Satanists in our midst?!

January 25, 2009 1:59 AM

What is the meaning (if any) of these strange markings I saw on this door in the Steingasse in Salzburg yesterday? Is it bored teenagers? A weird Christmas thing? My google-fu is failing me here and I'm burning up with curiosity.
posted by dunkadunc to Grab Bag (8 answers total)

I'm not sure about satanists. I'd be more inclined to believe that it is hobo code, especially if the door is very old, as you suggest. You can look up some information on hobo code on Google, but I imagine there was a great deal of variety from one region to the next, so it would be very difficult to track down the exact meanings of the symbols.

My second guess is warchalking, which may also have some local differences.
posted by giggleknickers at 2:37 AM on January 25, 2009

This guy, whoever he is, says it's a hobo/beggar code.
posted by Science! at 3:14 AM on January 25, 2009

Was the door #19? If so it seems the carvings are pretty old, and the meanings are unclear.
posted by Science! at 3:26 AM on January 25, 2009

Response by poster: It is door #19!
Whatever its meaning, it's carved pretty deep into the door and looks old, so that's probably going to rule out warchalking.
posted by dunkadunc at 4:07 AM on January 25, 2009

Best answer: To me it looks like an old merchant's mark. Designed by the middle class, who couldn't use heraldry, and serving pretty much the same purposes as trademarks in our time.
posted by reynaert at 4:35 AM on January 25, 2009

I've seen similar marks carved into oak beams here in the UK, sometimes called 'witch marks'. Here are some found in the attic of Kew Palace
posted by SciencePunk at 1:03 PM on January 25, 2009

Best answer: Supporting the medieval merchant's mark idea - but it seems to me that it's really three superimposed marks which have probably accumulated over time when the property changed hands but the solid oak door was kept in place. One is based on a circular design while the other two are variations on the human stick figure theme.
posted by Wilder at 10:07 AM on January 26, 2009

Response by poster: reynaert has it: It's a merchant's mark. Other houses down the street have similar (but simpler) marks in the marble over the door along with names and so on.
posted by dunkadunc at 12:24 AM on February 25, 2009