Merkstein
MERKSTEIN
State : Nordrhein-Westfalen
District (Kreis) : Aachen
Incorporated into : 1972 Herzogenrath
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Origin/meaning
The arms were adopted in 1936 and show a border stone, which is a canting element. The arms are based on an actual stone in the village, dating from Prussian times, the name of the village, however, is much older.
The horsehead is a symbol of the horse breeding in the municipality. The meaning of the star is not very clear, it has been mentioned that the star was simply a symbol to fill the shield, but that has been rejected by other sources. The explanation is that the star refers to the Nordstern (North-star) mine in the municipality. As the mine was a bulwark of Socialism at the time, it was not politically correct to mention the name of the mine in 1936/7 and instead describe the star is 'filling'.
Literature: Image provided by the Aachen council; background by Rüdiger Vermöhlen