The deceptive game of the Archbishop of Cologne

Or: The "Pig Feud of Zons"

Just like today, the Archbishops of Cologne are not always the most likeable. This was also the case in the year 1577.

Salentin of Cologne sent out his soldiers under the pretense that the citizens of Zons owed him customs duties. But he did not intend to wage war against the town of Zons. The soldiers stole the town’s herd of pigs—some fifty animals in total.

The bailiff of Zons – Duke Friedrich von Sachsen-Lauenburg – could do nothing against the soldiers. But he went to court on behalf of the citizens of the town of Zons. And the court ruled in his favour. The bishop had to return the pigs. But a legal dispute like that can take some time. Unfortunately, the pigs were no longer alive. So, the citizens of Zons were paid the market value.

The incident went down in history as the "Pig Feud of Zons" – „Zonser Schweinefehde“

Zons was, and remains, a truly tranquil little town. The total length of the town wall encircling the historic old town is 1.2 km. And so, the feud was arguably the most exciting event in Zons in the last 600 years.

The people of Zons built a well for the brave bailiff: The "Pig Fountain" (Schweinebrunnen) by Bernhard Lohf, created in 1959. The square of the well was redesigned in 1987. The sculptor Herbert Labusga created five life-size bronze pigs for the square.

And this seemingly innocent venture did cause the second most disturbing event in Zons in the last 600 years. A member of the city council was really angered by a depiction. As a pig breeder he conceived a severe mistake in the models of the pigs: The pigs had a curly tail that twisted to the left. But as an expert, he knew that the tail of a real pig, when viewed from behind, curls to the right.

The Zons City Cultural Committee therefore decided to have the tails of the bronze pigs corrected. And so it was done.

Omnes abeunt. Well, the pigs remain.

Europe / Germany

Lat: 51° 7' 12.729" N
Long: 6° 50' 51.447" E

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