A cross made of garnets

In about 1966-67, my best friend, Shari, spent part of the school year in Austria.  She brought back garnet jewelry like crazy, because it was readily available there for a good price.  When I googled "garnets, Austria", evidently Tyrol, Austria and Bohemia were centers of gemstone mining.

This is a pectoral cross that signified its' wearer had a high rank in the Catholic Church.  According to the link, they were/are at least 6" wide.  This one is magnificent compared to the others pictured--wow!

Heinz wrote to say "The cross was donated to the Provost of Neuhaus" in 1708 by Simon Hesch .
We don't have a clear link to Simon (meaning we haven't traced back to the early 1700s yet), but this connection was in another email from Heinz:

The provost of Neuhaus 1708 DRIZIAN wife of the Tyrolean HESCH of Simon, a Zillertal Granatlerhändler from Neuhaus and Prague, large bombs Zillertal Pectoral cross, donated get.

So, Simon was a dealer, I think, with locations in Neuhaus and Prague.  I'm looking in my HUGE picture file for the original photo of Josef Binder from the Schamers book to see if he's wearing it.  Wouldn't that be cool?

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Ok, I guess our saint had to get his own pectoral cross.  I think the garnet one was/is in Prague, probably under glass.

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25 February--Heinz wrote this morning to say that the pectoral cross Josef Binder was wearing in that photo most likely had Zillertaler garnets, too.  I agree!

THANKS, Heinz!

What does ZILLERTALER mean?

Ich weiß es nicht!

Watching the DVDs Heinz sent and not understanding most of the words is frustrating, but a few of them are used often, so I begin to recognize them.  For instance, "Zillertal" and "Zillertaler". I had to google it...lol

Wikipedia says it's a region of the Alps, drained by the Ziller River--aha!  It's a beautiful area for tourists in the summer and skiiers in the winter.  Here's the official Zillertal website.  Another word Heinz used often is Tyrol, and evidently, the Zillertal area is part of Tyrol, Austria.

Oh...by the way, I was finally able to capture a few still pictures from Heinz' videos--these are from the second one.

Raimond, about to yodel..........................Heinz and Raimond

The incredible view...............................a Binder farm

The chapel and cemetery in Sant Johann.......a village 'Octoberfest', I guess

  One of the click-clack windmills..........and a pasture of Lipizanners!

I did understand the names of these two little girls: Daniela and Michela Binder, and that this little girl was "Maliss":

THANK YOU, Heinz!  Now, I just need to capture some pictures from the first DVD about Schamers and Neuhaus.  (Later...turns out being able to capture these images was a fluke.  I can't get ManyCam to do it again....sorry!)