Thursday 4 May 2023

sankt florian (10. 719)

Fêted on this day on the occasion of his martyrdom by drowning in the River Enns in the year 304, Florianus from the ancient Roman outpost of Ælium Cetium—modern day St Pölten, in the province of Noricum north of the Danube—is the patron-protector of Linz, Oberösterreich and Poland as well as soap-makers, brewers, firefighters and chimney sweeps. Rising in the ranks to commander of the imperial army, Florian had the extra detail of organising fire brigades (there no long being a monopoly on public safety) but once rumours spread that Florian was not enforcing restrictions against practising Christianity among his soldiers, Diocletian opened an inquiry. Summarily, the emperor’s ombudsman ordered Florian to be burned at the stake for defy the edict, but after scoffing at a death by fire, the executioners instead tied a millstone around his neck and tossed him into the water. Invoked against fire, flood and the pains of Purgatory—in Austria and Germany used as the universal call sign for a fire emergency—a saying, Sankt-Florians-Prinzip, in the Sprachraum has developed following the sentiment of the fantastic word Οὐκᾰλέγων out of a slightly ironic prayer “O heiliger Sankt Florian, verschon’ mein Haus, zünd’ and’re an”—that is, Saint Florian, spare my house and set another alight.