Goch

Goch
Protestant Kirche am Markt in Goch Protestant Kirche am Markt in Goch
Coat of arms of Goch Coat of arms
Goch
Location of Goch within Kleve district
Coordinates:
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Düsseldorf
District	Kleve
Government
• Mayor	Karl-Heinz Otto (CDU)
Area
• Total	115.38 km2 (44.55 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)
• Total	33,063
• Density	290/km2 (740/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	47574
Dialling codes	02823, 02827 (Kessel, Hassum, Hommersum)
Vehicle registration	KLE
Website	www.goch.de

Goch (archaic spelling: Gog, Dutch: Gogh) is a town in the district of Kleve, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated close to the border with the Netherlands, approx. 12 km (7 mi) south of Kleve, and 27 km (17 mi) southeast of Nijmegen. Other places in Goch are Asperden and Kessel.

History

Goch is at least 750 years old: the earliest mention of Goch is in a document dated 1259. It was a part of the Duchy of Cleves. During World War II, the city was completely destroyed by Allied bombers.

• Goch 1625.JPG

  nl in 1625, by Jan Luyken

• 

  Goch during Operation Veritable, February 21, 1945

• Goch, watertoren Dm82 foto2 2013-04-30 12.29.jpg

  Watertower

• Goch, straatzicht Am Steintor Dm6 foto1 2013-04-30 12.39.jpg

  View to a street: Am Steintor

Notable natives and residents

The city is the birthplace of:

• Josefa Idem, Italian sprint canoer turned politician.
• Arnold Janssen, founder of the Society of the Divine Word, a Roman Catholic missionary congregation
• Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor
• Johannes von Goch, Medieval theologian

The city is the deathplace of:

• Francisco de Moncada, the Spanish author, military leader, and governor of the Spanish Netherlands

Twin towns - sister cities

Goch is twinned with:

• Veghel in the Netherlands
• Redon in France
• Nowy Tomyśl in Poland
• Andover in England, UK

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons