Gelnhausen

GELNHAUSEN

State : Hessen
District (Kreis) : Main-Kinzig Kreis (until 1974 Gelnhausen)
Additions : 1970 Haitz, Roth; 1971 Hailer; 1974 Höchst, Meerholz

Official blazon

German	blazon wanted
English	blazon wanted

Origin/meaning

Gelnhausen was in early medieval times a free imperial city. The oldest known seal of the city, dating from 1248, thus shows the imperial eagle in a city gate. On the gate stand the Emperor and his wife. The imperial eagle appears on all later seals, sometimes under a gate, sometimes alone. In the 16^th century the small breastshield appears. The small shield is the original arms of the city, which probably dates from the 15^th century.

In the 18th and 19^th century the arms of the city were shown in many variations; an eagle with a shield (both single- and double-headed eagles were used), the eagle without a shield, or the shield with the bar without eagle. The present arms were officially adopted in 1964 and are based on the 16^th century images.

The arms in a 16th century manuscript	The arms in a 17th century manuscript
The municipal stamp shown in 1892	The arms in an 1884 book
Seal from around 1900	The arms by Hupp in the Kaffee Hag albums +/- 1925

Literature: Stadler, 1964-1971, 8 volumes.

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