Neuss (; spelled ''Neuß'' until 1968; li, Nüss ; la, Novaesium) is a city in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It is located on the west bank of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

opposite

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

. Neuss is the largest city within the

Rhein-Kreis Neuss Neuss is a Kreis (district) in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Nearby are the urban districts Mönchengladbach, Krefeld, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Cologne, the districts Rhein-Erft-Kreis, Düren, Heinsberg and the district Viersen ...

district. It is primarily known for its historic Roman sites, as well as the annual Neusser Bürger-Schützenfest. Neuss and Trier share the title of "Germany's oldest city"; and in 1984 Neuss celebrated the 2000th anniversary of its founding in 16 BCE.

History

Ancient Rome

Neuss was founded by the Romans in 16 BC as a military fortification ('' castrum'') with the current city to the north of the castrum, at the confluence of the rivers

and

Erft The Erft () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows through the foothills of the Eifel, and joins the Lower Rhine (left tributary). Its origin is near Nettersheim, and its mouth in Neuss-Grimlinghausen south of the Josef Cardina ...

, with the name of Novaesium.

Legio XVI Gallica Legio XVI Gallica ("Gallic Sixteenth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. The legion was recruited by Julius Caesar's adopted son, Octavian in 41/40 BC. It was disbanded after surrendering during the Batavian rebellion (AD 70); Emper ...

("Gallic 16th Legion") of the Roman army was stationed here in 43-70 AD. It was disbanded after surrendering during the Batavian rebellion (AD 70). Later a civil settlement was founded in the area of today's centre of the town during the 1st century AD. Novaesium, together with Trier (''Augusta Treverorum''), is one of the three oldest Roman settlements in Germany.

Middle Ages

Neuss grew during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

because of its prime location on several routes, by the crossing of the great Rhine valley, and with its harbour and ferry. During the 10th century, the remains of the martyr and tribune Saint Quirinus, not to be confused with the Roman god

Quirinus In Roman mythology and religion, Quirinus ( , ) is an early god of the Roman state. In Augustan Rome, ''Quirinus'' was also an epithet of Janus, as ''Janus Quirinus''. Name Attestations The name of god Quirinus is recorded across Roman so ...

, had been relocated to Neuss. This resulted in

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

to the shrine of St. Quirinus even from countries beyond the borders of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

. Neuss was first documented as a town in 1138. One of the main events in the town's history is the siege of the town in 1474–75 by Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, that lasted for nearly a year. The citizens of Neuss withstood the siege and were therefore rewarded by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. The town was granted the right to mint its own coins and to carry the imperial

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

, the imperial eagle and the crown, in the town's own coat of arms. Neuss became a member of the Hanseatic League, although it was never accepted by the other members of the League.

Early modernity

In 1586, more than two-thirds of the city was destroyed by fire, and several wars during the reign of King

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of ...

resulted in worsening finances for Neuss. Its importance as a place for trading declined rapidly, and from the mid-17th century onwards, Neuss became a place only important for its agriculture. Until the late 18th century, Neuss belonged to the Electorate of Cologne. From 1794 to 1814, Neuss was part of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

during the reign of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

. In 1815 after the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

, Neuss became part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

, and was reorganized as a district with the municipalities of Neuss, Dormagen, Nettesheim, Nievenheim,

Rommerskirchen Rommerskirchen is the southernmost municipality in the Rhein-Kreis Neuss, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Notable places Rommerskirchen possesses rich historical inheritances, including numerous remains of the Roman Villae Rusticae, and thos ...

and

Zons Zons (), formerly known as Feste Zons ''(Fortress Zons''), today officially called ''Stadt Zons'' (''Zons Town'') is an old town in Germany on the west bank of the Lower Rhine between Cologne and Düsseldorf. It has been a part (Stadtteil) of th ...

. The town had a population of 6,333 at that time. It was part of the Prussian Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (1815–22) and its successor, the Rhine Province (1822–1946).

19th century – present

Neuss regained its economic power in the 19th century, with expansion of the harbour in 1835, and increasing industrial activity. The city's boundaries were expanded in 1881. Neuss became part of the new state of

in 1946. In 1968 the spelling of the name was changed from ''Neuß'' to ''Neuss''. In 1975 the town of Neuss and the district of

Grevenbroich Grevenbroich () is a town in the Rhein-Kreis Neuss, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Erft, approximately 15 km southwest of Neuss and 15 km southeast of Mönchengladbach. Cologne and Düsseldorf are ...

were joined to form the district of

with a population of 440,000 and its seat of government in Neuss. Neuss is also home to Toshiba's European headquarters.

Politics

Mayor

The current mayor of Neuss is Reiner Breuer of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD). The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Candidate ! Party ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Reiner Breuer , align=left,

, 30,337 , 52.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Jan-Philipp Büchler , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 18,800 , 32.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Michael Klinkicht , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens , 4,049 , 7.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Roland Sperling , align=left, The Left , 1,346 , 2.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Michael Fielenbach , align=left, Free Democratic Party , 1,181 , 2.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Thomas Lang , align=left, UWG/Free Voters Neuss , 1,158 , 2.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Hans Dietz , align=left, Centre Party , 463 , 0.8 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 57,334 ! 98.9 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 617 ! 1.1 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 57,951 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 120,328 ! 48.2 , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Neuss

Mayors and Lord Mayors since 1849

* 1849–1851: Heinrich Thywissen, Mayor (

Bürgermeister Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chie ...

) * 1851–1858: Michael Frings, Mayor * 1858–1882: Johann Joseph Ridder, Mayor * 1882–1889: Carl Wenders, Mayor * 1890–1902: Engelbert Tilmann, Mayor * 1902–1921: Franz Gielen, Lord Mayor * 1921–1930: Heinrich Hüpper, Lord Mayor * 1930–1934: Wilhelm Henrichs, Centre Party, Lord Mayor (Oberbürgermeister) * 1934–1938: Wilhelm Eberhard Gelberg,

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

, Lord Mayor * 1938–1945: Wilhelm Tödtmann, NSDAP, Lord Mayor * 1945–1946: Josef Nagel, Lord Mayor * 1946: Josef Schmitz, Lord Mayor * 1946–1961: Alfons Frings, CDU, Lord Mayor * 1961–1967: Peter Wilhelm Kallen, Lord Mayor * 1967–1982: Herbert Karrenberg, CDU, Lord Mayor * 1982–1987: Hermann Wilhelm Thywissen, CDU, Lord Mayor * 1987–1998: Bertold Mathias Reinartz, CDU, Mayor * 1998–2015: Herbert Napp, CDU, Mayor * 2015–present: Reiner Breuer, SPD, Mayor

City council

The Neuss city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 20,810 , 36.4 , 3.4 , 21 , 6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 18,517 , 32.4 , 5.1 , 19 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , 7,996 , 14.0 , 3.2 , 8 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD) , 2,420 , 4.2 , 0.0 , 2 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 1,882 , 3.3 , 4.9 , 2 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 1,601 , 2.8 , 1.2 , 2 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, UWG/Free Voters Neuss (UWG/FW) , 1,106 , 1.9 , 0.0 , 1 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Action Party for Animal Protection (hier!) , 929 , 1.6 , New , 1 , New , - , , align=left, Active for Neuss (Aktiv) , 863 , 1.5 , New , 1 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Die PARTEI , 823 , 1.4 , New , 1 , New , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Centre Party (Zentrum) , 223 , 0.4 , 0.2 , 0 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Independent Volkmar Wolfram Ortlepp , 18 , 0.0 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 57,188 ! 98.8 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 672 ! 1.2 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 57,860 ! 100.0 ! ! 58 ! 10 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 120,328 ! 48.1 ! 2.6 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Neuss

Number of inhabitants

*1798: 4,423 *1831: 7,888 *1861: 10,300 *1885: 20,074 *1900: 28,472 *1925: 44,958 *1945: 51,624 *1965: 111,104 *1987: 142,178 *2015: 159,672

Sports

One sports club is Neusser Schlittschuh-Klub. Their sections are

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

, ice stock sport and, as the only club in Germany, bandy. With the lack of a large ice surface, the variety rink bandy is practiced. There are also two football clubs in the city of Neuss: VfR Neuss Football Club and DJK Novesia Neuss.

Points of interest

* '' Botanischer Garten der Stadt Neuss'', the city's

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

* Basilica of St. Quirinus: a 13th-century late romanesque church, dedicated to the city's patron saint and housing a shrine with his relics. Its dome-shaped eastern tower is one of the city's landmarks. In 2009 it was granted the title of

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

. * ''Obertor'' (''Upper Gate''): southern city gate, built circa 1200; today part of the ''Clemens Sels Museum Neuss''. It is the only remaining of originally six gates that were part of the medieval town fortification. * ''Blutturm'' (''Bloody Tower''): built in the 13th century, the only remaining round tower of the historic town fortification. * ''Zum "Schwatte Päd"'' (''The Black Horse''): the oldest

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

in the

Lower Rhine The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); ...

region, established 1604 * Saint Sebastianus Church * Saint Maria Church: * ''Christuskirche'' (''Christ church''): historicistic church, the city's oldest Protestant church * Globe Theater, a replica of the London Globe Theatre, with an annual Shakespeare festival * Hamtor/the Hamgate * '' Neusser Bürger-Schützenfest'': one of Germany's largest marksmen's festivals, taking place annually on the last weekend in August; roundabout 7000 marksmen take part in the traditional parades.

Notable people

* Hildegund (virgin) (1170–1188), saint * Johann Pennarius (1517–1563), auxiliary bishop in Cologne * Hermann Thyraeus (1532–1591), theologian and member of the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

* Peter Thyraeus, (1546–1601), Jesuit, professor of theology in Würzburg * Theodor Schwann (1810–1882), physiologist *

Franz Maria Feldhaus Franz Maria Feldhaus (26 April 1874, in Neuss – 22 May 1957, in Wilhelmshaven) was a German engineer, historian of science, and scientific writer. He was known in the late 1950s as "Germany's most well-known and most prolific writer on the histo ...

(1874–1957), technical historian and scientific writer *

Joseph Frings Josef Richard Frings (6 February 1887 – 17 December 1978), was a German Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Cologne from 1942 to 1969. Considered a significant figure in Catholic resistance to Nazism, he was elevated to t ...

(1887–1978), Archbishop of the Archbishopric of Cologne * Kurt Josten (1912–1994), German-British jurist, state official and resistance fighter * Erik Martin (1936–2017), author, songwriter and editor * Mario Ohoven (born 1946), financial intermediary and investment adviser *

Elke Aberle Elke Aberle (born 1 July 1950) is a German actress. Selected filmography * ''Love'' (1956) * ''Widower with Five Daughters'' (1957) * '' Bimbo the Great'' (1958) * '' Father, Mother and Nine Children'' (1958) * '' Ooh... diese Ferien'' (1958) ...

(born 1950), actress * Mònica Oltra (born 1969), Spanish politician, spokesperson and minister for Equality and Inclusive Policies of the Valencian government * Friedhelm Funkel (born 1953), football player and coach * Heike Hohlbein (born 1954), writer * Jürgen P. Rabe (born 1955), physicist *

Norbert Hummelt Norbert Hummelt (born 30 December 1962 in Neuss) is a German poet, essayist and translator."No ...

(born 1962), writer * Kai Böcking (born 1964), moderator * Franziska Pigulla (1964–2019), actress, news presenter and voice actress * Thomas Rupprath (born 1977), swimmer * Lars Börgeling (born 1979), pole vaulter * Judith Flemig (born 1979), volleyball player * Jawed Karim (born 1979), American entrepreneur, co-founder of

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

; lived here –1992 * Dirk Caspers (born 1980), former football player * Marcel Ohmann (born 1991), ice hockey player * Danny da Costa (born 1993), footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

Neuss is twinned with: * Châlons-en-Champagne, France (1972) * Pskov, Russia (1990) * Rijeka, Croatia (1990) * Saint Paul, United States (1999) * Nevşehir, Turkey (2007)

Gallery

File:Quirinus-Münster.jpg, Saint Quirinus Minster File:Neuss Obertor Landseite.JPG, ''Obertor'' File:Neuss StSebastianus v N.jpg, St. Sebastianus Church File:Christuskirche Neuss Turm.JPG, ''Christuskirche'' File:Blutturm 2 Neuss.jpg, ''Blutturm''

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia 16 BC establishments Roman towns and cities in Germany Rhein-Kreis Neuss Members of the Hanseatic League Roman legionary fortresses in Germany Roman fortifications in Germania Inferior