Orsoy, till 1974 an independent town in the district of Moers, is today a municipal district of 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); ...

town of

Rheinberg Rheinberg () is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. north of Moers and south of Wesel. It comprises the municipal districts of Rheinberg, Borth, Budberg, an ...

on the

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

. The word Orsoy, pronounced ''Oschau'' means "horse pasture" (Rossaue). Orsoy itself was in 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 ...

a powerful fortified town with high walls and four gates. Although much of the fortifications were destroyed in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, a tower, circa 50 percent of the walls and part of the moat remain today giving some indication of the scale of the fortifications.

History

Teuton The Teutons ( la, Teutones, , grc, Τεύτονες) were an ancient northern European tribe mentioned by Roman authors. The Teutons are best known for their participation, together with the Cimbri and other groups, in the Cimbrian War with th ...

s supplanted the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

inhabitants around Orsoy in 750 BC and Ceesar invaded the area establishing Roman Rule in the 1st century BC. Orsoy was first founded as a

Roman Villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...

on what was the frontier of the

empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

. By the 4th century a

Roman Road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

and

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

crossing had been established at Orsoy. In 401AD the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

withdraw from the area in the face of the

Visigoth The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is kn ...

s and the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...

followed close behind. In 1938

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

s uncovered 9 royal tombs from 500-630 AD showing strong

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

n cultural input. The town became Frankish and was

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

ised about 700 AD. The earliest mention of the town is in a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...

for nearby Hamborn Abbey in 1139. Karte um 1591

It is then mentioned in a deed of Count Dietrich IV of Kleve of 1233. From 1238 to 1240, Orsoy was used as a River Toll Station for the count of Kleve. His heir Dietrich V of Cleves,(1260-1275)) granted it town status in 1263 or 1270. There was a fire in 1347 that left the city in ruins, so it was refounded on September 1, 1347 by

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

Louis IV. Count Johann von Kleve remained the local lord, and the town was governed by 7 aldermen, although it was never granted market rights. A baliff was granted in 1364 and a grant of a mayor followed soon after. In 1438 Duke Adolf of Cleves had built a second

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

and in 1452 records show a teacher (schoolmaster) hired by the town. The town moat was completed in 1461. Orsoy 1650-4

The modern fortress was built 1565-1581 by

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Johann Pasqualini Elder (Responsible for the construction of the second ring ) and funded by Duke William the Rich of Cleves. In 1586 the town was conquered by the Spaniards and destroyed. From 1632-1640 the city was under Dutch occupation and the rebuilt fortress was built in the old Dutch style and expanded by the third fixing ring. In 1666 Orsoy once again came under Brandenburg management, until 1672 when there was a period of

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

rule, when Louis XIV ordered demolition of large parts of the existing fortifications. In 1685 the first Rhine harbor in Orsoy is established. Rebuilding of the fort took place again in 1750. In the 18th century Orsoy was a site of a significant textile industry. But a fire in 1818 and the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...

(1756-1763) and the relocation of the Rhine customs duty office to Homberg in 1805 caused the economy to crash. Schwarzplan1819

A recovery began in 1851 with the production of

cigars A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder le ...

, which remained a staple industry until the

second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. In 1935/36 the harbor basin was filled in to facilitate extension to the primary school and extend the river dike. In 1938 also Orsoyer Jews were expelled from the town and later deported. Towards the end of World War II, in March 1945, Orsoy was occupied by troops of the US Army. During the hostilities the steeple of the Catholic Church was shelled by German troops. The shelling was carried out from the opposite (right) bank of the Rhine. A destruction of the tower a possible use by enemy reconnaissance should be suppressed. Starting in 1956, missile engineer Berthold Seliger lived in Orsoy. He built a workshop and built here the rocket, which he launched from 1962 to 1964 in the Wadden area of Cuxhaven. The once thriving tobacco is no longer existent. A large former tobacco factory on Südwall was converted in the 1990s to housing. The most important local supply facilities have been preserved over the years in Orsoy. There is a primary school, two

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

s, several doctors, a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...

, two bakeries, a pastry shop, a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

and several smaller shops. On January 1, 1972, the municipality of Orsoy-Land was incorporated into the town of

. The town of Orsoy was added on 1 January 1975.Historisches Gemeindeverzeichnis für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Namens-, Grenz- u. Schlüsselnummernänderungen bei Gemeinden, Kreisen u. Reg.-Bez. vom 27.5.1970 bis 31.12.1982. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart/Mainz 1983, , p.296 File:Orsoy Festungsentwicklung.jpg, development of the walls at Orsoy File:Festung.Orsoy.jpg, Historische Festungsanlagen: Befestigungsring 1 und 2 (Aktuelle Situation) File:Rheintor Winter.jpg, the 1937 gate File:Orsoy01.jpg, Hochwasserschutztor (Rheinansicht) File:Stadtmauer am Pulverturm.jpg, remains of the old town wall File:Pulverturm.Orsoy.jpg, Power tower File:Pulverturm.Orsoy.2006.jpg, Powder Tower (Ostansicht) File:Orsoy Stadtmauer.jpg, Remains of inner wall File:Orsoy.Kirchenschiff.jpg, Protestant church File:Kirchvorplatz.jpg,

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

File:Orsoy.Kirchenportal.jpg,

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

File:Synagoge.Orsoy.jpg, Synagoge File:Orsoy.katholische.Kirche.jpg, St. Nikolaus catholic

File:Blick.Bastion.Kuhpforte.jpg, Orsoy moat File:Rathaus Orsoy.jpg, Orsoy

Rathaus In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

. File:HafenOrsoy01.JPG, Orsoy River Port File:Schiffsanleger Orsoy.jpg, Peirs on the Rhine File:Rheinpromenade.jpg, river bank Orsoy File:Orsoy Kuhstrasse.jpg, main street Orsoy

References

{{Coord, 51, 31, N, 6, 41, E, display=title, region:DE_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Populated places in North Rhine-Westphalia Wesel (district)