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Wilhelmsburg borough (Germany)

Stadtteil Wilhelmsburg, Hamburg

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 17 Nov 2007

Wilhelmsburg borough

See also:

Hamburg (Germany)
Germany

Wilhelmsburg borough

City of Wilhelmsburg (today borough of Hamburg)
Description of flag:
The flags ratio is 3:5. It is a blue over white over yellow horizontal tricolour with the coat of arms in its centre.
Description of coat of arms:
The shield is divided per pale. The dexter side shows a blue rampant lion, red tongued, in a golden (=yellow) field surrounded by nine red hearts. The sinister side is quarterly divided. In the first and fourth quarter are white (=silver) fleurs de lys in a blue field, in the other quarters it's the same but in inverted colours. (I believe, that the objects are lilies though they look like strangely knotted handkerchiefs)
Meaning:
The dexter side turns out, that the city belonged to Harburg county. Many cities of nowadays Harburg county have similar lions in their coats of arms. The sinister side probably shows the coat of arms of a local gentry kin, but I don't know any details.
Historical notes:
Wilhelmsburg was an own city next to Harburg city, the former capital of the county with the same name. In 1937 Wilhelmsburg was incorporated into the City of Hamburg, together with Harburg, Wandsbek, Altona and smaller municipalities around Hamburg. But Hamburg ceded e.g. Geesthacht and Großhansdorf to Prussia. All in all Hamburg was the "winner" by implementing the "Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz").
Since then this flag was abolished, but some locals are still using it today.
Source: I spotted this flag on 28 October 2007 in front of the "Wilhelmsburger Hof"-inn.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 17 Nov 2007

See following page (in German) by Dr. H. H. Kohlhaus, describing the various arms of Wilhelmsburg: The fleurs-de-lys appear on the arms of Eleonore [Desmier] d'Olbreuse (a family from Poitou, France), wife of the Duke of Brunswick [-Zelle], founder of Harburg.

See the couple on this page, second picture (combined arms).
Desmier arms, top of page.
Regarding the town colours (as they appear in the flag) Dr. Kohlhaus says that the red (derived from the hearts) is lacking.
Jan Mertens, 18 Nov 2007