Cleves

Cleves (Ger. Kleve, Dutch Kleef), a town of Rhenish Prussia, 48 miles NW. of Düsseldorf. It is situated on three gentle elevations, about 2½ miles from the Rhine, with which it communicates by canal, in the midst of a rich and beautiful country. It is well built, in the Dutch fashion, and surrounded by walls. The fine old castle, known as the Schwanenburg, partly built on a commanding rock, is the reputed scene of the legend of the Knight of the Swan, made familiar by Wagner's opera of Lohengrin. Anne of Cleves, fourth wife of Henry VIII., was born in this castle. In the collegiate church, which dates from the 14th century, are some good monuments to the counts and dukes of Cleves. Cleves has manufactures of cotton and leather goods, tobacco, &c. Pop. (1885) 10,170. Cleves was anciently the capital of a duchy (a countship until 1416) extending along both banks of the Rhine, which passed by inheritance in 1609 to Brandenburg.