Goch (; archaic spelling: Gog) is a town in the

Kleve Kleve (; traditional ; ; ; ; ; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Netherlands, Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century onwards, Cleves was capital of a county and lat ...

district of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, close to the border with the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, south of

and southeast of

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

History

Goch is at least 750 years old: the earliest mention of Goch is in a document dated 1259. It was a part of the

Duchy of Cleves The Duchy of Cleves (; ) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire which emerged from the medieval . It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and the towns of Wesel, Kalkar, Xanten, Emme ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the city was completely destroyed by Allied bombers during

Operation Veritable Operation Veritable (also known as the Battle of the Reichswald) was the northern part of an Allies of World War II, Allied pincer movement that took place between 8 February and 11 March 1945 during the final stages of the World War II, Second ...

. On September 8th, 2011, A Magnitude 4.5 struck the town, causing damage to infrasctructure and to homes.

Twin towns – sister cities

Goch is twinned with: *

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...

, England, United Kingdom *

Meierijstad Meierijstad () is a municipality in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The municipality is the result of a merger between the municipalities Schijndel, Sint-Oedenrode and Veghel in 2017. After the merger it became North Brabant's largest municip ...

, Netherlands (formerly

Veghel Veghel () is a town and a former municipality in Southern Netherlands. On 1 January 2017 Veghel, together with Schijndel and Sint-Oedenrode, merged into a new municipality called Meierijstad. This created the largest municipality of the provi ...

) *

Nowy Tomyśl Nowy Tomyśl is a town in western Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship. It is the capital of Nowy Tomyśl County. The population is 15,627 (2004). History The town has a long tradition of wickerwork. In the main town square stands a wicker b ...

, Poland *

Redon Redon (; ) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Redon borders the Morbihan and Loire-Atlantique departments. It is situated at the junction of ...

, France

Notable people

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was c ...

(980–1002), Holy Roman Emperor *

Johannes von Goch Johannes von Goch (born ''Johann Pupper'') ( – 1475) was a German Augustinian friar, thought by some to be a precursor of the Reformation, because of his views on scripture, justification and monasticism. Biography He was born at Goch in the R ...

(c. 1400–1475), Medieval theologian *

Maarten Schenck van Nydeggen Maarten (Martin) Schenck van Nydeggen, (1540?, – 11 August 1589) was a military commander in the Netherlands. He first served with William of Orange in the fight for Dutch independence from Spain then switched to serve with distinction in ...

(1540–1589), military commander in the Netherlands * Francisco de Moncada (1586–1635), Spanish author, military leader, and governor of the Spanish Netherlands, died here *

Aenne Biermann Aenne Biermann (March 8, 1898 – January 14, 1933), born Anna Sibilla Sternfeld, was a German photographer of Ashkenazi Jewish origin. She was one of the major proponents of New Objectivity, a significant art movement that developed in the W ...

(1898–1933), photographer *

Hubert Houben Hubert Houben (24 February 1898 – 9 November 1956) was a German sprinter who competed at the 1928 Summer Olympics. He won a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay, together with Georg Lammers, Richard Corts and Helmut Körnig, and failed to ...

(1898–1956), athlete *

Josefa Idem Josefa Idem married Guerrini (born 23 September 1964) is an Italian canoe sprinter turned politics, politician. Competing in eight Summer Olympics, she has five medals. Winning 35 international medals during her career, Idem was the first Italia ...

(born 1964), Italian sprint canoer and politician *

Arnold Janssen Arnold Janssen (5 November 1837 – 15 January 1909), was a German-Dutch Catholic priest and missionary who is venerated as a saint. He founded the Society of the Divine Word, a Catholic missionary religious congregation, also known as the ''Di ...

(1837–1909), founder of the

Society of the Divine Word The Society of the Divine Word (), abbreviated SVD and popularly called the Verbites or the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men. As of 2020, i ...

, a Roman Catholic missionary congregation *

Rita Kersting Rita Kersting (born 1969) is a German art historian and curator. Life and work Born in Goch, Kersting studied history of art at the University of Cologne and completed a curatorial training at De Appel centre for Contemporary Art in Amsterdam. ...

(born 1969), art historian * Luisa Wensing (born 1993), footballer

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

, according to his name, which translates to "Vincent of Goch", has ancestors likely native to this location.

Gallery

Goch 1625.JPG, ' in 1625, by

Jan Luyken Johannes or Jan Luyken (16 April 1649 – 5 April 1712) was a Dutch poet, illustrator, and engraving, engraver.

The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 B14779.jpg, Goch during

, February 21, 1945 Goch, watertoren Dm82 foto2 2013-04-30 12.29.jpg, Watertower Goch, straatzicht Am Steintor Dm6 foto7 2016-05-05 16.38.jpg, Am Steintor Street Vicarage goch hommersum.jpg, Vicarage Goch Hommersum G17-d-Goch-evKirche.JPG, Protestant church

References

External links

Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Kleve (district) {{Kleve-geo-stub