Grave (; formerly ''De Graaf'') is a city and former municipality in the Dutch province of

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

. The former municipality had a population of in . Grave is a member of the Dutch Association of Fortified Cities. The former municipality included the following towns: Grave (capital), Velp,

Escharen Escharen is a village in the Dutch province of North Brabant. It is located in the former municipality of Grave. Since 2022 it has been part of the new municipality of Land van Cuijk. History The village was first mentioned between 1200 and ...

and Gassel. Grave,

Boxmeer Boxmeer () is a town and former municipality in upper southeastern Netherlands. Boxmeer as a municipality incorporated the former municipality of Beugen en Rijkevoort and that of Vierlingsbeek. One of the population centers of the former municip ...

Cuijk Cuijk (; dialect: ''Kuuk'') is a town in the northeastern part of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, Netherlands. It is the successor of a Roman Empire, Roman settlement on the west bank of the Meuse, south of Nijmegen. ...

Mill en Sint Hubert Mill en Sint Hubert () is a former municipality in the province of North Brabant, the Netherlands. Mill en Sint Hubert, Boxmeer, Cuijk, Grave, and Sint Anthonis merged into the new municipality of Land van Cuijk on 1 January 2022. Populatio ...

, and

Sint Anthonis Sint Anthonis () is a village and former municipality in the southern Netherlands in the Province of North Brabant. The locals refer to the town as ''Sint Tunnis''. An inhabitant is called a "Sintunnisenaar". The former municipality had a populati ...

merged into the new municipality of Land van Cuijk on 1 January 2022.

History

Grave 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 1233. The former municipality of Grave was formed in the Napoleonic era (1810) and coincided with the fortified Grave and immediate surroundings. The history of the town was thus linked to that of the place. This changed in 1942. Then there was a reclassification place where the municipality Grave was expanded with the previously independent municipalities Velp and

. Moreover, in 1994 the neighboring municipality of Beers was abolished and a part thereof, the parish Gassel, was also added to the municipality Grave.

Popular attractions

Near to Grave lies a bridge, now called John S. Thompsonbrug, built in 1929. It is the northern connection to

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 ...

, spanning the river Maas. The bridge was one of the key strategic points in Operation Market Garden; the city was liberated at 17 September 1944, suffering very little damage. The bridge was named in 2004 after Lieutenant John S. Thompson of the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into hostile areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

, who commanded the platoon of the

that captured the bridge. The Hampoort is the old entrance to the city, and it is still largely intact and can be visited.

Notable people

Nobility

Mary of Guelders Mary of Guelders (; c. 1434/1435 – 1 December 1463) was Queen of Scots by marriage to King James II. She ruled as regent of Scotland from 1460 to 1463. Background She was the daughter of Arnold, Duke of Guelders, and Catherine of Clev ...

( in Grave – 1463), the queen consort of Scotland as the wife of King

James II of Scotland James II (16 October 1430 – 3 August 1460) was King of Scots from 1437 until his death in 1460. The eldest surviving son of James I of Scotland, he succeeded to the Scottish throne at the age of six, following the assassination of his fathe ...

, served as regent of Scotland from 1460 to 1463 *

Adolf, Duke of Guelders Adolf of Egmond (Grave, 12 February 1438 – Tournai, 27 June 1477) was a Duke of Guelders, Count of Zutphen from 1465 to 1471 and in 1477. Life Adolf was the son of Arnold, Duke of Guelders and Catherine of Cleves. In the battle of success ...

(1438 in Grave – 1477) Duke of Guelders & Count of Zutphen 1465–1471 *

Charles II, Duke of Guelders Charles II (9 November 1467 – 30 June 1538) was a member of the House of Egmond who ruled as Duke of Guelders and Count of Zutphen from 1492 until his death. He had a principal role in the Frisian peasant rebellion and the Guelders Wars. Life ...

(1467 in Grave – 1538) member of the

House of Egmond The House of Egmond or Egmont (French language, French: ''Maison d'Egmond'', Dutch language, Dutch: ''Huis Egmond'') is named after the Netherlands, Dutch town of Egmond aan den Hoef, Egmond, province of North Holland, and played an important role ...

who ruled as Duke of Guelders and Count of Zutphen from 1492 to 1538 * Anna van Egmont (1533 in Grave – 1558) a wealthy Dutch heiress, the first wife of

William the Silent William the Silent or William the Taciturn (; 24 April 153310 July 1584), more commonly known in the Netherlands as William of Orange (), was the leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish Habsburg Netherlands, Habsburgs that set off the ...

Prince of Orange Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by the stadtholders of, and then the heirs apparent of ...

* Louise van der Nooth (1630s in Grave – 1654) a maid of honour and favorite of

Queen Christina of Sweden Christina (; 18 December O.S. 8 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 8 December1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Monarchy of Sweden, Queen of Sweden from ...

Others

Johann Weyer Johannes Wier ( or '; 1515 – 24 February 1588) was a Dutch physician who was among the first to publish a thorough treatise against the trials and persecution of people accused of witchcraft. His most influential work is ('On th ...

(1515 in Grave – 1588) Dutch physician, occultist and demonologist, disciple and follower of

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (; ; 14 September 1486 – 18 February 1535) was a German Renaissance polymath, physician, legal scholar, soldier, knight, theologian, and occult writer. Agrippa's ''Three Books of Occult Philosophy'' pub ...

* Charles de Thierry (1793 in Grave – 1864) an adventurer in New Zealand * Jan Pieter van Suchtelen (1751 in Grave – 1836) general in the Russian army during the

Russo-Swedish War (1808–1809) The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomou ...

* Johan Stein (1871 in Grave – 1951) Dutch astronomer and a member of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

Images

Image:2006-05-17 13.37 Grave, brug over de Maas.JPG, Bridge: John S. Thompsonbrug Image:Grave, straatzicht Brugstraat 2-10 bij Oranjehotel foto1 2010-04-10 11.02.jpg, Houses in centre Image:Grave vistrap inlaat scheepswerf.jpg,

Fish ladder A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon, is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as mov ...

and shipyard Image:Grave canal lock.jpg, Canal lock

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Cities in the Netherlands Populated places in North Brabant Former municipalities of North Brabant Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2022 Geography of Land van Cuijk Rivers with fish ladders