Saint Florian

Saint Florian (Latin: Florianus) (died ca. 304) is a Christian saint, and the patron saint of Poland, Linz, Austria, chimney sweeps and firefighters. His feast day is May 4. St. Florian is also the patron of Upper Austria, jointly with Saint Leopold.

Life
Florian lived in the time of the Roman emperors Diocletian and Maximian, and was commander of the imperial army in eastern Bavaria, Germany. In addition to his military duties, he was also responsible for organizing firefighting brigades. The Roman regime sought to eradicate Christianity, and sent Aquilinus to persecute Christians. When Aquilinus ordered Florian to offer sacrifice to the pagan Roman gods in accordance with Roman religion, he refused, and cheerfully accepted the beatings of the soldiers, who used clubs, spikes and fire to torture him. He was executed by drowning in the Enns River with a stone tied around his neck. Later a woman named Valeria had a vision in which she saw him; Florian, in this vision, declared his intent to be buried in a more appropriate location.

Saint Florian (b. 700) is reputed to have saved Nurnberg, Germany from burning in a great fire in the 8th century. It is not clear if he used the beer or the stored water from a brewery to extinguish the fire. Fires often happened at night, when people made fires for warmth. A nearby brewery would have been an obvious source of liquids, both water and beer, since water would have been drawn to settle out for the next day's brewing.

Veneration
Saint Florian was widely venerated in Central Europe. The Austrian town of Sankt Florian is named after him. According to legend, his body was interred at St. Florian's Priory, around which the town grew up.

Pope Lucius III, in 1184, is reported to have given some of the saint's relics to Casimir II of Poland and to the Bishop of Kraków. Kraków thus claims some of his relics.

The Austrian Floriani Principle is named after a prayer to Saint Florian: "O heiliger St. Florian verschon mein Haus, zünd andre an", translating to "O holy Saint Florian, spare my house, kindle others".

A statue of Florian by Josef Josephu was unveiled in Vienna in 1935. It stood at the main firehouse of Vienna, in the city's main square, Am Hof. After the firehouse was bombed in 1945 during World War II the statue was moved to the Fire Brigade Museum (Wiener Feuerwehrmuseum).

Symbol
The cross of St. Florian is widely used by fire services to form their emblem.