Editing Essen (section)

=== Coat of arms ===
[[File:Hotel Handelshof Essen.jpg|thumb|Hotel Handelshof with modified coat of arms and former unofficial motto]]
{{stack|[[File:DEU Essen COA.svg|thumb|upright|Essen's coat of arms]]}}
The coat of arms of the city of Essen is a heraldic peculiarity. Granted in 1886, it is a so-called [[arms of alliance]] ({{lang|de|Allianzwappen}}) and consists of two separate shields under a single crown. Most other coats of arms of cities use a [[mural crown]] instead of a heraldic crown. The crown, however, does not refer to the city of Essen itself, but instead to the [[German Mediatisation|secularized]] [[Principality|ecclesiastical principality]] of [[Essen Abbey|Essen]] under the reign of the princess-abbesses. The dexter (heraldically right) [[Escutcheon (heraldry)|escutcheon]] shows the double-headed Imperial Eagle of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], granted to the city in 1623. The sinister (heraldically left) escutcheon is one of the oldest emblems of Essen and shows a sword that people believed was used to behead the city's [[patron saint|patron]] [[Saints Cosmas and Damian]]. People tend to connect the sword in the left shield with one found in the cathedral treasury. This sword, however, is much more recent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://regesta-imperii.adwmainz.de/regesten/regshow.php?pk=8837&offset=0&bandanzeige=1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311161524/http://regesta-imperii.adwmainz.de/regesten/regshow.php?pk=8837&offset=0&bandanzeige=1|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 March 2007|title=Origin of the sword in the Essen Cathedral Treasury|publisher=Regesta-imperii.adwmainz.de|access-date=6 April 2011}}</ref> A slightly modified and more heraldically correct version of the coat of arms can be found on the roof of the {{ill|Handelshof|de|Hotel Handelshof}} hotel near the [[Essen Hauptbahnhof|main station]].