Rheinberg | |
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 Historic market square, view from St. Peter Church | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Rheinberg within Wesel district  | |
  Rheinberg  Rheinberg | |
| Coordinates:51°32′48″N6°36′2″E / 51.54667°N 6.60056°E /51.54667; 6.60056 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Admin. region | Düsseldorf |
| District | Wesel |
| Subdivisions | 4 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–25) | Dietmar Heyde[1] (Greens) |
| Area | |
• Total | 75.15 km2 (29.02 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 20 m (70 ft) |
| Population (2023-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 31,096 |
| • Density | 410/km2 (1,100/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 47495 |
| Dialling codes | 02843 Rheinberg 02802Alpen, Germany 02844Orsoy |
| Vehicle registration | WES, MO, DIN |
| Website | www.rheinberg.de |
Rheinberg (German:[ˈʁaɪnbɛʁk]ⓘ) is a town in thedistrict of Wesel, inNorth Rhine-Westphalia,Germany. It is situated on the left bank of theRhine, approx. 10 kilometres (6 miles) north ofMoers and 15 km (9 miles) south ofWesel.
It comprises the municipal districts of Rheinberg, Borth, Budberg, andOrsoy.
Rheinberg, is first documented in 1003, came into the possession of the archbishops of Cologne in the 11th century. After the town rights of Rheinberg had been granted to Archbishop Heinrich von Molenark in 1233, the construction of a city fortification began. This was initially only made of wood, but was replaced at the end of the 13th century by basalt, among other things. Almost at the same time, around 1293, the construction of the electoral palace and the customs tower called thePowder Tower, northeast of the city center, began.
Explosion of the Powder Tower in 1598, in which large parts of Rheinberg, the castle and the associated Old Waiter's Shop were destroyed
The castle was surrounded by a moat and had four towers and two drawbridges. The main bridge led to the city, the other to the outbuildings. The waiter's shop was also built there in 1573 (Alte Kellnerei) It served as a grainstore for the income of the Amt Rheinberg and was used in the western part as a stables, but initially also as a dwelling of Salentin von Isenburg.
In October 1598, during the siege of Rheinberg by the Spaniards under Francisco de Mendoza, an explosion occurred in the Powder Tower, destroying large parts of the city and castle. Only parts of the winery and a tower have been preserved. Due to further battles, the Old Winery could not be taken up until 1627. It was fundamentally rebuilt. The western section was extended to two and a half floors as the apartment of the respective Schultheiß and waiter as well as the Electorate of Cologne officials, increasingly also the fortress governors, and equipped with larger window openings. The eastern part was given two floors and was now the armoury. Both wings were separated by a massive gable wall. At that time, the winery's bleaching groundswere also located on the grounds of the winery. Military activities were also pursued on these, so there was training and temporarily soldiers' quarters were also on the square.
During theEighty Years' War (1566–1648), Rheinberg became known as thewhore of the war since it was captured and retaken so many times by competing belligerents.[3] First taken in1590, then1597,1599,1601, 1606 and finally wherePrince Rupert of the Rhine gained his first military experience fighting alongside the ProtestantFrederick Henry, Prince of Orange in 1633.
A century later theBattle of Rheinberg was fought on 12 June 1758, during theSeven Years' War.
It is the location of aCommonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery, where 3,327 Commonwealth servicemen of theSecond World War are buried or commemorated. The majority of those now buried in the cemetery were airmen re-interred from German cemeteries after the war. The men of the other fighting services buried there mostly lost their lives during theBattle of the Rhineland to the Elbe.[4]
Rheinberg is the site of a 110,000-square-metre (1,200,000 sq ft)Amazon.com fulfilment warehouse.[5] Rheinberg is also home toUnderberg, one of the most famous liquor producers in Germany.[citation needed]
Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany
Montreuil, France
(in German)Towns and municipalities inWesel (district) | ||
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