Kleve

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Kleve


Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Administrative region	Düsseldorf
District	Kleve
Population	49,622 (2004)
Area	97.79 km²
Population density	505 /km²
Elevation	12 m
Coordinates	51°46′ N 6°9′ E
Postal code	47533
Area code	02821
Licence plate code	KLE
Mayor	Theodor Brauer (CDU)
Website	kleve.de

Kleve , traditionally known in English as Cleves (Dutch: Kleef) 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. Population: 49,398 (2002), Area 97.72 km². Today it belongs to and is capital of the district of Kleve.

[edit] History

The name Kleve derives from the word cliff (German Kliff), as 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.