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The little crown is the symbol of the Westphalian town of Siegen. The sculpture, which is several meters high, is an artistic forging made of gold-plated iron. It represents an oversized crown with a wind arrow and wind rose. Since 1658, the year it was donated, the original crown has stood at the top of the spire of the Protestant Church of St. Nicholas in Siegen. In 1993, it was replaced by a replica made of gilded stainless steel for conservation reasons.
The little crown is a gift from Prince Johann Moritz zu Nassau-Siegen to the town of Siegen and its citizens. The occasion for the gift was Johann Moritz’s elevation to the rank of prince in 1652. The prince had the sculpture made at his own expense by the three blacksmiths Gerlach Burchmann, Jakob Schleifenbaum and Johannes Pickardt in the hammer in front of the Hardt in Weidenau.
The Prince had already established the symbol of the crown as his monogram before his ascent to the position of Dutch Governor General. With the conquest of further parts of the Brazilian provinces, the new governor-general also initiated the design of new coats of arms for the various provinces of the colony. The coats of arms all referred to the flora, fauna and economic attributes of the controlled provinces. The crown could be seen on all coats of arms and emphasized the claims of ownership over inhabitants and land.[2]
In the summer of 1829, the slater Prinz from Siegen and his three journeymen Steffe, Römer and Vogel attached a new arrow to the crown. In 1889, the so-called basket, which supports the crown, was enlarged and the Siegen company Friedrich Hinderthür installed a lightning protection system. During this work, as well as during further gilding work in May 1955 with 24-carat gold leaf, historical documents were deposited in a capsule.
As the crown had suffered from the effects of the weather, it was to be cleaned and regilded in 1992. It turned out that the crown needed to be replaced to protect it from further damage. The Siegen-based metalworking company Sarges produced a replica made of gold-plated stainless steel. Before the original could be removed from the tower, an autumn storm in November of that year knocked over parts of the scaffolding erected on the tower for the work on the crown. The seven-metre-high mast of the coronet was snapped off and the tower ball made of sheet copper, which served as the base for the sculpture, was destroyed. The stainless steel replica was placed on the tower in March 1993. The original from the 17th century has been hanging in the portal area in the church tower ever since. Parts of the copper sphere destroyed in 1992 and part of the broken mast of the coronet are also on display there.
Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kr%C3%B6nchen translate by www.deepl.com