Geldern (; , , ; archaic English: ''Guelder(s)'') is a city in the federal German state 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 ...

. It is part of the district of Kleve, which is part of the

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

administrative region Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

. The nearby Dutch province of

Gelderland Gelderland ( , ), also known as Guelders ( ) in English, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Nethe ...

is named after this city.

Geography

Location

Geldern lies in the plains of the lower, northern

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

, west of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

. Its average elevation is 27 m

AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level v ...

. The river

Niers The Niers (, ) is a river in Germany and the Netherlands, a right tributary of the river Meuse (German and ). Its wellspring is near Erkelenz, south of Mönchengladbach, in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). Course and length The Niers flows thr ...

, a tributary of the

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

(''Maas''), flows through Geldern. The stream Gelderner Fleuth flows into the Niers in Geldern. It is close to both

Düsseldorf Airport Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the seventh-largest city in Germany, with a 2022 population of 629,047. The Düsse ...

and Airport Weeze, also called Airport Niederrhein (referring to the

Lower Rhine Lower Rhine (, ; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between Bonn in Germany and the North Sea at Hook of Holland in the Netherlands, including the '' Nederrijn'' () within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta; alternat ...

region).

Subdivisions

Geldern is subdivided into the following

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

s: * Geldern City * Hartefeld * Kapellen (formerly Capellen) * Lüllingen * Pont * Veert * Vernum * Walbeck

Neighbouring towns and municipalities

Geldern shares borders with

Kevelaer Kevelaer (; Low Rhenish: ''Käwela'') is a town in the district of Kleve, in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is the largest Catholic pilgrimage location within north-western Europe. Over one million Marian devotees, mostly from Germany and ...

and

Sonsbeck Sonsbeck is a municipality in the Wesel (district), district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km west of Wesel, and 25 km south-east of Cleves as well as 8 km from the historic city of Xa ...

to the north,

Issum Issum is a municipality in the district of Kleve, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately east of Geldern. Economy Issum is home to the Diebels brewery, the largest altbier brewery in the world. Notable natives * ...

to the east,

Kerken Kerken with the towns of Aldekerk, Eyll, Nieukerk and Stenden, is a municipality in the Cleves (district), district of Kleve in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the border with the Netherlands, approx. 15 km no ...

and

Straelen Straelen (; Low Rhenish: ''Strale'') is a municipality in the district of Cleves, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the border with the Netherlands, approx. 10 km north-east of Venlo Venlo () is a List of cities in th ...

to the south, and the Dutch municipalities

Venlo Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), ...

and

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

to the west.

Climate

Coat of arms

The first coat of arms of the city of Geldern was a

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles suc ...

with three

medlar ''Mespilus germanica'', known as the medlar or common medlar, is a large shrub or small tree in the rose family Rosaceae. When the genus ''Mespilus'' is included in the genus ''Crataegus'', the correct name for this species is ''Crataegus germa ...

s, referring to an event in the

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

legend. The lion of

Guelders The Duchy of Guelders (; ; ) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in present-day Germany. Though the present pr ...

, recognizable in the present coat of arms, has been used since the

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

History

Dragon legend

According to folk legend, local noblemen Wichard and Lupold of Pont fought a fire-breathing

around 878. They found it under a

tree, and one of them stabbed it with his

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

. The dying dragon rattled two or three times: ''Gelre! Gelre!'' In commemoration of this heroic feat, the Lords of Pont founded the city of Geldern at the confluence of the

and the Fleuth.

Middle Ages

The city of Geldern was first documented around 900. Several versions of the name have been used: ''Gelre, Gielra, Gellero, Gelera'' and similar. The probable ancestor of the Counts of Guelders was Gerhard Flamens, who received Wassenberg as a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

from Emperor

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

in 1020. His great-grandson Gerhard IV of Wassenberg was the first to call himself Count of Guelders (as Gerhard I), from 1096. The title "count" came from other properties, probably in Teisterbant. From 1125 only the title ''of Guelders'' was used. Wassenberg itself was given to the

Duke of Limburg The counts of Limburg ruled a medieval county with its capital at Limbourg-sur-Vesdre, lying between Liège and Aachen. They rose to prominence when one of them was appointed Duke of Lower Lorraine. Though Lorraine was later confiscated, the d ...

(and later to

Jülich Jülich (; in old spellings also known as ''Guelich'' or ''Gülich'', , , Ripuarian: ''Jöllesch'') is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. As a border region between the competin ...

) as a wedding gift in 1107. The counts of Guelders moved their residence to the castle in Geldern, that was built probably around this date at the crossing of the Niers. The castle and the accompanying medieval settlement were the origin of the present city, and also gave its name to the

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

and later

duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

. The settlement was

fortified A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lat ...

in the 13th century with earth and stone walls and moats. The walls were named after the four

cardinal directions The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four main compass directions: north (N), south (S), east (E), and west (W). The corresponding azimuths ( clockwise horizontal angle from north) are 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°. The four ...

and had three gates. Geldern received

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in 1229. It was the residence of the counts and dukes of Guelders until 1343, and capital of the Upper Quarter of Guelders until 1347. The

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of the

Carmelites The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

was built in the early 14th century. The Late Gothic parish church of

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

was built between 1400 and 1418.

Spanish and Dutch rule

Often in its history, Geldern lay in the battlefield of territorial disputes. It was subordinate to

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

rule from 1543 until 1578, when it was occupied by the Dutch. Geldern returned to Spanish control in 1587, which lasted until 1703. During this period (more exactly between 1662 and 1664) Schloss Haag (first documented in 1337, located 1 km north of Geldern) was expanded. (Since

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 ...

only the outer castle has remained.)

18th century

From 1701 until 1714 the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

took place. The city was under

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n siege beginning February 1703, but only surrendered on 21 December. At the end of the war, at the 1713

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...

, the previously Spanish Upper Quarter of Guelders was divided between four powers:

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, the United Provinces,

and the

Duchy of Jülich The Duchy of Jülich (; ; ) comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay west of the Rhine river and was bordered by the Electorate of Cologne to the east and the Duchy of Limburg to the wes ...

. With the larger part of the former Upper Quarter, Geldern fell to Prussia and became the seat of administration of Prussian Guelders. King

Frederick II of Prussia Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself '' King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prus ...

visited Geldern in August 1740. He ordered the demolition of the city fortifications in 1764.

Modern era

Between 1794 and 1814 Geldern was occupied by the French. They disbanded the old structures and created a new, more strict administration. The canton of Geldern was part of the arrondissement of

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

, which was a part of the département of the

Roer The Roer (, ) or Rur (; ) is a major river that flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right (eastern) tributary to the Meuse (). About 90 percent of the river's course is in Germany. It is not to be conf ...

. In 1802 the monastery of the Carmelites was

secularized In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

. In the course of the Prussian reorganization of administration, the district of Geldern was formed on 23 April 1816. It was one of over 40 rural districts of the

Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg The Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg () was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1822. Jülich-Cleves-Berg was established in 1815 from part restored and part newly annexed lands by the Kingdom of Prussia from France's Grand Duchy of Berg. Jülich- ...

, the northern half of the later

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. ...

. In 1863 the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

–

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

– Geldern –

was opened, and a

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...

local line in 1902 (closed in 1932). In

Geldern was

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...

ed several times, at the end of 1944 and on 14 February 1945, which led to devastation in the city centre. Only a few houses were saved, about 82% was destroyed. The parish church was also severely damaged, and the main building of Schloss Haag was completely destroyed. The parish church of Mary Magdalene was rebuilt in 1952, and redecorated in 2003/2004.

Religion

The

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of Geldern is mostly Roman

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. There are several Catholic churches, including the historically important parish church of Mary Magdalene on the market square. There are two

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

churches: the Holy Spirit church near the market, and one in the borough of Walbeck.

Territorial reorganization

The present composition of the city of Geldern was created at the territorial reorganization of

, on 1 July 1969. The municipalities of Kapellen, Vernum, Pont, Veert and Walbeck were incorporated into Geldern. On 1 January 1975 the former districts of Cleves and Geldern and parts of the districts of

Moers Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German List of cities and towns in Germany, city on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel (distric ...

and Rees were merged to form the new district of Cleves.

Population

Culture and tourism

Buildings

There is an approx. 60 km long cycle path along the Fossa Eugeniana, a never completed

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

from the

near Rheinberg to the

near

. Hiking is possible around the former Schloss Haag, part of which still remains, and is home to Golfclub Schloss Haag e.V. There is a mill tower and the

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monastery, monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminary, seminaries. The name ...

of the 16th century former monastery of Augustinian nuns. There are some

wind mill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern periods; ...

s in the vicinity, including one within 1 km of Geldern-Kapellen.

Events

Every summer Geldern hosts a street painting contest, which attracts international artists. Geldern has the largest

Whitsun Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian holy day of Pentecost. It falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter and commemorates the descent of the H ...

(Pentecost)

funfair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

of the lower Rhine, a street party in summer, and a

Christmas Market A Christmas market is a street market associated with the celebration of Christmas during the four weeks of Advent. These markets originated in Germany, but are now held in many countries. Some in the U.S. have Phono-semantic matching, adapted ...

. Several other events are organized in summer.

Transport

Aviation

Geldern is served by two nearby airports Weeze Airport (19 km) and

(55 km). The international airport in Amsterdam is 180 km or about 2 hours by auto. Pedestrianbridgegelderntrainstation04

Trains and buses

The

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

railway station of Geldern lies on the line from

via

. There are two trains per hour. Buses are used for public transport in the city and the surrounding area.

Roads

Geldern is connected to the German Autobahns:

motorways A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

A40 ( E 34) and A57 ( E 31) by the federal roads B9 and B58.

Twin towns – sister cities

Geldern is twinned with: * Bree, Belgium * Fürstenberg, Germany

Notable people

* Benedictus Buns (1642–1716), priest and composer *

Max Pfeffer __NOTOC__ Max Pfeffer (7 June 1883 – 31 December 1955) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II who commanded the IV Army Corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Pfeffer surrendered to the S ...

(1883–1955), officer, General of the artillery in the World War II * Joseph Veltjens (1894–1943), Jagdflieger in the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and bearer of the Order

Pour le Mérite The (; , ), also informally known as the ''Blue Max'' () after German WWI flying ace Max Immelmann, is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. Separated into two classes, each with their own designs, the was ...

Thomas Struth Thomas Struth (born 11 October 1954) is a German photographer who is best known for his ''Museum Photographs'' series, black and white photographs of the streets of Düsseldorf and New York taken in the 1970s, and his family photographs series. ...

(born 1954), photographer * Suzie Kerstgens (born 1971), singer * Xenia Seeberg (born 1972), actress * Björn Böhning (born 1978), politician (SPD) *

Johannes Oerding Johannes Oerding (born 26 December 1981) is a German singer-songwriter. He primarily records his work in German. Early life Oerding was born in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia and raised in Geldern-Kapellen near the border of the Netherlands. ...

(born 1981), singer and songwriter * Anne van Bonn (born 1985), footballer

References

*''Geldrischer Heimatkalender'', Historischer Verein für Geldern und Umgegend (Herausgeber), erscheint jährlich *Irmgard Hantsche, ''Geldern Atlas - Karten und Texte zur Geschichte eines Territoriums'', Geldern 2003, *Johannes Stinner und Karl-Heinz Tekath, ''Gelre—Geldern—Gelderland - Geschichte und Kultur des Herzogtums Geldern'', Geldern 2001, Verlag des Historischen Vereins für Geldern und Umgegend, *Heinz Bosch, ''Illustrierte Geschichte der Stadt Geldern 1848-1969'', Band I: ''Von den revolutionären Ereignissen 1848 bis zum Ausbruch des ersten Weltkriegs 1914'', Geldern 1994 *Gregor Hövelmann, ''Geschichte des Kreises Geldern. Eine Skizze. Erster Teil: 1816-1866'', Geldern 1974

External links

*
History Club of Geldern - (German)
* Geldern-Kapellen English Wiki page * Wiki Page of the village of Geldern-Walbeck (German) {{Authority control Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Kleve (district) Members of the Hanseatic League