Xanten
Encyclopedia
Xanten (ˈksantən, Lower Franconian Santen) is a historic town
in the North Rhine-Westphalia
state of Germany
, located in the district of Wesel
.
Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park or archaeological open air museum
(one of the largest in the world), its medieval picturesque city centre with Xanten Cathedral
and many museums, its large man-made lake for various watersport activities as well as high standard of living. It is visited by approximately one million tourists a year.
Big events include the Xantener Sommerfestspiele (a prestigious classical music festival lasting 2 weeks every summer), the annual Xantener Montmartre where artists from all over the world show their latest works as well as the annual German sandcastle-building championship.
Xanten is one of Germany's most affluent communitites.
The city borders the Lower Rhine
and the city of Rees
to the north, the city of Wesel
to the east, the municipalities of Alpen
and Sonsbeck
to the south, and the cities of Uedem
and Kalkar
to the west.
The closest international (European) airport is Airport Weeze
, (also called Niederrhein Airport; Ryanair hub) is in Weeze
(25 km); the closest intercontinental airport is Düsseldorf International Airport
(60 km)
the Roman
camp Castra Vetera was created on the Fürstenberg near today's locality Birten. It was intended as a base for campaigns into Germania
and until its destruction during the Revolt of the Batavi in 70 AD it was occupied by 8,000 to 10,000 legionaries, and was the main base of the Classis germanica.
After the destruction of Castra Vetera a second camp became established at the Bislicher Insel, named Castra Vetera II, which became the base camp of Legio VI Victrix
. A nearby created settlement, which was inhabited by 10,000 to 15,000 usually former legionaries, was given the rights of a Colonia
in 110 by the Roman emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus, who renamed the city into Colonia Ulpia Traiana. The colonia became the second most important commercial post in the province of Germania Inferior
, only surpassed by Colonia Agrippinensis (today's Cologne
). In 122, Vetera II became the camp of Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix
, which substituted VI Victrix which had moved to Britannia
.
In 275 the colonia was almost destroyed by Germanic tribes. Thereupon in its neighborhood a new city was established, named Tricensimae, which was smaller but fortified and more easily defended. At the beginning of the 5th century, assaults by Germanic tribes rapidly increased, with the result that the colonia' was finally given up.
In 363 The Christian Viktor of Xanten
is supposed to have been executed together with 360 further members of the Theban Legion
near the modern town of Birten, as they refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods. Since then Viktor of Xanten has been declared a martyr by the Roman Catholic Church, and the patron saint of the cathedral established over his assumed burial place.
In the 5th century the Franks
began to settle in the area of today's Xanten, but they did not find any urban settlements.
According to the legend of the Nibelungs, Siegfried of Xanten
was born on ze Santen an dem Rhîne.
In the second half of the 8th Century a church was built on the grounds of an old cemetery of the ancient Roman colony and called Sanctos (super Rhenum) (also mentioned as ad Sanctum). The name of "place of saints" was derived from the assumed grave of the martyr Viktor of Xanten
and is the source of today's city name of Xanten. After the establishment of a convent to the south, what became today's town centre grew into existence.
In 939 troops under Otto I
, King of Germany
defeated rebellious Franconian, Saxon and Lotharingian troops under Eberhard of Franconia in the Battle of Birten near Xanten. Following the Battle of Andernach
the same year the Rhineland was reaffirmed to the kingdom of Otto I.
While Xanten, with its rich Viktor Convent, was still being besieged by the Norsemen
in 863, in 1122 the place already appears as part of a trading network at the Lower Rhine. On July 15, 1228, Xanten was given city rights by the Archbishop of Cologne
, Heinrich of Molenark.
Xanten had a Jewish community in early medieval times. Two massacres of Jews occurred during the First Crusade
, on (June 1 and 27, 1096). On the latter occasion some Jews committed suicide in order to escape the fury of the Crusaders.
In 982 the foundation stone for the Gothic St. Victor cathedral
was laid. After 281 years of construction it was finally completed in 1263. At the end of the 14th Century, Xanten was surrounded by a city wall.
In 1392 the northern part of the city came into the possession of the dukes of Cleves
, while the southern part was still possessed by the Archbishopric of Cologne. The division of Xanten was a cause of a conflict between Cleves and Cologne, which ended when the whole of Xanten was awarded to the Duchy of Cleves in 1444.
The section Marienbaum, however, became the main place of pilgrimage on the Lower Rhine between 1430 and 1441. In 1460 a monastery of the Bridgettines
was established, with an abbey church called St. Mariä Himmelfahrt (Assumption of Mary
) which nowadays serves as a parish church.
In the 17th century Xanten was with Cleves inherited by the Margraviate of Brandenburg
. Protestantism
was placed on an equal footing with the Roman Catholic Church
, as confirmed by the Treaty of Xanten
on 12 November 1614. Thereupon a church was built at the Großer Markt (Great market place), which was expanded with a spire in 1622. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the 20th century only 5% of the population were of Protestant denomination. By the beginning of the 21st century, the Protestant population had increased to some 20%.
, and the libraries of closed monasteries and the convent library were merged. After this the economic situation deteriorated more rapidly. A city gate called the Marstor was torn down in 1821, and the Scharntor and parts of the city walls were removed in 1825. The removal of the Klever Tor and a mill called Kriemhildmühle was prevented by a city councillor in 1843. At the same time the ruins of the Colonia Ulpia Traiana, which had been used as a quarry since the Roman settlement was given up, aroused the interest of archaeologists.
Xanten was administered within the Prussia
n Rhine Province
from 1822-1945. Between 1819 and 1844 excavation was carried out. In September,1927, the Catholic Church municipality celebrated its 1,600th anniversary; in 1937 Pope Pius XI
granted the right for the cathedral of St. Viktor to be called a basilica minor.
In the later part of the 19th century the attention of the Jewish world was centred on the small congregation of Xanten because of a case of alleged ritual murder. On June 29, 1891, John Hegemann, the five-year-old son of a local cabinet maker, was found dead in a neighbour's barn, with his throat cut from ear to ear. Anti-Semitic agitation connected the Jewish butcher and former shoḥeṭ
Adolf Buschoff with this crime; and the local priest, Father Bresser, lent support to this rumour by publishing articles on ritual murder in the paper Bote für Stadt und Land, which he edited. The agitation in the anti-Semitic press, as well as at anti-semitic meetings, where it was insinuated that the Jews had bribed or intimidated the authorities in order to prevent the discovery of the truth, compelled the government to arrest Buschoff and his family (October 14, 1891). The evidence against the man, who had always borne a good reputation, was so flimsy, however, that he was discharged (December 20). This action aroused the anti-Semites to still stronger agitation, which culminated in a heated debate in the Prussian Diet. In the course of this argument Stoecker, the ex-court chaplain, repeated the accusation of ritual murder, and hinted at Jewish influence as the cause of the failure to find the murderer (February 7, 1892). Under pressure from this agitation, Buschoff was rearrested (February 8), and tried before a jury at Cleves (July 4-14, 1892). During this trial it was found that the accusations were based on mere hearsay, and contained impossible assertions. The prosecuting attorney himself moved for the dismissal of the charge, and the jury rendered its verdict accordingly. The real murderer was never discovered, and the possibility that the death of the child was due to an accident was not entirely disproved. The agitation had the effect of reducing the Jewish population of the city, and Buschoff himself had to leave. In 1905 Xanten had about thirty Jews out of a total population of 3,770.
In 1933 mayor Heinrich Wagner was locked up in a tower called the Meerturm, accused of alleged nepotism in the loan business. His successor was Friedrich Karl Schöneborn, while the post of deputy mayor was given to Heinrich Prang junior. Prang had already created a local group of the NSDAP in 1925. As the local council of the Deutsche Zentrumspartei was dissolved, three of formerly eight city council members were group members of the NSDAP. The remaining opposition consisted of communists and liberal politicians lacking a clear political mandate.
The following years saw harassment of the Jewish population of Xanten. This included the destruction of the local prayer room and the devastation of several dwellings of Jewish inhabitants on November 9, 1938. After these events the entire Jewish population fled Xanten. During the Second World War an ammunition factory of the Luftwaffe
was established in a small forest close to the city, called Die Hees. While citizens of Xanten worked there at the beginning of the war, women and children, and especially foreigners were forced to perform hard labour at the plant as the war progressed. Incidents in the area of the factory occurred in November, 1942, and October, 1944, causing the explosion of a portion of the stored ammunition, which cost several workers' lives. In May, 1940, the German 256th infantry division was transferred to Xanten to take part in the forthcoming invasion of the Netherlands
.
When allied troops reached Xanten in February, 1945, mayor Schöneborn left the city. With him fled almost the entire city administration to areas to the east. In the same month the bombardment of the city had begun, killing civilians and destroying parts of Xanten. In addition, the cathedral was hit by bombs and damaged heavily. On March 8, 1945, Xanten was finally taken by Canadian troops. The Canadian military lost, according to their own data, 400 soldiers in the fight against the defending Wehrmacht
's Fallschirmjäger (paratroops). Thereupon the city, 85% of which had been already been destroyed, was occupied by British troops while the population was evacuated to Bedburg-Hau
in preparation for the crossing of the Rhine near the city of Wesel.
Artillery projectiles fired by German soldiers from the right bank of the Rhine further devastated Xanten at this time. When the crossing of the Rhine on March 24, 1945, finally succeeded, the Second World War was over for Xanten.
The reconstruction of the city and the cathedral was accomplished particularly by the archaeologist and monument conservationist Walter Bader, and lasted until 1966. Expellees from eastern Prussia that were resettled in Xanten caused the population to rise by almost 40%. In the course of the local re-organization in 1969, the localities Birten, Lüttingen, Marienbaum, Obermörmter, Vynen and Wardt were integrated into Xanten, so that around 16,000 inhabitants lived within the city boundaries. The area of the city increased from 8 km² to 72 km².
In 1975 the Archäologischer Park Xanten (Archaeological Park Xanten), a partial reconstruction of the Roman Colonia Ulpia Traiana, was established and opened for tourism. It is built on the site of the Roman town. Today it is one of the most frequently visited parks in Germany. Among other events there even the popular TV-show Wetten dass..? has taken place in the APX.
Further different historical buildings in the town centre were restored, and today in Xanten there is one of the most beautiful city centres in Germany, with many shops, restaurants and cafes in a medieval atmosphere. At the Xantener Südsee and Xantener Nordsee, two lakes connected by a channel close to the localities Wardt and Vynen, the Freizeitzentrum Xanten (Leisure center Xanten) was established in 1982. Today, it is a popular destination for sailors. On November 28, 1988 Xanten, received the title of a Staatlich anerkannter Erholungsort (state-recognized leisure city) as the first such city in the governmental district of Düsseldorf
. Between 1990 and 2004 the number of inhabitants rose from 16.930 to about 22000. Xanten is twinned with Geel
/Belgium
, Saintes
/France
and Salisbury
in the United Kingdom
.
Among other schools there is one Gymnasium
(Grmmar School), the Stiftsgymnasium Xanten, and a private school for girls, the Marienschule, in Xanten.
Xanten is also a popular filming location and the site of many concerts.
Xanten boasts the likes of Claudia Schiffer
, José Carreras
, Andre Rieu
and Veronica Ferres
as regular visitors and Xanten home owners.
Since Xanten is a quite wealthy town, the conservative CDU
dominates.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in the North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
state of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, located in the district of Wesel
Wesel (district)
Wesel is a Kreis in the northwestern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Borken, Recklinghausen, district-free cities Bottrop, Oberhausen, Duisburg and Krefeld, districts Viersen, Cleves.-History:...
.
Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park or archaeological open air museum
Archaeological open air museum
An archaeological open air museum is a non-profit permanent institution with outdoor true to scale architectural reconstructions primarily based on archaeological sources...
(one of the largest in the world), its medieval picturesque city centre with Xanten Cathedral
Xanten Cathedral
Xanten Cathedral , sometimes called St. Victor's Cathedral , is a Roman Catholic church situated in Xanten, a historic town in the lower Rhine area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is considered the biggest cathedral between Cologne and the sea...
and many museums, its large man-made lake for various watersport activities as well as high standard of living. It is visited by approximately one million tourists a year.
Big events include the Xantener Sommerfestspiele (a prestigious classical music festival lasting 2 weeks every summer), the annual Xantener Montmartre where artists from all over the world show their latest works as well as the annual German sandcastle-building championship.
Xanten is one of Germany's most affluent communitites.
Geography
Xanten, the only German town whose name begins with X, is made up of three districts: Hochbruch, Niederbruch, and the city centre. Other localities belonging to the city of Xanten include Birten, Lüttingen, Marienbaum, Vynen, Obermörmter, Wardt, Mörmter, Willich, Beek, and Ursel. Parts of a nature reserve called Bislicher Insel belong to the city as well.The city borders the Lower Rhine
Lower Rhine
The Lower Rhine flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hoek van Holland, Netherlands.Almost immediately after entering the Netherlands, the Rhine splits into many branches. The main branch is called the Waal which flows from Nijmegen to meet the river Meuse; after which it is called Merwede...
and the city of Rees
Rees, Germany
Rees is a town in the district of Cleves in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the right bank of the Rhine, approx. 20 km east of Cleves...
to the north, the city of Wesel
Wesel
Wesel is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district.-Division of the town:Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrighoven, Ginderich, Feldmark,Fusternberg, Büderich, Flüren and Blumenkamp.-History:...
to the east, the municipalities of Alpen
Alpen, Germany
Alpen is a municipality in the district of Wesel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- Division of the town :The municipality consists 4 districts:* Alpen* Menzelen* Veen* Bönninghardt- Transportation :...
and Sonsbeck
Sonsbeck
Sonsbeck is a municipality in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approx. 20 km west of Wesel, and 25 km south-east of Cleves as well as 8 km from the historic city of Xanten....
to the south, and the cities of Uedem
Uedem
Uedem is a municipality in the district of Cleves, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the border to the Netherlands.-Division of the town:Uedem consists of 4 districts* Uedem* Uedemerfeld* Keppeln* Uedemerbruch-History:...
and Kalkar
Kalkar
Kalkar is a municipality in the district of Kleve, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the Rhine, approx. 10 km south-east of Cleves. The most famous building of Kalkar is its church St...
to the west.
The closest international (European) airport is Airport Weeze
Airport Weeze
Weeze Airport or Niederrhein Airport is an airport situated southwest of the small municipality of Weeze in the Niederrhein of western Germany. It is northwest of Kevelaer, about southeast of Nijmegen, Netherlands, and northwest of Duisburg...
, (also called Niederrhein Airport; Ryanair hub) is in Weeze
Weeze
Weeze is a municipality in the Lower Rhine region, in the north-western part of North Rhine-Westphalia in the district of Kleve in the region of Düsseldorf....
(25 km); the closest intercontinental airport is Düsseldorf International Airport
Düsseldorf International Airport
Düsseldorf International Airport is the largest airport in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the third largest airport in Germany, handling 18.99 million passengers in 2010....
(60 km)
Antiquity
First settlements by isolated tribes can be dated around the year 2000 BC. Around 15 BC15 BC
Year 15 BC was either a common year starting on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the Proleptic Julian calendar...
the Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
camp Castra Vetera was created on the Fürstenberg near today's locality Birten. It was intended as a base for campaigns into Germania
Germania
Germania was the Greek and Roman geographical term for the geographical regions inhabited by mainly by peoples considered to be Germani. It was most often used to refer especially to the east of the Rhine and north of the Danube...
and until its destruction during the Revolt of the Batavi in 70 AD it was occupied by 8,000 to 10,000 legionaries, and was the main base of the Classis germanica.
After the destruction of Castra Vetera a second camp became established at the Bislicher Insel, named Castra Vetera II, which became the base camp of Legio VI Victrix
Legio VI Victrix
Legio sexta Victrix was a Roman legion founded by Octavian in 41 BC. It was the twin legion of VI Ferrata and perhaps held veterans of that legion, and some soldiers kept to the traditions of the Caesarian legion....
. A nearby created settlement, which was inhabited by 10,000 to 15,000 usually former legionaries, was given the rights of a Colonia
Colonia (Roman)
A Roman colonia was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of Roman city.-History:...
in 110 by the Roman emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus, who renamed the city into Colonia Ulpia Traiana. The colonia became the second most important commercial post in the province of Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior
Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, parts of Belgium, and North Rhine-Westphalia left of the Rhine....
, only surpassed by Colonia Agrippinensis (today's Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
). In 122, Vetera II became the camp of Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix
Legio XXX Ulpia Victrix
Legio trigesima Ulpia Victrix was a Roman legion levied by the Emperor Trajan in 100 for the Dacian Wars. The legion was active until disbandment of the Rhine frontier in the beginning of the 5th century. Their emblems were the gods Neptune and Jupiter and the Capricorn...
, which substituted VI Victrix which had moved to Britannia
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
.
In 275 the colonia was almost destroyed by Germanic tribes. Thereupon in its neighborhood a new city was established, named Tricensimae, which was smaller but fortified and more easily defended. At the beginning of the 5th century, assaults by Germanic tribes rapidly increased, with the result that the colonia' was finally given up.
In 363 The Christian Viktor of Xanten
Viktor of Xanten
Victor of Xanten or Saint Victor is a martyr and saint of the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church. His presumed bones are kept in a shrine since the 12th century that today is embedded into the high altar of the Xanten Cathedral. His feast day is October 10.Tradition states that Victor was a...
is supposed to have been executed together with 360 further members of the Theban Legion
Theban Legion
The Theban Legion figures in Christian hagiography as an entire Roman legion — of "six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men" — who had converted en masse to Christianity and were martyred together, in 286, according to the hagiographies of Saint Maurice, the chief among the Legion's...
near the modern town of Birten, as they refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods. Since then Viktor of Xanten has been declared a martyr by the Roman Catholic Church, and the patron saint of the cathedral established over his assumed burial place.
Middle Ages
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
began to settle in the area of today's Xanten, but they did not find any urban settlements.
According to the legend of the Nibelungs, Siegfried of Xanten
Sigurd
Sigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Völsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in pictorial form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr) is a legendary hero of...
was born on ze Santen an dem Rhîne.
In the second half of the 8th Century a church was built on the grounds of an old cemetery of the ancient Roman colony and called Sanctos (super Rhenum) (also mentioned as ad Sanctum). The name of "place of saints" was derived from the assumed grave of the martyr Viktor of Xanten
Viktor of Xanten
Victor of Xanten or Saint Victor is a martyr and saint of the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church. His presumed bones are kept in a shrine since the 12th century that today is embedded into the high altar of the Xanten Cathedral. His feast day is October 10.Tradition states that Victor was a...
and is the source of today's city name of Xanten. After the establishment of a convent to the south, what became today's town centre grew into existence.
In 939 troops under Otto I
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan...
, King of Germany
Kingdom of Germany
The Kingdom of Germany developed out of the eastern half of the former Carolingian Empire....
defeated rebellious Franconian, Saxon and Lotharingian troops under Eberhard of Franconia in the Battle of Birten near Xanten. Following the Battle of Andernach
Battle of Andernach
The Battle of Andernach, between the followers and the opponents of King Otto I of Germany, took place at 2 October 939 in Andernach on the Rhine river and ended with a decisive defeat of the rebels and the death of their leaders....
the same year the Rhineland was reaffirmed to the kingdom of Otto I.
While Xanten, with its rich Viktor Convent, was still being besieged by the Norsemen
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
in 863, in 1122 the place already appears as part of a trading network at the Lower Rhine. On July 15, 1228, Xanten was given city rights by the Archbishop of Cologne
Archbishopric of Cologne
The Electorate of Cologne was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire and existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the temporal possessions of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne . It was ruled by the Archbishop in his function as prince-elector of...
, Heinrich of Molenark.
Xanten had a Jewish community in early medieval times. Two massacres of Jews occurred during the First Crusade
First Crusade
The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...
, on (June 1 and 27, 1096). On the latter occasion some Jews committed suicide in order to escape the fury of the Crusaders.
In 982 the foundation stone for the Gothic St. Victor cathedral
Xanten Cathedral
Xanten Cathedral , sometimes called St. Victor's Cathedral , is a Roman Catholic church situated in Xanten, a historic town in the lower Rhine area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is considered the biggest cathedral between Cologne and the sea...
was laid. After 281 years of construction it was finally completed in 1263. At the end of the 14th Century, Xanten was surrounded by a city wall.
In 1392 the northern part of the city came into the possession of the dukes of Cleves
Duchy of Cleves
The Duchy of Cleves was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and the town of Wesel, bordering the lands of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster in the east and the Duchy of Brabant in the west...
, while the southern part was still possessed by the Archbishopric of Cologne. The division of Xanten was a cause of a conflict between Cleves and Cologne, which ended when the whole of Xanten was awarded to the Duchy of Cleves in 1444.
Early Modern period
After being taken by the dukes of Cleves, in the wake of war and crop failure, the number of inhabitants slumped from 5,000 at the beginning of the 16th Century to approximately 2,500 by the end of the 18th Century. The Rhine had been a basis of Xanten's status as a trading city until the river bed shifted away from the city, causing its economic situation to deteriorate. The river even flooded and destroyed the locality of Birten several times.The section Marienbaum, however, became the main place of pilgrimage on the Lower Rhine between 1430 and 1441. In 1460 a monastery of the Bridgettines
Bridgettines
The Bridgettine or Birgittine Order is a monastic religious order of Augustinian nuns, Religious Sisters and monks founded by Saint Birgitta of Sweden in approximately 1350, and approved by Pope Urban V in 1370...
was established, with an abbey church called St. Mariä Himmelfahrt (Assumption of Mary
Assumption of Mary
According to the belief of Christians of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglicanism, the Assumption of Mary was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life...
) which nowadays serves as a parish church.
In the 17th century Xanten was with Cleves inherited by the Margraviate of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
. Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
was placed on an equal footing with the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, as confirmed by the Treaty of Xanten
Treaty of Xanten
The Treaty of Xanten was signed in the Lower Rhine town of Xanten on November 12, 1614 between Wolfgang William, Duke of Palatinate-Neuburg and John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, with representatives from England and France serving as mediators....
on 12 November 1614. Thereupon a church was built at the Großer Markt (Great market place), which was expanded with a spire in 1622. Nevertheless, at the beginning of the 20th century only 5% of the population were of Protestant denomination. By the beginning of the 21st century, the Protestant population had increased to some 20%.
Modern times
In 1802 the Viktor-convent was secularized by Napoléon BonaparteNapoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
, and the libraries of closed monasteries and the convent library were merged. After this the economic situation deteriorated more rapidly. A city gate called the Marstor was torn down in 1821, and the Scharntor and parts of the city walls were removed in 1825. The removal of the Klever Tor and a mill called Kriemhildmühle was prevented by a city councillor in 1843. At the same time the ruins of the Colonia Ulpia Traiana, which had been used as a quarry since the Roman settlement was given up, aroused the interest of archaeologists.
Xanten was administered within the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n Rhine Province
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia or synonymous to the Rhineland , was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822-1946. It was created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg...
from 1822-1945. Between 1819 and 1844 excavation was carried out. In September,1927, the Catholic Church municipality celebrated its 1,600th anniversary; in 1937 Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...
granted the right for the cathedral of St. Viktor to be called a basilica minor.
In the later part of the 19th century the attention of the Jewish world was centred on the small congregation of Xanten because of a case of alleged ritual murder. On June 29, 1891, John Hegemann, the five-year-old son of a local cabinet maker, was found dead in a neighbour's barn, with his throat cut from ear to ear. Anti-Semitic agitation connected the Jewish butcher and former shoḥeṭ
Shechita
Shechita is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws...
Adolf Buschoff with this crime; and the local priest, Father Bresser, lent support to this rumour by publishing articles on ritual murder in the paper Bote für Stadt und Land, which he edited. The agitation in the anti-Semitic press, as well as at anti-semitic meetings, where it was insinuated that the Jews had bribed or intimidated the authorities in order to prevent the discovery of the truth, compelled the government to arrest Buschoff and his family (October 14, 1891). The evidence against the man, who had always borne a good reputation, was so flimsy, however, that he was discharged (December 20). This action aroused the anti-Semites to still stronger agitation, which culminated in a heated debate in the Prussian Diet. In the course of this argument Stoecker, the ex-court chaplain, repeated the accusation of ritual murder, and hinted at Jewish influence as the cause of the failure to find the murderer (February 7, 1892). Under pressure from this agitation, Buschoff was rearrested (February 8), and tried before a jury at Cleves (July 4-14, 1892). During this trial it was found that the accusations were based on mere hearsay, and contained impossible assertions. The prosecuting attorney himself moved for the dismissal of the charge, and the jury rendered its verdict accordingly. The real murderer was never discovered, and the possibility that the death of the child was due to an accident was not entirely disproved. The agitation had the effect of reducing the Jewish population of the city, and Buschoff himself had to leave. In 1905 Xanten had about thirty Jews out of a total population of 3,770.
In 1933 mayor Heinrich Wagner was locked up in a tower called the Meerturm, accused of alleged nepotism in the loan business. His successor was Friedrich Karl Schöneborn, while the post of deputy mayor was given to Heinrich Prang junior. Prang had already created a local group of the NSDAP in 1925. As the local council of the Deutsche Zentrumspartei was dissolved, three of formerly eight city council members were group members of the NSDAP. The remaining opposition consisted of communists and liberal politicians lacking a clear political mandate.
The following years saw harassment of the Jewish population of Xanten. This included the destruction of the local prayer room and the devastation of several dwellings of Jewish inhabitants on November 9, 1938. After these events the entire Jewish population fled Xanten. During the Second World War an ammunition factory of the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
was established in a small forest close to the city, called Die Hees. While citizens of Xanten worked there at the beginning of the war, women and children, and especially foreigners were forced to perform hard labour at the plant as the war progressed. Incidents in the area of the factory occurred in November, 1942, and October, 1944, causing the explosion of a portion of the stored ammunition, which cost several workers' lives. In May, 1940, the German 256th infantry division was transferred to Xanten to take part in the forthcoming invasion of the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
When allied troops reached Xanten in February, 1945, mayor Schöneborn left the city. With him fled almost the entire city administration to areas to the east. In the same month the bombardment of the city had begun, killing civilians and destroying parts of Xanten. In addition, the cathedral was hit by bombs and damaged heavily. On March 8, 1945, Xanten was finally taken by Canadian troops. The Canadian military lost, according to their own data, 400 soldiers in the fight against the defending Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
's Fallschirmjäger (paratroops). Thereupon the city, 85% of which had been already been destroyed, was occupied by British troops while the population was evacuated to Bedburg-Hau
Bedburg-Hau
Bedburg-Hau is a municipality in the district of Cleves in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approx. 5 km south-east of Cleves....
in preparation for the crossing of the Rhine near the city of Wesel.
Artillery projectiles fired by German soldiers from the right bank of the Rhine further devastated Xanten at this time. When the crossing of the Rhine on March 24, 1945, finally succeeded, the Second World War was over for Xanten.
The reconstruction of the city and the cathedral was accomplished particularly by the archaeologist and monument conservationist Walter Bader, and lasted until 1966. Expellees from eastern Prussia that were resettled in Xanten caused the population to rise by almost 40%. In the course of the local re-organization in 1969, the localities Birten, Lüttingen, Marienbaum, Obermörmter, Vynen and Wardt were integrated into Xanten, so that around 16,000 inhabitants lived within the city boundaries. The area of the city increased from 8 km² to 72 km².
Further different historical buildings in the town centre were restored, and today in Xanten there is one of the most beautiful city centres in Germany, with many shops, restaurants and cafes in a medieval atmosphere. At the Xantener Südsee and Xantener Nordsee, two lakes connected by a channel close to the localities Wardt and Vynen, the Freizeitzentrum Xanten (Leisure center Xanten) was established in 1982. Today, it is a popular destination for sailors. On November 28, 1988 Xanten, received the title of a Staatlich anerkannter Erholungsort (state-recognized leisure city) as the first such city in the governmental district of Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
. Between 1990 and 2004 the number of inhabitants rose from 16.930 to about 22000. Xanten is twinned with Geel
Geel
Geel is a city located in the Belgian province of Antwerp which acquired the status of a city in the 1980s.It comprises Central-Geel which is constituted of 4 old parishes a/o towns : Sint-Amand, Sint-Dimpna, Holven and Elsum...
/Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Saintes
Saintes
Saintes is a French commune located in Poitou-Charentes, in the southwestern Charente-Maritime department of which it is a sub-prefecture. Its inhabitants are called Saintaises and Saintais....
/France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Among other schools there is one Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
(Grmmar School), the Stiftsgymnasium Xanten, and a private school for girls, the Marienschule, in Xanten.
Xanten is also a popular filming location and the site of many concerts.
Xanten boasts the likes of Claudia Schiffer
Claudia Schiffer
Claudia Schiffer is a German model and occasional actress, who reached the peak of her popularity during the 1990s, initially due to her resemblance to Brigitte Bardot. Schiffer is one of the world's most successful models, having appeared on over 500 magazine covers...
, José Carreras
José Carreras
Josep Maria Carreras i Coll , better known as José Carreras , is a Spanish Catalan tenor particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini...
, Andre Rieu
André Rieu
André Léon Marie Nicolas Rieu is a Dutch violinist, conductor, and composer best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra.- Early life and studies :...
and Veronica Ferres
Veronica Ferres
Veronica Maria Cäcilia Ferres is a German actress who gained fame as Pierre Richard's co-star in the French TV-movie Sans famille and as the horrible Mme. Thénardier in the 2000 French TV miniseries Les Misérables...
as regular visitors and Xanten home owners.
Since Xanten is a quite wealthy town, the conservative CDU
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
dominates.
| Seat distribution in the town council | |
|---|---|
| Party | Number of seats |
| CDU Christian Democratic Union (Germany) The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum... |
19 |
| SPD | 9 |
| Local Party FBI | 5 |
| B90/Grüne | 3 |
| FDP Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... |
2 |