Gräfrath

From Heraldry of the World
Jump to navigation Jump to search

GRÄFRATH

State : Nordrhein-Westfalen
District (Kreis) : Solingen
Incorporated inito : 1929 Solingen

Wappen von Gräfrath/Arms (crest) of Gräfrath
Official blazon
German blazon wanted
English blazon wanted

Origin/meaning

The arms were granted on October 30, 1907.

The arms show a monastery with in the gate a broken wheel. The base of the arms shows a green hill.

The local council applied in 1906 to adopt arms, based on the oldest known seal of the city, dating from 1483. The seal shows St. John Baptist. The first attempts were based on this seal. As the arms were supposed for a town, the use of a saint was considered not appropriate. Hence the use of a wheel, symbol for industry. The wheel was often used on old houses in the city. However, this is historically the symbol of St. Catherine and not a symbol for industry. By the change the local council still adopted a religious symbol ! The monastery is the historically important local abbey. In one of the original designs there was also the lion of the Counts of Berg on the tower, but this was removed in the final design.

Seal of Gräfrath

Seal from around 1900





This page is part of the
Germany.jpg
German heraldry portal


Logo-new.jpg
Heraldry of the World

German heraldry:

Selected collector's items from Germany:



Contact and Support

Partners:

Your logo here ?
Contact us



© since 1995, Heraldry of the World, Ralf Hartemink Ralf Hartemink arms.jpg
Index of the site

Literature: Background : Joachim Beeck, Meerbusch; Image from Jürgen Krause, Essen.