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From: Ron
Remote Name: 68.231.53.22
Date: 03/11/2012
Time: 09:07:05 PM
S Dudley, The mark on your stein is no doubt the Mercury Mark, depicting the god Mercury wearing a helmet with wings. It is not an eagle. The 05 below and to the right is the year it was made, 1905. The Roman numeral II indicates the sixe of the stein, 0,5 L. See the article The Essential Mettlach Marks in the Reading Room/Library. The following information is from The Beer Stein Library: “Braun ist meine Maid, Schäumt über jederzeit.” (Brown is my sweetheart, it foams over all the time.) The hexagram decoration (below), often mistaken to be the Jewish Star of David, is actually a German brewing symbol seen frequently on beer steins through the early 20th century. The “§11” in its center makes reference to the Bier-Comment (beer code) of Heidelberg University, which begins with paragraph 11. Paragraphs 1 through 10 are left blank and are generally presumed to be the Biblical ten commandments. Paragraph 11 of the Heidelberg code reads “Es wird fortgesoffen,” which is often (if loosely) translated as “Keep on drinking.” Ron