Chickens that made History

Chickens have played an important role in many big and less renowned historical happenings. Their doings have been translated as omens, their blood was and still is used in rites of all kinds. They are very interesting creatures indeed.

Although they play a role, the bottom line is that in the end, the fowl usually snuffs it…

So that is why today I will share a less macabre chicken chronicle with you.

My wife was born and raised in a small village north of Salzburg in Austria.

Around the year 1520 this village was divided by a stream and the nearest bridge was in Salzburg, way off in those days. Since there was only one church,this formed a big problem on Sundays, for half the people of the village had to take the long way round to get to church.

This problem was addressed to the big man lord-master of the time, the archbishop of Salzburg.
To solve the problem he had two options:
The first was to build another church and install another deacon to run the show.

The second option was to build a bridge.

The poor archbishop was between a rock and a hard place. This was a time in which bridges and churches were valuable real estate. He went for the bridge option and unite his flock in one church (this was probably the cheaper option too).

When the bridge was finished a new quarrel arose about the new name of the united village. The archbishop, the modest man he was, wanted to have the village named after him. So during the opening ceremony of the new bridge he had the announcement made that the first who was to cross the new bridge was the one the village was to be named after.

Now guess what happened:  Just before the bishop wanted to cross on his high horse, a runaway chicken cut him off and went first.
Since that day the village is named Henndorf.