ̃pɔ̃]ⓘ) is aheraldic charge from mainlyGermany and easternFrance, which was inspired by medieval Europeanwolf traps that consisted of a Z-shaped metal hook (called theWolfsangel, or thecrampon in French) that was hung by a chain from a crescent-shaped metal bar (called theWolfsanker, or thehameçon in French). The stylized symbol of the Z-shape (also called theDoppelhaken, meaning the "double-hook") can include a central horizontal bar to give aƵ-symbol, which can be reversed and/or rotated; it is sometimes mistaken as being anancient rune due to its similarity to the "gibor rune" of thepseudoArmanen runes.[2]
It became an early symbol of German liberty and independence after its adoption as an emblem in various 15th-centurypeasant revolts and also in the 17th-centuryThirty Years' War.[3] In pre-war Germany, interest in theWolfsangel was revived by the popularity ofHermann Löns's 1910 novelDer Wehrwolf, which follows a hero in the Thirty Years' War. The Ƶ-symbol was later adopted by theNazi Party,[4] and was used by various GermanWehrmacht andSS units such as theWaffen-SS Division Das Reich and theWaffen-SS DivisionLandstorm Nederland.[4] TheAnti-Defamation League, and others,[5]list the Ƶ-symbol as a hate and aneo-Nazi symbol.[6]
.jpg)
TheWolfsangel was a medieval Europeanwolf hunting tool where the hook was concealed inside a chunk of meat that would impale any unsuspecting wolfgulping the meat in one movement.[8]
The tool was developed by attaching the hook via a chain or rope to a larger bar (often with a double crescent or half-moon shape per photo opposite) lodged between the overhanging branches of a tree. This would encourage the wolf to jump up to gulp the hanging chunk of meat (with the hook concealed inside), thus further impaling itself in the manner of a fish caught on a fishing hook.[8]
Medieval hunters were known to use "blood trails" to lead the wolf to theWolfsangel trap and also usedwattle fencing nearer to the trap to create narrow channels that would guide the wolf to the trap.[8]
.jpg)
Other German names includeWolfsanker ("wolf anchor", the crescent-shaped bar holding the hook),Wolfshaken ("wolf hook"), andDoppelhaken ("double hook"); French names includehameçon ("fish hook"),hameçon de loup ("fish hook for wolves") andfer-a-loup ("wolf iron"), as well ascrampon ("iron hook").[9][10]
The stylised version of the Z-shapedWolfsangel developed into a popular medieval symbol in Germany that was associated with magical powers, and was believed to have the ability to ward off wolves.[3][9] The symbol appears on early medievalbanners andtown seals in Germany (particularly in forested regions where wolves were present in large numbers); for example, as early as 1299 the symbol is found on seals of the Lords of the GermanBlack Forest town ofWolfach (see opposite, the seal of the widowCountess Udilhild von Fürstenberg [de], the sole heiress of the Lords of Wolfach); and theirWolfsangel banner became the municipal coat of arms for the town (see opposite).[11] The symbol can be found as a medievalmason's mark.[12]
The stylizedWolfsangel Z-symbol (i.e. excluding the horizontal bar) bears a visual resemblance to theproto-GermanicEihwaz rune (meaning "yew"), historically part of the ancientrunic alphabet.[4] However, the fullWolfsangel Ƶ-symbol has no equivalent amongst ancient runic systems but is sometimes confused as such due to its similarity to the "gibor rune", the eighteenthpseudo rune that was created by the nineteenth-century German revivalistGuido von List as part of hisArmanen runes.[2]
AcademicAkbar Ahmed writes that theWolfsangel was adopted by 15th-century German peasants duringrevolts against oppressive German princes and their foreign mercenaries, and thus became an important early popular Germanic symbol of independence and liberty.[3]
Ahmed further notes that during the 17th-centuryThirty Years' War, groups of German militia waged aguerilla war against foreign forces under the German nameWehrwolf, and also adopted theWolfsangel symbol as their emblem; they reportedly carved the symbol on the trees from which they hanged captured foreign combatants.[3]
The term "Wolfs-Angel" (German) and "Hameçon" (French) appears in a 1714 German heraldic handbook titledWappenkunst. However, the description is more specifically about theWolfsanker (orhameçon) component part of theWolfsangel trap, and defines it as: "the shape of a crescent moon with a ring inside, at mid-height", which describes the bar from which the Z-shaped hook is hung (see the yellow coat of arms of the von Stein family in the table opposite for an example).[10]
In modern German-language heraldic terminology, the nameWolfsangel isde facto used for a variety ofheraldic charges, including theWolfsanker from above (i.e. the half-moon shape with a ring that is also called afer-de-loop), as well as theWolfshaken orcrampon (i.e. the Z-shaped or double-hook that is also called aMauerhaken or aDoppelhaken, and that can also appear with a ring or a transversal stroke, Ƶ, at the center).
The Z-shaped symbol is found comparatively frequently in municipal coats of arms in Germany, and also in eastern France (seeWolfisheim orWolxheim), where it is often identified as aWolfsangel. The Ƶ-design is rarer but is found in about a dozen contemporary municipal coats of arms, and is usually (but not exclusively) represented as a reversed Ƶ-shape.[10]
In heraldry, the upright or vertical form of the Ƶ-symbol is associated with theDonnerkeil (or "thunderbolt"), while the horizontal form of the Ƶ-symbol is associated with theWerwolf (or "Werewolf").[1]
In a 1616 boundary treaty concluded betweenHesse andBrunswick-Lüneburg, the Brunswick forestboundary marker was called aWulffsangel (a horizontalWolfsangel). There is also evidence of its use in correspondence from the Forest Services in 1674.[13]
Later, theWolfsangel was also used as a symbol on forest uniforms. In a 1792 document regarding new uniforms, chief forester Adolf Friedrich von Stralenheim[where?] suggested a design for uniform buttons including the letters "GR" and a symbol similar to theWolfsangel, which he calledForstzeichen. Later theWolfsangel was also worn as a single badge in brass caps on the service and on the buttons of theHanoverian forest supervisor. InBrunswick, it was prescribed for private forests and gamekeepers as a badge on the bonnet.[13]
TheWolfsangel is still used in the various forest districts inLower Saxony as a boundary marker and it is part of the emblem of the hunters' association of Lower Saxony and the clubHirschmann, dedicated to the breeding and training ofHanover Hounds.[13]
.jpg)
In pre-war 1930s Germany, interest in theWolfsangel was revived by the popularity ofHermann Löns's 1910 novel entitledDer Wehrwolf (later published asHarm Wulf, a peasant chronicle, and asThe Warwolf in English). The book is set in a 17th-century German farming community during the Thirty Years' War and the protagonist, a resistance fighter named Harm Wulf, adopts the Wolfsangel symbol as his personal badge.[3]
Wolfsangel: German City on Trial is a 2000 book by August Niro on the 1944Rüsselsheim massacre that occurred in the city ofRüsselsheim am Main, whose coat of arms features a Wolfsangel symbol. The book draws parallels with the origins and symbolism of the Wolfsangel, particularly resistance against foreign mercenaries, and the events of the massacre.[14]
In Nazi Germany, theWolfsangel symbol was widely adopted inNazi symbolism. It is not clear whether the driver of its adoption wasHitler's strong personal association with wolf imagery (theWolf's Lair for example), or to create an association with the post-15th-century symbol of German independence and liberty, which had a particular relationship to the achievement of German freedom from foreign influence by force.[3][2]
The symbol was used by a range of military and non-military Nazi-linked groups, including:
AfterWorld War II, public exhibition of theWolfsangel symbol becameillegal in Germany if it was connected with Neo-Nazi groups.[16][17] On 9 August 2018 Germany lifted the ban on the usage ofswastikas and other Nazi symbols in video games. "Through the change in the interpretation of the law, games that critically look at current affairs can for the first time be given a USK age rating," USK managing director Elisabeth Secker told CTV. "This has long been the case for films and with regards to the freedom of the arts, this is now rightly also the case with computer and videogames."[18][19]
Outside of Germany, theWolfsangel symbol has been used by some Neo-Nazi organizations such as in the United States whereAryan Nations organization uses a whiteWolfsangel-like symbol with a sword replacing the cross-bar in its logo.[20] The US-basedAnti-Defamation League (ADL) database, as well as other non-governmental organisations,[5]list the Wolfsangel as a hate symbol and as a neo-Nazi symbol.[6][9] In Italy, theWolfsangel was the symbol used by thefar right movementTerza Posizione.[21]
In Ukraine,far-right movements like theSocial-National Party of Ukraine[22][23][24] and theSocial-National Assembly,[25] as well as theAzov Regiment of the Ukrainian army,[26][27][28][29] have used a similar symbol ofꑭ (an elongated centre bar and the Z being rotated but untypically not reversed; The group claim that the symbol is a composite of the "N" and the "I", for their political sloganІдея Нації (Ukrainian for "National Idea", and deny any connection or attempt to draw a parallel withthe regiment and Nazism.[30] Political scientistAndreas Umland toldDeutsche Welle, that though it had far-right connotations, theWolfsangel was not considered a fascist symbol by the general population in Ukraine.[31] TheReporting Radicalism initiative fromFreedom House notes that "Accidental use of this symbol or its use without an understanding of its connotations (for example as a talisman) is rare", and "... in Ukraine, the use of a Wolfsangel as a heraldic symbol or a traditional talisman would be uncharacteristic".[5] TheKarelian National Battalion, a pro-Ukrainian volunteer battalion formed in January 2023, features a Wolfsangel in the middle of the battalion's insignia.[32]
In 2020, there was a brief trend ofGeneration ZTikTok users tattooing a "Generation Ƶ" symbol on the arm as "a symbol of unity in our generation but also as a sign of rebellion" (in the manner of the 15th-century peasant's revolts). The originator of the trend later renounced it when the use of the symbol by the Nazis was brought to her attention.[6]
Wolffs-Angel, frantz. hamecon, lat. uncus quo lupi capiuntur, ist die Form eines halben Mondes und hat inwendig in der Mitte einen Ring. Wolffs-Angel: Frenchhameçon, Latinuncus quo lupi capiuntur ("hook with which wolves are caught") is the shape of a crescent moon with a ring inside, at mid-height.
A study of the iconography of German nationalist groups between the wars and then of Nazi party, military, and paramilitary organizations from 1933 to 1945 proves beyond doubt that the 'Wolfsangel' symbol was widely, even indiscriminately used by them long before the formation of the Nazi Werwolf movement at the end of the war. Wolfsangel, if at all translatable, means, or at least originally meant, 'wolf trap', an instrument which is a threat to the wolf. Yet both Lons and the Nazis used it as a menacing symbol of intimidation representing the savage and relentless ferocity of the wolf... In the late summer or early autumn of 1944, when it was clear that Germany was committed to a European land war on two fronts,Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler initiatedUnternehmen Werwolf, ordering SS-Obergruppenführer Prutzmann to begin organizing an elite troop of volunteer special forces to operate secretly behind enemy lines.
| Types | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topics | |||||||||||||||
| Achievement | |||||||||||||||
| Charges |
| ||||||||||||||
| Tinctures |
| ||||||||||||||
| Applications | |||||||||||||||
| Related | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
