Johann Georg Gmelin, Sr. (1674-1728)
Philipp Friedrich Gmelin (1721-1768)
Johann Friedrich Gmelin (1748-1804)
Leopold Gmelin (1788-1853)
Christian Gottlob Gmelin (1792-1860)
(prominent chemists from Tübingen)
Per pale; [1] Azure, a dolphin uriant entwined around an anchor Argent.
[2] Gules, on a fess Argent [tilted bendwise]
between two mullets of six points Or, a
Wolfsangel
contourny Sable.
Motto :Festina Lente (hasten slowly).
[ That maxim is traditionally symbolized by a dolphin coiled around an anchor.
The dolphin stands for swiftness, the anchor is for caution and safety.]
Festina Lente (hasten slowly) was the official motto
(or "Royal Proverb") of Emperor
Augustus
(who reigned alone over the Roman Empire from 27 BC to AD 14).
He adopted the corresponding dolphin coiled around an anchor
as his personal symbol.
That well-known icon was used as an explicit reference to Augustus himself
on the reverse of some silver denarii minted
during the reigns of the three emperors of the
Flavian dynasty:
Vespasian (AD 69-79)
Titus (AD 79-81) and
Domitian (AD 81-96).
The Flavians may have done that for political reasons: Advertising
the personal symbol of Augustus helped compensate for their lack of
actual family ties with the first five emperors of Rome
(i.e., the Julio-Claudian dynasty).
The abbreviated
markings on the coin shown above read:
TRPOT = tribunica potestas (Tribune of the People),
COS VIII = Eight times a consul,
PP = Pater Patriae (Father of the Country).
There are other examples of silver
denarii bearing a dolphin entwined around an anchor
that were struck at different dates:
The Wolfsangel at left,
shown contourny in the Gmelin arms, is a masonic symbol
of ancient Nordic origin ( unrelated to the
Eihwaz rune).
In an horizontal position it's also called a werewolf. The
upright version
(looking like a backward Z with a central stroke) can be called a thunderbolt.
Without a central stroke, that heraldic charge would be blasoned Doppelhaken in German
or crampon in French (e.g.,
Biedenfeld:
In Schwarz ein liegender silberner Doppelhaken ).
It is a more recent (medieval) symbol for the double hooks used by soldiers to climb the wall
of fortified castles. Arguably, the legendary danger of such climbs makes this
a symbol for military bravery...
In modern times, the Wolfsangel
has become a tainted nazi symbol whose "use" is strictly forbidden by German Criminal Law Para 86(1).4.
Like the Swastika (gammadion, or fylfot)
pictured at left, the Wolfsangel can
no longer be used as a benign ancient mystic symbol by masons or anybody else ...
Other
runic symbols used by the Nazis are often not as tainted as the
Wolfsangel, which was used as the divisional marking
for Hitler's infamous 2.SS-Panzerdivison Das Reich.
The inverted version of the Wolfsangel
symbol was used as the graphical basis for the logo of
Aryan Nations (AN)
the neo-nazi American organization founded in 1970 by
Richard Girnt Butler (1918-2004).
Leopold Gmelin (1788-1853)
son of the naturalist
Johann Friedrich Gmelin
(1748-1804) was a grandson of
Philipp Friedrich Gmelin
(1721-1768; FRS 1758), the younger son
of the first bearer of the coat-of-arm (see below).
This younger branch of the family may or may not have borne the coat-of-arms described here.
Christian Gottlog Gmelin
(1792-1860),
professor of chemistry and pharmacy at the University of Tübingen
was a grandson of Johann Konrad Gmelin and a great-grandson of the traveler
Johann Georg Gmelin, Jr. (1709-1855)
himself the eldest son of
Johann Georg Gmelin, Sr. (1674-1728)
who was the first bearer of the above coat-of-arms.
Several alumni of the
University
of Tübingen were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry :
