Rheinberg

Geschichte

Rheinberg is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. 10km north of Moers and 15km south of Wesel.It comprises the municipal districts of Rheinberg, Borth, Budberg, and Orsoy.During the Dutch Revolt Rheinberg became known as the whore of war since it was captured and retaken so many times. First taken in 1590, then 1597, 1599, 1601, 1606 and finally where Prince Rupert of the Rhine gained his first military experience fighting alongside the Protestant Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange in 1633.A century later the Battle of Rheinberg was fought on 12 June 1758, during the Seven Years' War.It is the location of a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery, where 3,327 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second 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 the battle of the Rhineland, or in the advance from the Rhine to the Elbe.