Rees, Germany

Rees
Town
City Hall
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Rees within Kleve district
Rees Show map of Germany Rees Show map of North Rhine-Westphalia
Coordinates: 51°46′N 6°24′E / 51.767°N 6.400°E / 51.767; 6.400
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Düsseldorf
District	Kleve
Subdivisions	8
Government
• Mayor (2020–25)	Christoph Gerwers[1] (CDU)
Area
• Total	109.66 km2 (42.34 sq mi)
Population  (2022-12-31)[2]
• Total	21,475
• Density	200/km2 (510/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	46459
Dialling codes	0 28 51 0 28 50 (Haldern) 0 28 57 (Mehr / Haffen)
Vehicle registration	KLE
Website	www.stadt-rees.de

Rees is a town in the district of Kleve in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the right bank of the Rhine, approximately 20 km east of Kleve. The population in 2005 was 22,559. Founded in 1228, Rees is the oldest town in the lower Rhine area.

Geography

Rees is administratively organized in eight communities:

• Community of Bienen
• Community of Empel
• Community of Esserden
• Community of Haffen
• Community of Haldern
• Community of Mehr
• Community of Millingen
• Community of Rees

The neighbouring municipalities are Oude IJsselstreek (province of Gelderland, NL) and Isselburg (district of Borken) in the North, Hamminkeln and Wesel in the East, Xanten in the South (all district of Wesel), and Kalkar and Emmerich in the West.

History

The origin of the town is a Frankish settlement established between 500-800 AD. The name Rees most probably goes back to the Kleverlandish term "Rys", which means "willow grove".

The Lower Rhine area was Christianized by the Irish missionary Willibrord between 657-739. Around 1000 the nearby monastery of Aspel was first mentioned.

On 14 July 1228 Rees was granted municipal rights by

During the

In 1816 Rees became capital of the newly founded Rees District within Regierungsbezirk Kleve. The railway line from Oberhausen to Arnhem was inaugurated in 1856 and a railway station was built near Rees. At the beginning of the 20th century Rees had 4,096 inhabitants of whom 330 were Protestants and 52 were Jews.^[3]

During the

Christoph Gerwers (CDU) has been mayor of Rees since 2009. He was reelected in 2015 with 66.6% of the votes.^[4]

Culture, Tourism and Points of Interest

• In the Middle Ages Rees was surrounded by a city wall which was built from 1289 - 1307.
  casemates
  have been restored and are open to the public. One of them (Bastei) was built in 1583 and transformed into a war memorial after 1945.
• The municipal Koenraad-Bosman-Museum houses various exhibitions explaining the history of Rees and pieces of art.
• The catholic church "Saint Mary's Ascension" (Sankt Mariä Himmelfahrt) was built from 1820-1828 in a classicist style. It was destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt from 1956-1964.
• The small Protestant church in the Market Place was built in 1624, destroyed in 1945 and reconstructed after the war.^[6]
• In the town center, there are many carefully restored wells and water pumps that have become recognizable landmarks. An annual Pumpenkirmes (Ger., "pump fair") celebrates their former role as places for work and gossip.
• The Jewish cemetery of Rees was founded at the beginning of the 18th century.^[7] As Jews in medieval Rees were forbidden from being buried in the city their cemetery was laid out on the medieval wall which was 8 metres broad. Thus the graves were safe in case of a Rhine flood. In 1872 the cemetery was closed because it was fully occupied and a new Jewish cemetery was founded in the outskirts of the town on Wesel Road. On 8 of November 1938 the cemetery was desecrated by the Fascists and heavily damaged by bombs on 16 February 1945. Today 24 graves can be seen on the cemetery with the oldest gravestone dating from 1788. The cemetery is not open to the public but the graves on the wall can be seen from the outside.

• The sculpture park of Rees was founded in 2003. Pieces of art by German und Dutch artists are exhibited.
• In Millingen, a former village which became a part of Rees in 1974, catholic Saint Quirin's Church dating from the 15th and 16th century is worth a visit.
• Rees has one of the most beautiful Rhine promenades in Germany with restaurants and cafes arranged along the riverbank. Most visitors come from the nearby
  Ruhr Area, from where Rees can be easily accessed via the Autobahn A3 in approx. 30 minutes. Boat tours on the Rhine river (e.g. to Nijmegen, Netherlands) can be taken from the small shipping pier. The town offers a motorhome
  park, as well as three campsites and many bicycling routes.
• The facilities of the SV (Sportverein) Rees have been used by several national and international
  soccer teams, most memorably playing host to the national team of Cameroon
  in 2002.
• Haldern is venue of the
  indie music
  artists from all over the world as well as thousands of enthusiastic fans.

Rees has major road access to the Autobahn A3 and the federal roads B8 (North-South) and B67 (East-West).

Inland waterways

• The River Rhine

For pedestrians and bicyclists, transfer across the Rhine is provided by two ferries from Easter holidays through October.

Nearest airports

Distance to Düsseldorf Airport: ca. 75 km

Distance to

Notable people

• Mirko Boland (born 1987), footballer (Eintracht Braunschweig)
• Konrad Heresbach (1496–1576), German Humanist
• Karl Leisner (1915–1945), martyr of the Catholic Church, who died as a result of mistreatment in concentration camp Dachau
• Vlado Stenzel (born 1934), handball player and coach
• Franz-Josef Tenhagen (born 1952), former footballer and coach

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rees, am Rhein.

• Official website (in German)