Kleve (Cleves in English use) or Kreis Kleve is a Kreis (local-government district) in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern

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. Neighbouring districts are Borken,

Wesel Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel (district), Wesel district. Geography Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine. Division of the city Suburbs of Wesel i ...

, and Viersen in Germany, and the Dutch provinces of Limburg and

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 ...

History

The district in its current borders was created in 1975 when the former district of Kleve and Geldern was merged with the Rees District towns of Emmerich and Rees and the Moers District municipality of Rheurdt. The two precursor districts had been created in 1816 when the whole of the

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 ...

became a province of

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, ...

. Territorially they corresponded roughly to the historic Duchies of Cleves and

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 ...

Geography

The district is located in the lower valley 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 ...

, in the region where that river flows into 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 ...

Coat of arms

The coat of arms, which was granted in 1983, combines the shields of the two constituent duchies. The dexter side depicts the emblem of the dukes of Cleves: On a red (

gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). Gules is portrayed in heraldic hatch ...

) field a white (

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

) escutcheon (shield shape) with an eightfold

fleur-de-lys The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...

(escarbuncle/metal shield reinforcement). The sinister side shows a golden ( or) lion (in rampant position) on a blue ( azure) field (background): the emblem of the dukes of Geldern.

Towns and municipalities

Gallery of churches in Kleve

Bimmen, die Sankt Martinuskirche Dm34 IMG 7924 2020-11-07 14.13.jpg, Bimmen, St. Martin Düffelward - katholische St.-Mauritius-Kirche - panoramio.jpg, Düffelward, St. Maurice Griethausen imp 104.JPG, Griethausen, St. Martin Keeken, katholieke kerk foto4 2011-02-09 15.23.JPG, Keeken, St. Mariae Himmelfahrt Keeken, die evangelische Kirche Dm47 foto4 2015-10-26 11.55.jpg, Keeken, Reformed church Kleve-Kellen St. Willibrord PM18-01.jpg, Kellen, St. Willibrord Kleve Stiftskirche 01.jpg, Kleve, St. Mariae Himmelfahrt Sankt Anna.jpg, Materborn, St. Anna Rindern, Sankt Willibrordkirche foto8 2011-02-09 14.50.JPG, Rindern, St. Willibrord Evangelische Kirche (Schenkenschanz) PM2011.JPG, Schenkenschanz, Reformed church

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kleve (District) Districts of North Rhine-Westphalia Düsseldorf (region)