The Düxer Bock

Our Düxer Bock is a heraldic animal with a great history. It is also the (almost) official heraldic animal of Cologne's Deutz district. Very few people from Cologne know this story and that's why we want to introduce you to the Düxer Bock here. Although many clubs and gatherings already have the Düxer Bock either in their logo or in their name, the story is often not known. In 1964 the buck received its place of honor in Deutz. But more on that later.

The legend of the Düxer Bock

There are a few different versions of it, but it is basically divided into two parts. We would like to briefly introduce them to you here. The first part of the saga is about an unbelievable neighborhood dispute, the core of which is about the Düxer Bock . The second part of the story rounds off the legend with a love story and is usually told nested in the first part.

First part of the legend

Many years ago there was once a tailor in Deutz, but he had to supplement his wages with the breeding of small songbirds. He had kept these songbirds in numerous small cages, all of which hung all around over the windows of his quarters. This was in Siegburger Str. 24 (not far from our Cologne holiday apartment at Siegburger Str. 87) and a tax collector (that was the official job title at the time) lived across the street. This man, however, always liked to sleep very late and then felt disturbed by the happy twittering of the songbirds.

Therefore, the tax collector approached the tailor and wanted to persuade him to take on another "part-time job". But the tailor liked his little songbirds and didn't want to give up this business idea. The tax collector got mad and sued the tailor in court. The tailor was allowed by court order to keep his songbirds. In revenge, the tax collector hung a billy goat (no, not the one from 1. FC Köln ... or is it?) In an oversized bird basket in front of his window and fed him poorly. From then on, the goat grumbled all day long and the grumbling could be heard across the entire Siegburger Strasse. The other residents felt annoyed, of course, and always scolded the tailor "tailor's mess" whenever they saw him.

After two weeks the buck died for lack of food and the tailor was visibly relieved that the grumbling had now disappeared. Of course, he didn't always want to be called "tailor's mess". But it was precisely in this wound that the tax collector put more and had a stone billy goat made and installed over his door. A permanent provocation for the tailor, who could no longer endure the daily ranting and "tailor mess" slogans and therefore moved with his family.

Part two of the legend

Already during the court case for the songbirds, the two children of the fighters (daughter Gertrud from the tailor and son Fritz the tax collector) discovered their love for each other. Due to the heated argument, however, they could only secretly love and meet each other and their fathers did not even notice their love at first. After the tailor and his family left Siegburger Strasse 24 and even the Deutz district, love for Fritz seemed lost. Many years passed and the lovers were separated. It was only when the tax collector had died that Gertrud came back and immediately bought the house with the goat when it was up for sale. When she met her great love Fritz again in Deutz, they got married immediately!

Traditions

The first records about the Düxer Bock can be found as early as 1512. It was reported here about a house on Siegburger Strasse , which was called "Im Bock", later in 1583 then "Landlord im Bock" and in 1795 as the "House with the Bock picture". Our Düxer goat was installed above the entrance to the house.

In the Middle Ages, there is even said to have been a custom after the tailors had to kiss this stone goat after their final exam and celebrate it three times. In addition to the stone buck, there was also a Düx buck flag, which was hung up every year for the rifle festival.

The often mentioned house at Siegburger Straße 24 was unfortunately demolished (in the course of the Deutzer Brücke bridge expansion), and so a piece of Cologne history was lost. Both the image of the Düxer Bock and the Düxer Bock flag are kept in the Cologne City Museum.

There are poems, songs and stories about the Düxer Bock: Carnival songs, even an operetta and a folk opera. "Da Düxer Bock un de Schnied're".

The monument

After the St. Sebastian Schützenbrüderschaft celebrated its 500th anniversary, the Deutzers demanded the promise of the City of Cologne and asked for a memorial for the Düxer Bock. Unfortunately, the Cologne council came up with the ideas and the Deutzers did not quite want to comply and only approved a modern sculpture of the goat. The sculptor Gerhard Marcks, who was known as an animal sculptor, was commissioned to create this monument. A typical billy goat was created.

The monument is made of bronze and stands on a 2.50 meter high stone column. There is also a small rectangular fountain. The inauguration ceremony of the monument took place in 1964. In 1989 the monument protection was declared.

Where is the Düxer Bock?

Well, the Düxer Bock is not far from our holiday apartments , so that you can easily visit it. Unfortunately, there was no place on Siegburger Strasse, where one should expect it to be, but rather in the Lorenzstrasse area, right here on the newly named Lorenzplatz. In the past, this square had no name, but was only called "Green area on Lorenzstrasse". This is all the result of numerous discussions with the citizens of Deutz, artists and the city. There was also a sponsorship for the green area around the Düxer Bock. Park benches round off the space.

Holiday apartment Cologne tip

When the weather is nice, you can take a short walk to the Düxer Bock. It can be reached in a few minutes from both the holiday apartments in Adolphstrasse and Siegburger Strasse!