Sorbian legends - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 1991 - 60 Pfennig

Aquarius takes first place in all Sorbian traditions. Together with his wife, sons and daughters, the Aquarius among the Sorbs was the best known and at the same time "most popular" of all natural demons. The Lausitz, the field of action of Aquarius, is rich in lakes, ponds and streams. Inland fishing has been a tradition here for centuries. In the popular imagination, demonic human traits were mingled with Aquarius. The image of this figure is contradictory and diverse at the same time. He presents himself as a merchant, servant and protector of the poor. On the other hand, you find him as a crafty and vindictive demon. He even turned his form into a fish, an ox, a duck or a goose. However, the human good traits such as helpfulness, kindness and kindness always kept the upper hand. However, Aquarius was not completely trusted by the wet hem of his skirt. According to legend, the lower hem of his coat was constantly wet, which was to symbolize in an interesting way the demonic character of the figure. Since the Aquarius in the village also attended weddings, the tavern, the market, his sons and daughters the dance floor and the spinning rooms, it often came to meetings with minstrels. Our motif describes a Sorbian musician whose playing on the three-stringed violin (a traditional Sorbian folk instrument) obviously pleases Aquarius. The Sorbian folk painter Martin Nowak-Neumann, widely known as the father of Sorbian myths and fairy tales, has given Wassermann a significant place in his scarcely countable illustrations. The figures of legends and fairy tales were made concretely concrete with the help of the painter's art and thus visually imaginable for everyone. The red cap and the green body became the indispensable attributes of a "Sorbian" Aquarius through Martin Nowak-Neumann.