Map of Germany showing Cleves
Cleves (in German Kleve, sometimes used in English as well; Dutch: Kleef) is a city in the north-west of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, near the Dutch border and the river Rhine, at . Population: 49,398 (2002), Area 97.72 km². It belongs to and is capital of the district Cleves.
Today
The name Cleves derives from the word cliff (German Kliff), as the Schwanenburg, 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 Cleves grew together from four parts— the castle Schwanenburg, the village below the castle, the first city of Cleves on the Heideberg hill, and the Neustadt ("New City") from the 14th century. In 1242 the city received the city rights. The duchy of Cleves, which roughly covered today's districts Cleves, Wesel and Duisburg, was united with the duchy Mark in 1368, was made a duchy itself in 1417 then united with the neighboring duchies of Julich and Berg in 1521, when Duke Johann III of Cleves, married Mary, the heiress of Jülich-Berg-Ravenburg. The local line became extinct in the male line in 1609, when Cleves passed to the son-in-law, the elector of Brandenburg and became an exclave of the territory of Prussia.
The mineral waters of Cleves and the wooded parkland surrounding it made it a fashionable spa in the 19th century.
Since 1953 there is a broadcasting facility for FM andTV of WDR near Kleve. It uses as aerial mast a 126.4 metre high guyed steel tube mast with a diametre of 1.6 metres, which is guyed 57 and 101.6 metres above ground. This mast replaced the old radio mast from the 60ies, which was used until 1993 also for transmissions in the mediumwave range.
See also:
- Mary of Cleves (September 19, 1426 — 23 August 23, 1487, Chauny, Picardie), the daughter of Adolf of Cleves (1316 - 1425) and Mary of Burgundy. Her brother was Johann I, Duke of Cleves (1425 - 1458), for whom the county of Cleves was made a duchy by the Emperor. She married Charles de Valois, duke of Orleans and Prince of France in 1440 and was the mother of Louis XII of France. She was buried in the church of St-Celestin, Paris.
- Anne of Cleves, queen consort of Henry VIII of England
- John III, Duke of Cleves
- Duke Englebert of Cleves, Count of Nevers
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