Rhön-Grabfeld County (Unterfranken District, Bavaria, Germany)

Landkreis Rhön-Grabfeld

Last modified: 2012-03-31 by german editorial team
Keywords: landkreis rhön-grabfeld | rhön-grabfeld county | coat of arms: chief (crown: yellow) | coat of arms (fess: white) | coat of arms (fess: wavy) | coat of arms: base (crosses: white) | coat of arms: base ( |
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by Stefan Schwoon Flag adopted 17 August 1976

• Description

See also:

• Bad Neustadt County until 1972 (Landkreis Bad Neustadt)
• Unterfranken District (Bezirk Unterfranken, Lower Franconia)
• County Flags (Bavaria / Bayern, Germany)
• Bavaria (Bayern, Germany)
• Germany

Other sites:

• Das Wappen des Landkreises (The Coat-of-Arms of the County, German text only) at the county website

Red-white-green stripes, adopted 17.08.1976. The seat of the county is Bad Neustadt an der Saale. Bad Neustadt county merged with Mellrichstadt and Königshofen counties into the new county Rhön-Grabfeld in the 1972 municipal reform. Sources: Linder and Schmidt 2000, arms image from Linder and Olzog 1996.

Stefan Schwoon, 14 August and 8 October 2001

Quite a gloomy arms, Grabfeld meaning graveyard...

Santiago Dotor, 9 October 2001

Actually, the three crosses on a hill symbolise the Kreuzberg (cross mountain), a landmark and pilgrimage centre in the Rhön mountains. The Grabfeld area is represented by the crown. Source: International Civic Arms website and the county website. Unfortunately, I was unable to find out the origin of the name Grabfeld. Personally, I agree the association of the cross with graves is obvious — I would not be surprised if that aspect played a part at least unofficially when the arms were designed, but that is pure speculation.

Stefan Schwoon, 9 October 2001

From Ralf Hartemink's International Civic Arms website:

The arms show in the upper part a crown, which symbolises the former Royal estate in Königshofen in Grabfeld as well as the Imperial estate near Neustadt an der Saale.

The wavy fess symbolises the many rivers in the district, especially the Saale. The fess also symbolises the two parts of the county, the Rhön and the Grabfeld areas.

The crosses in the lower half represent the Kreuzberg, one of the major landmarks in the Rhön area.

The red and white are the colours of Franconia, whereas the green symbolises the many forests in the county.

Literature: Linder and Olzog 1996.

Santiago Dotor, 27 January 2004