Kleve

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Cleves redirects here; for the Duchy of Cleves and the conjoined states of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, see those articles.
For other uses, see Kleve (disambiguation).
Kleve
Kleve city and harbour (ca. 1895)
Kleve city and harbour (ca. 1895)
Coat of arms Location
Coat of arms of Kleve
Kleve (Germany)
Kleve
Administration
Country Flag of Germany Germany
State North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region Düsseldorf
District Kleve
Mayor Theodor Brauer (CDU)
Basic statistics
Area 97.79 km² (37.8 sq mi)
Elevation 12 m  (39 ft)
Population 49,099  (31/12/2005)
 - Density 502 /km² (1,300 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate KLE
Postal code 47533
Area codes 0 28 21
Website www.kleve.de

Coordinates: 51°47′15″N 6°8′7″E / 51.7875, 6.13528

Kleve, traditionally known in English and French as Cleves, is a city in the north-west of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, near the Dutch border and the River Rhine, at 51°47′N, 6°11′E. Today it belongs to and is capital of the district of Kleve.

Contents

[edit] History

The name Kleve probably derives from the word cliff (German Kliff), although the city's coat of arms displays three clovers, which is close enough to the local pronuciation of the name (German Klee, Dutch Klaver).

The Schwanenburg (English: Swan Castle), where the dukes of Cleves resided, was founded on a steep hill. The old castle has a massive tower, the Schwanenturm 180 feet high, that is associated in legend with the Knights of the Swan, immortalized in Richard Wagner's Lohengrin.

Medieval Kleve grew together from four parts — the Castle Schwanenburg, the village below the castle, the first city of Kleve on the Heideberg Hill, and the Neustadt ("New City") from the 14th century. In 1242 Kleve received city rights. The Duchy of Cleves, which roughly covered today's districts of Kleve, Wesel and Duisburg, was united with the Duchy of Mark in 1368, was made a duchy itself in 1417, and then united with the neighboring duchies of Jülich and Berg in 1521, when John III, Duke of Cleves, married Mary, the heiress of Jülich-Berg-Ravenburg.

Kleve's most famous native is Anne of Cleves (1515-1557), daughter of John III, Duke of Cleves and wife of Henry VIII of England.

The local line became extinct in the male line in 1609, when Kleve passed to the son-in-law, the elector of Brandenburg and became an exclave of the territory of Prussia.

The mineral waters of Kleve and the wooded parkland surrounding it made it a fashionable spa in the 19th century.

Kleve suffered heavy bombing during the Second World War, with over 90% of buildings in the city severely damaged. As a result, relatively little of the pre-1945 City remains, although the Schwanenburg and the Stiftskirche, the Catholic parish church, do remain and positioned as they are on top of a hill, dominate the surrounding flat countryside for many miles.

Since 1953 there has been a broadcasting facility for FM radio and television from regional broadcaster WDR near Kleve. It uses as aerial mast a 126.4 metre high guyed steel tube mast with a diameter of 1.6 metres, which is guyed 57 and 101.6 metres above ground. This mast replaced the old radio mast from the 1960s, which was used until 1993, additionally for transmissions in the medium wave range.

[edit] Twin cities

Kleve is twinned with

[edit] Language and dialect

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Dutch in 17/19th century Germany
Dutch in 17/19th century Germany

Historically Dutch, not German was the dominant language in the region of, and surrounding Cleves, this can still be seen today as most towns in the region have Germanized names of Dutch origin. Because of this, many historical persons (for example: Govert Flinck) from Cleves are considered Dutch, rather than Germans. Although German took over at the end of the 19th century, the Dutch history is still notable. Even today, the traditional local dialect, Zuid Gelders, belongs to Dutch.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
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Towns and municipalities in Kleve (district)
Coat of Arms of Kleve district