Franz-Sales-Wocheler Denkmal

The Franz-Sales-Wocheler Denkmal is a historic monument in Überlingen, near the Münster, the city’s main church. Its stone inscription reads sei imer frohen muthes.

The word imer carries a tilde above its m, standing in for the second m where the inscription had too little space. This small mark gives the lettering its defining detail. The phrase expresses a wish to remain cheerful, linking a compact piece of typography with the monument’s commemorative purpose. Überlingen places the monument within its historic public landscape.

The inscription has also entered local artistic attention through a project documenting letters, numbers, and signs across the city. The same project recorded thirty-six places across Überlingen. Its unusual spelling makes a familiar phrase visible as a physical decision in stone, not merely as written language. The tilde connects lettering, material, and local memory. This Überlingen monument rewards attention to small marks, from a missing letter to a wave-shaped sign.