Last modified: 2012-03-31 by german editorial team
Keywords: berlin | bezirk spandau | stadtbezirk spandau | spandau district | coat of arms: city (red) | coat of arms: helmet | coat of arms: inescutcheon (eagle) | coat of arms: base (wavy) | crown: mural (red) |
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3:5 | stripes 1+3+1
by Jens Pattke, coat-of-arms by Gunnar Staack
Flag and coat-of-arms adopted 4th February 1957
The flag and the coat-of-arms of the district of Spandau were officially adopted on 4th February 1957. Ratio 3:5. Source: vectorial coat-of-arms image by Gunnar Staack. The territory of Spandau did not change in the Berlin district reform of January 2001, thus the flag and coat-of-arms are still valid.
Jens Pattke, 15 February 2001
The Spandau district flag is flown constantly since 1997 from the district hall building, a breach of the law.
Jens Pattke, 18 February 2001
From Ralf Hartemink's International Civic Arms website:
The arms were for the last time granted on February 4th, 1957, but are much older. The arms are based on the oldest seal of the city that dates from the last part of the 13th century. The arms show a city with in front of the gate the arms of the Counts of Brandenburg. In the base of the shield the Spree and Havel rivers that combine around Spandau are seen. The present arms show the crest of the Brandenburger Counts used since 1306. The linden leaves on the black wings were added to the crest by the Counts of Brandenburg after the acquisition of Bohemia and are taken from the Kings of Bohemia.
In 1860 the arms were granted to the city in the wrong colours; the wing was granted in red instead of black with the linden leaves. Even though Spandau is now part of Berlin, the arms were restored in 1957.
All seals of the city show the same composition, although the shape and size of the different elements (castle, helmet, crest) differ widely between the different images.
Literature: Stadler 1964-1971 and O. Hupp, Königreich Preußen. Wappen der Städte, Flecken und Dörfer, Reprint von 1896 und 1898, Kulturstiftung der deutschen Vertriebenen, Bonn, 1993.
Santiago Dotor, 4 December 2001
Spandau is a part of former West Berlin, located on the river Spree. Leading Nazis convicted on charges of war crimes during the 1946 Nuremberg trial were jailed in the Spandau fortress. The last one surviving, Rudolf Hess, died in 1987.
Ivan Sache, 12 June 2002