The largest heraldry site on the net, with presently coats of arms on-line !

Deutsche Wappen (Gemeindewappen/Kreiswappen) German Civic Heraldry

GREIFSWALD

State : Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Urban Disctrict (Stadtkreis) : Hansestadt Greifswald

Origin/meaning:
The arms are canting, a griffin (Greif) and a tree (Wald=forest). These symbols already appear on the oldest known seal of Greifswald, dating from before 1255. The basic image never changed since. The tree, or sometimes trees, changed regularly however, each seal and most older pictures showing different types and number of branches. Only some, small, seals only show the griffin. The griffin is also the arms of the province of Pommern, and probably derived therefrom.

Only in one reference from the 18^th century, larger and different arms are mentioned. The arms showed only a griffin, no tree, on the shield itself. On top of the helmet a griffin. On both side of the main shield, and covered by the cloth, are two smaller shields, one a bend sinister, on the other a stretcher. In a book from 1755 it is stated that the stretcher is the original arms of the city, which thus have evolved separately from the tree and griffin on the seals. As no old images of the arms are known, this is not a very likely explanation.

Literature : Hupp, 1896 and 1989, reprint, 1993. Information provided by the Greifswald Council.

Sitemap © Ralf Hartemink 1996, ->

See also my other sites Food-Info.net and Food Dictionary