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Osnabrück County (Germany)

Landkreis Osnabrück, Lower Saxony

3:5 image by Stefan Schwoon, 2 Feb 2001
Flag adopted 11th Jul 1994

Osnabrück County

See also:

County and Municipal Flags (Lower Saxony / Niedersachsen)
Osnabrück cities and municipalities
County-Free City of Osnabrück (kreisfreie Stadt Osnabrück)
Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen)
Germany

Osnabrück County

Red-yellow-blue flag, bearing the arms. I cannot find my notes on this flag, but it was mentioned in a note somewhere in DGF Nachrichten. Adopted 11 July 1994, according to Dirk Schönberger's Administrative Divisions of the World website. Arms (from Stadler 1964-1971) based on the image at Ralf Hartemink's International Civic Arms website.
Stefan Schwoon, 2 Feb 2001

From Ralf Hartemink's International Civic Arms website: The arms were adopted on July 17, 1947. The arms show the Benno Tower [Bennoturm] in Iburg. The tower was built in 1068 by Bishop Benno II of Osnabrück as one of his residences. The tower also was part of a Benedictine monastery and was of major strategic importance until 1673. In 1673 the bishops moved to their new palace in Osnabrück city and the tower lost its importance. The monastery was abandoned in 1803. The wheel is the wheel of the city of Osnabrück.
Literature: Stadler 1964-1971.
Santiago Dotor, 24 Oct 2001

The Kreis Osnabrück is historically identical with the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück, which in 1803 was annexed by Hanover. If you want to read more about the Prince-Bishopric, read these webpages about the 1648-1728 and 1728-1803 periods.
Alexander Ganse, 5 Nov 2001