Neuss (; written ''Neuß'' until 1968; ; ) is a city in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, Germany. It is on the west bank of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

opposite

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It is primarily known for its historic Roman sites, as well as the annual Neusser Bürger-Schützenfest. Neuss and

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

share the title of "Germany's oldest city", and in 1984 Neuss celebrated the 2000th anniversary of its founding in 16 BCE.

History

Roman period

Neuss was founded by the Romans in 16 BC as a military fortification (''

castrum ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

'') with the current city to the north of the castrum, at the confluence of the rivers

and Erft, with the name of Novaesium. Legio XVI Gallica ("Gallic 16th Legion") of the Roman army was stationed here in 43–70 AD. It was disbanded after surrendering during the

Batavian rebellion The Revolt of the Batavi took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior ("Lower Germania") between AD 69 and 70. It was an uprising against the Roman Empire started by the Batavi (Germanic tribe), Batavi, a small but militarily powerful G ...

(AD 70). Later a civil settlement was founded in the area of today's centre of the town during the 1st century AD. Novaesium, together with

(''Augusta Treverorum''), is one of the three oldest Roman settlements in Germany.

Middle Ages

Neuss grew during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

because of its prime location on several routes, by the crossing of the great Rhine valley, and with its harbour and ferry. During the 10th century, the remains of the

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

and

tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the Tribune of the Plebs, tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs ac ...

Saint Quirinus, not to be confused with the Roman god

Quirinus In Roman mythology and Roman religion, religion, Quirinus ( , ) is an early god of the Ancient Rome, Roman state. In Augustus, Augustan Rome, ''Quirinus'' was also an epithet of Janus, Mars (mythology), Mars, and Jupiter (god), Jupiter. Name ...

, had been relocated to Neuss. This resulted in

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

to the shrine of St. Quirinus even from countries beyond the borders of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. Neuss was first documented as a town in 1138. One of the main events in the town's history is the siege of the town in 1474–75 by

Charles the Bold Charles Martin (10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), called the Bold, was the last duke of Burgundy from the House of Valois-Burgundy, ruling from 1467 to 1477. He was the only surviving legitimate son of Philip the Good and his third wife, ...

, Duke of

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

, that lasted for nearly a year. The citizens of Neuss withstood the siege and were therefore rewarded by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. The town was granted the right to mint its own coins and to carry the imperial

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

, the imperial eagle and the crown, in the town's own coat of arms. Neuss became a member of the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

, although it was never accepted by the other members of the League.

Early modernity

In 1586, more than two-thirds of the city was destroyed by fire, and several wars during the reign of King

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

resulted in worsening finances for Neuss. Its importance as a place for trading declined rapidly, and from the mid-17th century onwards, Neuss became a place only important for its agriculture. Until the late 18th century, Neuss belonged to the

Electorate of Cologne The Electorate of Cologne (), sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne (), was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the Hochstift—the temporal posses ...

. From 1794 to 1814, Neuss was part of France during the reign of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. In 1815 after the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

, Neuss became part of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

, and was reorganized as a district with the municipalities of Neuss, Dormagen, Nettesheim, Nievenheim, Rommerskirchen and Zons. The town had a population of 6,333 at that time. It was part of the Prussian Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg (1815–22) and its successor, the

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. ...

(1822–1946).

19th century – present

Neuss regained its economic power in the 19th century, with expansion of the harbour in 1835, and increasing industrial activity. The city's boundaries were expanded in 1881. Neuss became part of the new state of

in 1946. In 1968 the spelling of the name was changed from ''Neuß'' to ''Neuss''. In 1975 the town of Neuss and the district of Grevenbroich were joined to form the district of Rhein-Kreis Neuss with a population of 440,000 and its seat of government in Neuss. Neuss is also home to

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

's European headquarters.

Jewish history

A Jewish community has been documented in the city since the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

. The earliest documentation of Jews in the city is from 1096, when Jews from

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

fleeing from

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

were sheltered in the city by the

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

. Nevertheless, about 200 of them (men, women, and children) were slaughtered by Crusaders. This all was in the context of what is known as the

Rhineland massacres The Rhineland massacres, also known as the German Crusade of 1096 or ''Gzerot Tatnó'' (, "Edicts of 4856"), were a series of mass murders of Jews perpetrated by mobs of French and German Christians of the People's Crusade in the year 1096 ( ...

. There is however no indication that Neuss already had an organized Jewish community in 1096; It is however certain that there was one in the

Staufer The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to List of German monarchs, royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 ...

period from the late 12th century onwards, in the context of a general influx of merchants into the city at the time. According to Ephraim of Bonn, on 11 January 1197, multiple members of the Jewish community were put to death as revenge for the killing of a Christian girl by a mentally ill Jew. The killer and several of his close relatives were gruesomely executed. They seem to have been allowed a Jewish funeral: their bodies were brought – presumably by boat – to

Xanten Xanten (, Low Rhenish: ''Santen'') is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the district of Wesel. Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park, one of the largest archaeological open air museums in the ...

, where they were buried alongside victims of the Rhineland massacres of 1096. The community in the High Middle Ages at first resided in the area where merchants lived, between the and the market. The passage to the haven's loading place was known as the ''Judensteg''. By the year 1300 however the ''Judensteg'' was now inhabited by Christians, the Jews having moved to the area around the ''Glockhammer'', where their synagogue and school were also located. The area was not exactly a

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

, as it was not sealed, and Christians also lived there. From the 14th century onwards the Jews faced increasing economic competition, firstly due the loss of their advantageous former location near the docks, and later because of the loss of their monopoly in money lending, with the arrival of bankers from

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

and

Cahors Cahors (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the western part of Southern France. It is the smallest prefecture among the 13 departments that constitute the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Region. The capital and main city of t ...

. The city was hit by the

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

in 1348–49, and the community suffered from gruesome persecutions during that time, as was the case elsewhere in Europe. In the wake of the plague, the community was numerically decimated and economically weakened. A wave of religious extremism and intolerance swept the area at the time, and the Jews were increasingly pressured and became objects of political infighting: In the year 1424, Jews were for a time expelled from the city; this was meant as a middle finger to the '' Landesherr'', who had placed the Jews under his protection. The Jews later came back, but were ultimately expelled again in 1464. The Archbishop of Cologne Ruprecht von der Pfalz visited the city on 5 May and met with mayors, aldermen, and the council in an attempt to halt the expulsion, but to no avail. Jews were from now on banned from residing in the city, and from staying overnight within city walls. In 1694, Jews were given permission to hold a cattle market in front of the ''Obertor''. Facing overdue

lump sum A lump sum is a single payment of money, as opposed to a series of payments made over time (such as an annuity). The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development distinguishes between " price analysis" and " cost analysis" by whether ...

payments, in 1704 the city instored a special tax on Jews entering the city known as the '' Judenleibzoll''. Neuss--synagoge--lithographie-um-1870

In 1794 during the

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition () was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797, initially against the Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI, constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French First Republic, Frenc ...

, Neuss fell under French control, and all discriminatory anti-Jewish laws were subsequently abrogated. It was only in 1808 however, in a context of nascent

industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...

and population growth, that for the first time in centuries a Jewish family moved to the city: That of the butcher Josef Großmann, who had come from Hülchrath. The community slowly rose in number: in 1830, there were around 100 Jews out of a population of approximately 8000. The community kept on growing in size throughout the century. Jews who moved to Neuss came from surrounding rural areas in the

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

, and as a result were more conservative and shaped by rural life than their counterparts in other German cities. Popular innovations in the time of the ''

Haskalah The ''Haskalah'' (; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), often termed the Jewish Enlightenment, was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Wester ...

'' such as religious services in German did not take root here: they continued in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

. As a general rule of thumb, Neuss Jews were more religious than in other German cities. Relations between Jews and Christians were generally good at the time: they lived one next to another, and one could find Christians performing forbidden tasks such as lighting/extinguishing fires in Jewish homes on

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

. A fracture in this peace took place in 1834 however: In the '' Niederrhein'' area

blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mu ...

rumors spread around, leading to a wave of anti-Jewish violence: Synagogues were set on fire in Gindorf and ; in , Wevelinghoven and elsewhere fierce fighting took place between vigilantes and

hussar A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry ...

s. Neuss was not left unaffected either, with crowds strolling down the streets chanting anti-Jewish songs, with the epicenter being the poor areas of Neuss around the ''Viehmarkt''. This situation lasted for days, until a contingent of soldiers was moved into the city to quell the unrest. On 29 March 1867, the was unveiled, designed by the Prussian architect Friedrich Weise and built in the popular Orientalist style. The city held celebrations for 3 days upon its inauguration. Despite serving only about 1% of the population, the Synagogue was a proud hallmark of the Neuss skyline. The synagogue community's size peaked at 316 members in 1890. After the acquittal of the Jewish butcher Adolf Buschoff in the 1892 , antisemitic violence took place in nearby Neuss: Jewish-owned property was set on fire, and Jewish families were sent threatening messages. About a quarter of the community left the city. In 1933, there were no more than 227 citizens of Jewish faith in Neuss. From that year onwards they suffered increasing persecution by the Nazis. Few went into exile on time. Then began the so-called "'' Final Solution to the Jewish Question''" and the deportations. On 22 July 1942, the last inhabitant of the ' at Küpperstaße 2 was put on a train from

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

to Theresienstadt. On 23 November 1942, Neuss was cynically declared '' Judenrein''. (= clean of Jews) However, there was still a handful of Jews who survived through hiding, or who were not targeted due to being married to "Aryans". The exact number of Jewish victims of the Nazi regime is not known with certainty. However, one can find the names of 204 murdered Jews who had some sort of link to Neuss on a monument by Ulrich Rückriem. A significant amount of ''

Stolpersteine A (; plural ) is a concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution. Literal translation, Literally, it means 'stumbling stone' and metaphorically 'stumbling block'. ...

'' can be found around the city. Since the 1990s the community has enjoyed a revival thanks to an influx of Jews from the ex-USSR. In 2021, it was estimated that around 550 Jews lived in Neuss.

Politics

Mayor

The current mayor of Neuss is Reiner Breuer of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD). The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Candidate ! Party ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Reiner Breuer , align=left,

, 30,337 , 52.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Jan-Philipp Büchler , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 18,800 , 32.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Michael Klinkicht , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

, 4,049 , 7.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Roland Sperling , align=left,

Die Linke Die Linke (; ), also known as the Left Party ( ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of the merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and Labour and Social Justice – The ...

, 1,346 , 2.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Michael Fielenbach , align=left, Free Democratic Party , 1,181 , 2.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Thomas Lang , align=left, UWG/Free Voters Neuss , 1,158 , 2.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Hans Dietz , align=left, Centre Party , 463 , 0.8 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 57,334 ! 98.9 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 617 ! 1.1 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 57,951 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 120,328 ! 48.2 , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Neuss

Mayors and Lord Mayors since 1849

* 1849–1851: Heinrich Thywissen, Mayor ( Bürgermeister) * 1851–1858: Michael Frings, mayor * 1858–1882: Johann Joseph Ridder, mayor * 1882–1889: Carl Wenders, mayor * 1890–1902: Engelbert Tilmann, mayor * 1902–1921: Franz Gielen, Lord Mayor * 1921–1930: Heinrich Hüpper, Lord Mayor * 1930–1934: Wilhelm Henrichs, Centre Party, Lord Mayor (Oberbürgermeister) * 1934–1938: Wilhelm Eberhard Gelberg,

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

, Lord Mayor * 1938–1945: Wilhelm Tödtmann, NSDAP, Lord Mayor * 1945–1946: Josef Nagel, Lord Mayor * 1946: Josef Schmitz, Lord Mayor * 1946–1961: Alfons Frings, CDU, Lord Mayor * 1961–1967: Peter Wilhelm Kallen, Lord Mayor * 1967–1982: Herbert Karrenberg, CDU, Lord Mayor * 1982–1987: Hermann Wilhelm Thywissen, CDU, Lord Mayor * 1987–1998: Bertold Mathias Reinartz, CDU, mayor * 1998–2015: Herbert Napp, CDU, mayor * 2015–present: Reiner Breuer, SPD, mayor

City council

The Neuss city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 20,810 , 36.4 , 3.4 , 21 , 6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 18,517 , 32.4 , 5.1 , 19 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(Grüne) , 7,996 , 14.0 , 3.2 , 8 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

(AfD) , 2,420 , 4.2 , 0.0 , 2 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 1,882 , 3.3 , 4.9 , 2 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 1,601 , 2.8 , 1.2 , 2 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, UWG/Free Voters Neuss (UWG/FW) , 1,106 , 1.9 , 0.0 , 1 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Action Party for Animal Protection (hier!) , 929 , 1.6 , New , 1 , New , - , , align=left, Active for Neuss (Aktiv) , 863 , 1.5 , New , 1 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Die PARTEI (''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazine ...

, 823 , 1.4 , New , 1 , New , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Centre Party (Zentrum) , 223 , 0.4 , 0.2 , 0 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Independent Volkmar Wolfram Ortlepp , 18 , 0.0 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 57,188 ! 98.8 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 672 ! 1.2 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 57,860 ! 100.0 ! ! 58 ! 10 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 120,328 ! 48.1 ! 2.6 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Neuss

Number of inhabitants

*1798: 4,423 *1831: 7,888 *1861: 10,300 *1885: 20,074 *1900: 28,472 *1925: 44,958 *1945: 51,624 *1965: 111,104 *1987: 142,178 *2015: 159,672

Sports

One sports club is Neusser Schlittschuh-Klub. Their sections are

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...

, ice stock sport and, as the only club in Germany,

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two team sport, teams wearing Ice skates#Bandy skates, ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The playin ...

. With the lack of a large ice surface, the variety

rink bandy Rink bandy is a variant of the larger sport of bandy. Unlike bandy which is played on a large bandy field, rink bandy is played on significantly smaller ice hockey-sized ice rinks. While a bandy field is about the same size as a football pi ...

is practiced. There are also two football clubs in the city of Neuss: VfR Neuss Football Club and DJK Novesia Neuss and an American Football Team: Neuss Legions American Football.

Points of interest

* '' Botanischer Garten der Stadt Neuss'', the city's

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

* Basilica of St. Quirinus: a 13th-century late romanesque church, dedicated to the city's patron saint and housing a shrine with his relics. Its dome-shaped eastern tower is one of the city's landmarks. In 2009 it was granted the title of

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

. * ''Obertor'' (''Upper Gate''): southern city gate, built circa 1200; today part of the ''Clemens Sels Museum Neuss''. It is the only remaining of originally six gates that were part of the medieval town fortification. * ''Blutturm'' (''Bloody Tower''): built in the 13th century, the only remaining round tower of the historic town fortification. * ''Zum "Schwatte Päd"'' (''The Black Horse''): the oldest

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

in the

Lower Rhine Lower Rhine (, ; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between Bonn in Germany and the North Sea at Hook of Holland in the Netherlands, including the '' Nederrijn'' () within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta; alternat ...

region, established 1604 * Saint Sebastianus Church * Saint Maria Church: * ''Christuskirche'' (''Christ church''): historicistic church, the city's oldest Protestant church * Globe Theater, a replica of the London Globe Theatre, with an annual

Shakespeare festival A Shakespeare festival is a theatre organization that stages the works of William Shakespeare continually. Origins In 1830, the Mulberry Club (a scholarly group formed in Stratford-upon-Avon, named after the destroyed New Place mulberry tree) beg ...

* Hamtor/the Hamgate * '' Neusser Bürger-Schützenfest'': one of Germany's largest marksmen's festivals, taking place annually on the last weekend in August; roundabout 7000 marksmen take part in the traditional parades.

Notable people

* Hildegund (virgin) (1170–1188), saint * Johann Pennarius (1517–1563), auxiliary bishop in Cologne * Hermann Thyraeus (1532–1591), theologian and member of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

* Peter Thyraeus, (1546–1601), Jesuit, professor of theology in Würzburg *

Theodor Schwann Theodor Schwann (; 7 December 181011 January 1882) was a German physician and physiology, physiologist. His most significant contribution to biology is considered to be the extension of cell theory to animals. Other contributions include the d ...

(1810–1882), physiologist * Franz Maria Feldhaus (1874–1957), technical historian and scientific writer * Katharina von Oheimb (1879–1962), politician * Josef Frings (1887–1978), Archbishop of the Archbishopric of Cologne * Kurt Josten (1912–1994), German-British jurist, state official and resistance fighter * Erik Martin (1936–2017), author, songwriter and editor * Elke Aberle (born 1950), actress * Friedhelm Funkel (born 1953), football player and coach * Heike Hohlbein (born 1954), writer * Jürgen P. Rabe (born 1955), physicist * Norbert Hummelt (born 1962), writer *

Kai Böcking Kai Böcking (born 3 August 1964) is a German television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving ...

(born 1964), moderator * Franziska Pigulla (1964–2019), actress, news presenter and voice actress * Frank Biela (born 1964), racing driver *

Mónica Oltra Mónica Oltra Jarque () is a Spanish left-wing politician, and the ex-vice president, ex-spokesperson and ex-minister for Equality and Inclusive Policies of the Valencian government. Born in Germany to a Spanish immigrants family, she returned ...

(born 1969), Spanish politician, spokesperson and minister for Equality and Inclusive Policies of the Valencian government *

Thomas Rupprath Thomas Rupprath (born 16 March 1977 in Neuss) is an Olympic Games, Olympic swimmer from Germany, who is nicknamed Michael Groß, "The New Albatross". Biography He held the world record for the 50 m backstroke (Short course (swimming), shor ...

(born 1977), swimmer * Lars Börgeling (born 1979), pole vaulter * Judith Flemig (born 1979), volleyball player *

Jawed Karim Jawed Karim (born October 28, 1979) is an American software engineer and Internet entrepreneur. He is one of the co-founders of YouTube and the first person to upload a video to the site. The site's inaugural video, "Me at the zoo", uploaded o ...

(born 1979), American entrepreneur, co-founder of YouTube; lived here –1992 * Dirk Caspers (born 1980), former football player * Marcel Ohmann (born 1991), ice hockey player * Danny da Costa (born 1993), footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

Neuss is twinned with: *

Châlons-en-Champagne Châlons-en-Champagne () is a city in the Grand Est region of France. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims. Formerly called Châlons ...

, France (1972) *

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

, Russia (1990) *

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

, Croatia (1990) *

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

, United States (1999) *

Nevşehir Nevşehir (; from 'new' and 'city') is a city in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Nevşehir Province and Nevşehir District.St. Sebastian Church Neuss Christuskirche asv2024-05.jpg, ''Christuskirche'' Blutturm 2 Neuss.jpg, ''Blutturm''

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia 16 BC establishments Roman towns and cities in Germany Rhein-Kreis Neuss Members of the Hanseatic League Roman legionary fortresses in Germany Roman fortifications in Germania Inferior