Kleve

Kleve (also Cleves or Kleff) is a town and a district (Kreis) in the Lower Rhine region of Western Germany.

Understand
Kleve (formerly spelled Cleves) used to be the capital of an eponymous county, and later duchy, that existed from c. 1020 until 1795. From 1609 on, it was ruled in personal union by the Prince-Electors of Brandenburg who later became the Kings of Prussia. During the 17th century, it was one of three residences of Brandenburg-Prussia (besides Berlin and Königsberg). After being occupied by France for 20 years, it was annexed to the Prussian Rhine Province in 1815. Thanks to its mineral springs, Bad Cleve was a popular spa town from the mid-18th century until the spring dried up in 1914. Nowadays, the town of 52,000 inhabitants (2020) is a county seat and member of the Dutch-German Euregio Rhine-Waal.

By plane


A major airport with more international connections is in Düsseldorf, from where trains take you to Kleve in about two hours (you will have to change at Düsseldorf main station).

Another alternative is to fly to the Dutch airport of Eindhoven, which is about 90 km west of Kleve (however, there is no convenient connection with public transportation).

By train
The

By bus
From Nijmegen in the neighbouring Netherlands, there are hourly buses to Kleve (taking about 50 minutes from one central station to another). You may transfer in Nijmegen when arriving from Arnhem (1:15 hours to Kleve in total), Utrecht (two hours) or Amsterdam (2:45 hours).

By regional buses you may get to Kleve from Kalkar (25 minutes), Emmerich (half an hour) or Xanten (40 minutes).

Get around
Getting around in Kleve is best done on foot or on the bike. Many radial routes going into the city have dedicated cycleways making cycling easy and convenient. In June 2019 opened a dedicated cycleway, the Europa-Radbahn, linking Kleve directly with the Dutch city of Nijmegen and the cities and towns in between. This has somewhat reduced the travel time between the two cities and provides a viable alternative to the use of the private car. Buses connect Kleve in addition with its surrounding rural suburbs and communities. The service frequency however is rather poor, especially during off-peak times, evenings and at the weekends.

See

 * Kleve stands out with its extensive parks and gardens, dating back to the Baroque era. They were created during the governorship of Johann Moritz of Nassau-Siegen by the Dutch landscape gardener Jacob van Campen, starting in 1647. At the era, they enjoyed Europe-wide fame and were used as a model for other famous parks, including the gardens of Potsdam. The most original part is the for which an artificial hill, called Springenberg, was raised. On the hilltop is an obelisk, on the hillside a decorative amphitheatre, and at its foot there is another park marked by a long body of water. The neighbouring  is an arboretum with several different tree species. The grounds are surrounded by a narrow moat, designed to prevent cattle or trespassers from entering without disrupting the view (as a wall or fence would have done). Finally, there is the Alter Tiergarten with Prince Johann Moritz's sepulchre (on Uedemer Straße near Bedburg-Hau, 3.5 km southeast of downtown Kleve), consisting of a cast-iron tumba and exedra, which is however empty as the Prince was eventually buried in Siegen rather than in Kleve.

Go next

 * Emmerich am Rhein, 12 km to the northeast on the opposite bank of River Rhine (25–30 minutes by bus)
 * Nijmegen, Netherlands, 25 km to the west (50 minutes by bus)
 * Kevelaer, 30 km to the south (25 minutes by train)
 * Xanten, 30 km to the southeast (40 minutes by bus)
 * Arcen, village near Venlo on the Maas river with a castle and beautiful gardens, 40 km to the south