The old coat of arms of the city of Gelsenkirchen


A coat of arms says more than a thousand words
Gelsenkirchen has wings. Since the railway station and the Hibernia Colliery were opened, things have only been going uphill. What was once a sleepy farming village with a church and market square is now attracting more and more people. In 1875, Gelsenkirchen was so big that it was granted city rights. But a proper town also needs a proper town hall. The construction for it concluded in 1894. The people of Gelsenkirchen were very pleased: it reflected the prosperity and importance of the city. The architect had deliberately sought inspiration from municipal buildings in time-honoured medieval towns. The main entrance is adorned with the town's coat of arms. In its centre is a shield with a church inside. It refers to the town's past as a parish. In the archway of the church, a hammer and mallet indicate what made the transformation into a town possible in the first place. The shield is held by miners and foundrymen, as they are the backbone of the town.
At the beginning of the 1930s, the Hans-Sachs-Haus became the new town hall. The police moved into the old town hall on Machensplatz. The police were also housed here after the Second World War. The building had survived the bombing to some extent. At the beginning of the 1970s, however, Gelsenkirchen's city centre was to be restructured. The old town hall was completely demolished. The Hamburg-Mannheimer tower block was built in its place in 1973. Only the coat of arms - which had not been valid since 1928 - was saved and attached to the new building. In 1998, it was moved once again and attached to the façade of the Gertrud-Bäumer-Realschule. It still hangs there today and shows what once made this town great.