Uelsen

Worth knowing

• Districts: Uelsen, Bauerhausen, Lemke, Höcklenkamp, Waterfall
  
• Area: 19.46 square kilometers
• Population (as of January 2025): 5,866
  

Coat of arms of the municipality of Uelsen

Colors of the coat of arms: - silver (white) shield (background) - crown and lateral accessories; gold (yellow) - holly leaves; green By Willy Friedrich: According to the late local historian Dr. Scheurmann (see yearbook of the local history association 1963, p. 80), the coat of arms of Uelsen is at least 300 years old. It has remained unchanged to this day and is used in the official seal of the municipality. It is also displayed in the old town hall, above the entrance. Dr. Scheurmann opposes the general view that the three holly leaves depicted in the coat of arms, known in Low German as "Hülskrabben", have something to do with the name of the municipality "Uelsen". Such an interpretation, he says, does not stand up to detailed scientific investigation, especially as the name "Uelsen" already existed when the coat of arms did not yet exist. Dr. Scheurmann places the coat of arms in a close relationship to the globetrotter Johann Nyhoff (or Nieuhoff) from Uelsen. He took part in several expeditions of the "Dutch East and West India Company" in the mid-17th century and did not return from such a voyage, which was dangerous at the time. Dr. Scheurmann discovered the symbols of the municipal coat of arms on a portrait of this globetrotter. He assumes that Johann Nieuhoff's brother, Hendrik Nieuhoff, worked on the coat of arms. According to Dr. Scheurmann, the three holly leaves heraldically mean: perseverance, endurance, steadfastness; qualities that once particularly distinguished the bold seafarer and which the coat of arms researcher Dr. Scheurmann also transfers to the inhabitants of the municipality of Uelsen. From this perspective, the municipal coat of arms would therefore be a parallel to the Nieuhoff family coat of arms. It was created at the time when Count Ernst Wilhelm granted the Bentheim district an "insignia" (Anno 1661) and authorized the use of the Piccardie coat of arms. In those years, the count donated a silver communion plate (paten) to the reformed church in Uelsen, with a large count's coat of arms, on which the floating crown, which is also characteristic of the Uelsen municipal coat of arms, can be found.