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Stormarn County (Germany)

Kreis Stormarn, Schleswig-Holstein

Last modified: 2007-12-29 by jarig bakker
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[Stormarn County flag] image by Jörg Majewski, 13 Dec 2007 See also:

Stormarn County

The Kreis Stormarn / Stormarn County is between the ports of Hamburg and Lübeck. Its area is 766 km2, with c. 221.000 inhabitants. Since 1978 it is divided in 55 municipalities: 6 cities, 5 separate municipalities and 44 municipalities in 5 Ämter*. County-seat: Bad Oldesloe city. Medio 2006 there were 52 municipal arms in use - 47 municipal arms, 4 coats of arms of Ämter and the county arms.
*An "Amt" is a combination of several municipalities into an administrative community.
Source: Stormarn County website.

Stormarn County arms

[Stormarn County CoA] image by Jörg Majewski, 13 Dec 2007

The arms were granted on March 27, 1947, but have been used much longer.
The swan as arms for the county Stormarn first appears in the arms of Prince Johann of Denmark in the end of the 15th century. The county belonged to the Duchy of Holstein, a possession of the Danish Kings. Ever since all rulers over the area used the swan as symbol for Stormarn.
The arms can be considered canting. Stormarn comes from Stürmen and the swan is considered a 'stürmische' (attacking) bird. According to legend the swan was chosen as a symbol by Konrad von Megenberg in 1350, but there is no historical prove of this.
Literature : Stadler, K.: Deutsche Wappen - Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Angelsachsen Verlag, 1964-1971, 8 volumes.
Source: Ralf Hartemink's site.