Grafschaft Bentheim County (Germany)

Landkreis Grafschaft Bentheim, Lower Saxony

Last modified: 2017-09-02 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: grafschaft bentheim | bentheim pennies | balls(yellow) |
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• Grafschaft Bentheim County
• Grafschaft Bentheim flag
• Grafschaft Bentheim Coat of Arms

• Grafschaft Bentheim cities and municipalities
• Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen)
• Germany

Grafschaft Bentheim County

county seat: Nordhorn
area: 980.75 qkm
population: 134,840
Jörg Majewski, 22 Dec 2007

Grafschaft Bentheim Flag

It is a red over yellow horizontal bicolour with centred arms.
Source: this online catalogue
Jörg Majewski, 22 Dec 2007

Shield Gules, 17 balls Or and two half balls Or, ordered in six rows.
Meaning:
The arms are identical to the original arms of the Counts of Bentheim. The balls, which had been metal fittings of a shield, are called "Bentheim Pennies" by the local people.The flag colours are a repetition of the colours in the arms. The counts had great influence and ruled their territory from a mighty castle since the 12th century. In 1606 the county was split in two lines, Bentheim and Steinfurt. The present Counts of Bentheim still use the same arms. The origin of the arms is unknown. The arms are also used in the arms of the towns of Bad Bentheim, Neuenhaus, Nordhorn and the Dutch towns of De Wijk (now in Meppel) and Geldermalsen.
The arms were approved on 20 May 1955 by Minister of Interior of Lower Saxony.
Source: Stadler 1964, p.40
Jörg Majewski, 22 Dec 2007

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