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Winnenden is a city of about30,000 people, situated in thefederal state of Baden-Würt-temberg in southwest Germany. a memorial in front of theWinnental Palace is probablyunique: the stone sculpturecommemorates the Pug owned byKarl alexander (1684-1737), Dukeof Württemberg-Winnental from1698 to 1737. the Mopsendenkmal(Pug memorial) shows Fortunatis,born in 1713, whose name means“fortunate one.” the epitaph on themonument tells the story of For-tunatis’s unbelievable adventure.

The Story Behind the Memorial Born in the city of stuttgart,Karl alexander spent hischildhood with his siblings inCastle Winnental in Winnenden.a born soldier; he fought in theWar of the spanish succession(1701-14) and served as fieldmarshall in the service of theaustrian emperor Charles Vi of Habsburg (1685-1740).Karl and Charles had the same goal: to chase the turksout of europe.

Karl took part in campaigns indifferent parts of europe; forexample, his army liberated largeparts of the Balkans from theturkish supremacy. in 1717, whenhe left his castle in Winnenden forthe final battle against the turksin Belgrade, he decided to bringhis favorite dog Fortunatis – the“court Pug” – with him. onaugust 17, 1717, the Duke andFortunatis were present at theconquest of the city but, in theheat of battle the duke and hisdog were separated. While Karlalexander celebrated the victoryin the company of fellowgenerals, Fortunatis wanderedaround searching for his master.Karl alexander assumed thatFortunatis had died. after all, abattlefield is not a safe place for asmall dog.

But the Pug survived; in ajourney of 11 days, Fortunatisallegedly walked back to

Winnenden, a distance of about 745 miles (1,200 km). the duke’s staff immediately recognized the dog andcelebrated his safe return to Winnenden with delicious

HistoRy

by Ria HöRteR

The monument is now a tourist attraction and local shopkeepers havetaken advantage of the small brave dog that made their city famous.

They are frozen in time and sometimes deceptively real. Perpetuated in stone or bronze,looking over water, streets, parks or squares, dog statues can be found all over the world.

The Pug Memorial in Winnendenwith Fortunatis’s portrait.

Dog StatuesPug Memorial in Winnenden, Germany

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treats made by the cook, and everyservant coddled him. Fortunatis’slong life is proof that he had a goodlife after his adventure. in 1733 at 20years old, Fortunatis died withoutseeing its master again, and wasburied in the garden of the castle.

A Little Too Late Meanwhile, in 1727, KarlAlexander married Marie-Augustevon Thurn und Taxis; five sons anda daughter were born between 1728and 1734. After the battle against the Turks,the Duke did not return toWinnenden but went to stuttgart,the city where he was born. in 1719,he was appointed imperial gover-nor of Belgrade. in 1733, Karl Alexander took overthe government of the duchy andmoved to Winnenden. His servantstold him that Fortunatis had not died in Belgrade but hadwalked home, lived another 16 years and was buried in thecastle’s garden. The Duke had arrived a little too late to seeFortunatis alive. Karl Alexander was takenaback when told the story.As an expression of his joyand gratitude, the dukeerected a memorial ca. 1733for the brave Fortunatis. The monument is now a tourist attraction and localshopkeepers have taken advantage of the small brave dogthat made their city famous. Konrad Häußer’s wine shopproduces “Pug wine” – Pug Red Wine Cuvée, QualityWine Kabinett and Pug sekt, a German champagne. The

bottles have labels with depictionsof a Pug and the memorial. ulli’sConfiserie produces and sells soft-centred chocolates under thename Winnender Möpsle. Thestory of the faithful Pug isincluded in every box. Anotherlocal delicacy is coffee –Winnender Möpsle Kaffee.

Pug Insanityin 2006, Martin J.J. Kirstein was

commissioned by the Winnendermunicipality to organize a Pugparade. it included about 40synthetic, decorated Pugs, andseveral shops displayed Pug signs.Kirstein also made a Pug calendar– epitaph for a Pug – on which hetold the story of Fortunatis. An18th-century Pug had become amascot and promotional object.

in May 2017, Winnenden cele-brated the 300th anniversary of the Winnender Wonnetag(Winnender Day of Delight) with festivities mounted on alarge scale – for example, Pug races at the Viehmarkt (cattlemarket), and cyclists riding from Belgrade to Winnenden to

be welcomed by the mayor.Karl Alexander, the castle

and the Pug existed, butthere is still no proof thatFortunatis walked fromBelgrade to Winnenden.

unfortunately, i could not find the name of the artistwho created the memorial.

The Breed The Pug is of Chinese origin. About 3,000 years ago, theprofession of chancien (dog keeper) existed in China as anofficial function. The chancien was possibly the earliest formof dog judge; part of their work was “judging the qualityand character of a certain dog.” Their notes were kept inthe Book of Rites; only some of these books have been saved.in a note from AD 732, there is some talk of a Ssuchuan pai,pai meaning a very small dog, low on leg with a short nose.About 990, the emperor T’ai-Tsung was presented withsuch a dog. How and when the Pug was introduced toeurope remains a question without a clear answer. After the 16th century, the Pug spread quickly overeurope and became popular with royalty, such as theHouse of orange in The Netherlands and the House ofstuart in Great Britain. During the 19th century, england, France and TheNetherlands played important roles in the development ofthe modern Pug. in england the breed is called Pug, in

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Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg-Winnental(1684-1737), the owner of Fortunatis.

Portrait by August Querfurt between 1733 and 1737

Another Pug statue, erected in 2012 in the city of Stuttgart.

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France Carlin and in The Netherlands Mopshond (almost thesame as Germany’s Mopshund). An official breed standard was written in england in the1870s; the Pug Dog Club, which still exists(pugdogclub.org.uk), was founded in 1882-83. earcropping was made illegal in 1895. Pugs were imported to the united states during the 19thcentury and soon made their way into the show ring andfamily home. The AKC recognized the breed in 1885;Champion George (No. 3286) was the first AKC-registeredPug. The Pug Dog Club of America was founded in 1931 andrecognized by the American Kennel Club that same year.

More Pugs in 2012, a Pug statue was erected in thecity of stuttgart for Loriot (1923-2011), ahumorist who was born in this town andbecame known all over Germany for his loveof the breed. every year in the city of Wernau, not farfrom Winnenden, about 200 dogs participatein the 55-yard (50-meter) southern GermanyPug and Bulldog Race. Looking back at royal Pugs, Pompey, whobelonged to Prince William of orange (1533-84) saved his master’s life by barking whensomebody tried to kill the prince. When Dutch King William iii of orange(1650-1702) invaded england in 1688, hisentourage included a large number of Pugswearing orange bows to emphasize their royalstanding. William and his wife, Mary, werecrowned joint sovereigns of england, scotlandand ireland in April 1689. empress Josephine de Beauharnais’ Pug,Fortuné, did not accept the emperor Napoleonin Josephine’s bed on their wedding night. she

bit Napoleon on his leg.Queen Victoria fancied a lot of

dog breeds but the Pug was afavorite, a passion that shepassed on to other members ofthe British Royal Family, such asher great-grandson edward Viii.

Victoria bred her own Pugs –Pedor, Fatima, olga, Bosco,

Minka and Venus were some of her homebred dogs. in the1850s, they lived in the kennels at Windsor Castle. TheRoyal Trust Collection website – royalcollection.org.uk –has photographs, and lists books about dogs belonging tomembers of the Royal Family

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PUG INSANITYHighlighted in 2006, when the Winnender Pug parade took place. The 300th anniversary of Fortunatis’s return

to Winnenden was celebrated in 2017.

Members of the Castle Dancers posed in front of Fortunatis’s monument.

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edward Viii and American socialite Wallis simpsonpiled into bed every night with their six or more pugs(Disraeli, Davey Crockett, Black Diamond, imp, Trooperand Ginseng). Their dogs ate their meals on silver dishesand were perfumed with Miss Dior, the Duchess’sfavorite fragrance. in 1955, the Duchess exhibited the three-year-oldGoldengleam Trooper in a dog show at White Plains, N.y.in November of the following year, Trooper and hiscompanion, Davey Crockett, won first and second prizeat the international Dog show in Paris. JohnMontgomery’s Royal Dogs(1962) states:

“And three years later theWindsors were winning a firstprize at Deauville – the Cruft’s ofFrance – with their Pug Impy,whose full aristocratic name wasPugville’s Imperial II. At this showthe Duchess sat in an old stablestall to groom the small butimpeccable dog before she judgedhim fit to enter the contest. TheDuke looked on, immaculate inblue bow tie, grey suit, and white-topped brogues, obviously enjoyinghimself.”

Those were the days…

A retired bookseller and publisher, Ria Hörter is a dogwriter from The Netherlands. She is the contributing editorof the leading Dutch National Dog Magazine Onze Hond(Our Dogs) and works for the Welsh Springer Spaniel Clubof the Netherlands of which she was one of the founders.She served the club for 34 years, as secretary and chairmanand is a Honorary Life Member of this breed club. She wasnominated twice, and a finalist in the 2009 Annual WritingCompetition of the Dog Writers Association of America,for her articles in Dogs in Canada. On April 12, 2014 she was awarded the Dutch Cynology

Gold Emblem of Honour. Theaward was presented by theDutch Kennel Club.

For more information visit:riahorter.com

Attempts were made to find the namesof the photographers of images used inthis article. Unfortunately, we did notalways succeed. Please send a message tothe author (riahorter.com) if you think youare the owner of a copyright.

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An example of the modern Pug found in homes today.(photographer unknown)

Without any doubt the best-known royal owners of Pugswere the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, a.k.a. Wallis

Simpson (1896-1986) and Edward VIII (1894-1972), whowas King of Great Britain from January 20, 1936, until

his abdication on December 11 the same year.

A Favourite Bitch by H.B. Chalon - 1802

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