Crest
The History of the Crest
The economic basis of Giessen University since its foundation in 1607 was funding from estates in the shape of several monasteries and monastic farm properties. The most important income was yielded by the former Grünberger Antoniterhaus (founded before 1222).
In 1736, the Ludoviciana – as Giessen University was called up until 1945, in honour of its founder, Landgrave Ludwig V of Hessen-Darmstadt – took the blue, silver-framed three-armed Antoniterkreuz (Cross of St Anthony) as its university crest, which it continues to display.