Strange Symbolic Sign

June 1, 2015 8:13 AM

I took this picture of a sign/window over a building doorway in Goettingen , Germany. Does anyone know what it's supposed to represent or what the symbols stand for? Is it Hebrew?
posted by Xurando to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

It's a stylized tetragrammaton, the four-letter Hebrew name of God.
posted by theodolite at 8:17 AM on June 1, 2015 [5 favorites]

The design is based on the Eye of Providence, but the eye itself is replaced with the tetragrammaton.
posted by griphus at 8:19 AM on June 1, 2015

Response by poster: What sort of building would this sign be used in?
posted by Xurando at 8:24 AM on June 1, 2015

Various denominations of xtian church art/windows/etc, for one. Or masonic halls.
posted by poffin boffin at 8:32 AM on June 1, 2015

There's no real standardized use for it: it could be a church, or a society of some sort, or part of a family crest, or just a warding or luck symbol.

Also a couple of examples from churches: St. Charles in Austria and 5th Chapel at Versailles.
posted by griphus at 8:35 AM on June 1, 2015

A Masonic temple is a good bet. I'm not sure about Germany, but in the U.S. the tetragrammaton would be more specifically associated with the Royal Arch degrees of the York Rite, and I believe some of the Scottish Rite degrees as well.
posted by usonian at 8:50 AM on June 1, 2015