Sankt Wendel (district)

Sankt Wendel is a Kreis (district) in the north of the Saarland, Germany. Neighboring districts are Trier-Saarburg, Birkenfeld, Kusel, Neunkirchen, Saarlouis, and Merzig-Wadern.

Sankt Wendel
District
CountryGermany
StateSaarland
CapitalSankt Wendel
Area
 • Total476.09 km2 (183.82 sq mi)
Population
 (31 December 2018)[1]
 • Total87,397
 • Density180/km2 (480/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Vehicle registrationWND (since 1957)
OE 8/ OE 18/ OE 28 (1949–1956); SA 08 (1945–1949)
Websitelandkreis-st-wendel.de

History

The district was created in 1834 when Prussia bought the Lichtenberg area from Saxony-Coburg.[2] After the World War I, the Saar area came under special rulership of the League of Nations, and thus the Sankt Wendel district was split into two parts. The northern part, the Restkreis Sankt Wendel, was merged into the district Birkenfeld, the southern part stayed in the Saarland in its reduced size.

Geography

The district is located in the Saar-Hunsrück natural area, a hilly area with elevations between 200 and 600 meters. The main river in the district is the Nahe. The Bostalsee is the biggest tourist lake in the south-west of Germany, covering an area of about 1.2 km².

Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: Im silber und blau geteilten Schild ein rot bezungter und rot bewehrter Löwe mit gewechselten Farben, belegt mit einem goldenen Herzschild, darin eine rote heraldische Lilie.[3]

The district’s arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Per fess argent and azure a lion rampant counterchanged armed and langued gules surmounted by an inescutcheon Or charged with a fleur-de-lis of the third.

The lion charge is actually to be interpreted as a composite of two lions, with the blue part in the upper field representing the charge borne by the Counts of Veldenz, a branch of the House of Wittelsbach, while the silver part in the lower field represents Nassau-Saarbrücken. The two counties had the most important landholds in the district. The inescutcheon (inset shield) in the middle bears a fleur-de-lis charge taken from the town of Sankt Wendel in tinctures drawn from the arms of Lorraine.

Towns and municipalities
Towns Municipalities
  1. Sankt Wendel
  1. Freisen
  2. Marpingen
  3. Namborn
  4. Nohfelden
  1. Nonnweiler
  2. Oberthal
  3. Tholey

References
  1. "Saarland.de – Amtliche Einwohnerzahlen Stand 31.12.2018" (PDF). Statistisches Amt des Saarlandes (in German). June 2019.
  2. Friedrich August Lottner: Sammlung der für das Fürstenthum Lichtenberg vom Jahre 1816 bis 1834 ergangenen herzoglich Sachsen-Coburg-Gothaischen Verordnungen, Sander, 1836, p. 1
  3. Heraldic blazon

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