The arms were granted on May 20, 1955.
The arms are identical to the original arms of the Counts of Bentheim. These counts were very influential and ruled their territory from a mighty castle since the 12th century. In 1606 the county was split in two lines, Bentheim and Steinfurt. The present Counts of Bentheim still use the same arms. The origin of the arms is unknown.The city of Bentheim received the arms in 1661 from Count Ernst Wilhelm of Bentheim. The golden balls are derived from the arms of the County (see the district arms). The monogram is made from the letters E and G, for Ernestus Guilelmus, the Latin version of the name of the count. The use of the arms was abandoned in the early 19th century. In the late 19th century the arms of the city were shown with only 18 balls and no monogram. The old arms were finally restored in 1955.
http://httpd.chello.nl/~g.vbenthem/
http://www.ngw.nl/indexgb.htm |
