Gräfrath

This page is part of the German heraldry portal Deutsche Wappensammlung	Heraldry of the World
German heraldry: National arms Arms of States Arms of historical territories and states Districts (Kreiswappen) Cities and municipalities German Colonies Ecclesiastical heraldry Military heraldry Corporate heraldry Studentika Other civic heraldry Total pages in the German section : 61,373 Of which images : 41,286	Selected collector's items from Germany: Heraldic postcards Heraldic stamps Heraldic albums Kaffee Hag albums Wappen-Sammlung Heraldic trade cards Arms, Flags and Types of Nations Heraldic coasters Heraldic cigar bands Heraldic artists Otto Hupp Münchener Kalender German heraldic literature

GRÄFRATH

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

Official blazon

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.