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Xanten is a town in the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany, located in the district of Wesel.
Geography
Xanten divides into the 3 local parts Hochbruch, Niederbruch and the actual town centre. Further localities, which belong to the city of Xanten, are divided into the 6 urban districts Birten, Lüttingen, Marienbaum, Vynen (with Obermörmter), Wardt (with Mörmter and Willich) and Xanten (with Beek and Ursel). Further on parts of the protected area Bislicher Insel belong to the city.
The city is limited by the Rhine and the city Rees in the north, the city Wesel in the east, the municipalities Alpen and Sonsbeck in the south as well as the cities Uedem and Kalkar in the west.
History
Antique
First settlements by isolated trunks can be occupied around the year 2000 BC. Around 15 BC the Roman camp Castra Vetera was created on the Fürstenberg near the today's locality Birten. It should serve as starting point for campaigns into Germania and up to its destruction in the context of the raise of the Batavians in 70 AD it's been occupied by 8,000 to 10,000 legionaries.
After the destruction of Castra Vetera a second camp became established at the Bislicher Insel, named "Castra Vetera II". 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 also renamed the city into Colonia Ulpia Traiana. The colonia became the second most important commercial post in the province of Germania inferior only beaten by Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (today's Cologne).
In 275 the colonia was almost destroyed by Germanic trunks. Thereupon in the area of the colonia a new city was established, named "Tricensimae", which was meant to be smaller but however fortified and more easily to defend. At the beginning of the 5th century the assaults by Germanic trunks however increased rapidly so that the colonia was given up finally. Following the legend of the Nibelungs Siegfried of Xanten is born in these times inside the ruins of the colonia. The christian Viktor of Xanten is supposed to have been executed together with 360 further members of the Thebaei Legion in 363 near the today's town of Birten as they refused sacrificing to the Roman Gods. Since then Viktor of Xanten is considered as martyr and a later protection patron of the cathedral established over his assumed burial place.
The Middle Ages
In the 5th century Franconians began to establish themselves in the area of the today's Xantens, but however didn't create urban settlements. In the second half of the 8th Century around a convent around a church established over the cemetery of the colonia in the past century was founded, its name "Sanctos (super Rhenum)" (also mentioned "ad Sanctum") first is occupied first in 838. This designation as "place of saints" was derived from the assumed grave of the martyr Viktor of Xanten and formed the rudiments of the today's city name "Xanten". After establishment of the convent south to it the today's town centre developed.
939 troops under king Otto I. defeated in Frankish, Saxonian and Lotharingian troops under Heinrich I in the "Battle at Xanten". In addition to the "Battle at Andernach" in the same year and the "Battle at Birten" in 936 it sealed the affiliation of the Rhineland to the realm of Otto I.
While Xanten with its rich "Viktor-convent" was still affected by Normans in 863, the place in 1122 already appears as part of a commercial network at the lower Rhine.
On July 15, 1228 the Cologne archbishop Heinrich of Molenark lent municipal rights to Xanten.
Friedrich of Hochstaden put the foundation stone for the gothical "St. Viktor"-Cathedral, which should finally be completed after 281 years of construction in 1263. At the end of the 14th Century Xanten was surrounded by a city wall.
1392 the northern part of the city got into possession of the dukes of Kleve while the southern part remained to the archbishop of Cologne. The division of Xanten was trip of a conflict between Kleve and Cologne, which just could be attached as Xanten was awarded to the duchy Kleve in 1444. After assumption of the city regiment by the dukes of Kleve the number of inhabitants sank from 5,000 at the beginning 16th Century on approximately 2.500 up to the end of the 18th Century caused by wars and harvest failures. The misalignment of the Rhine, which had been basis of trading in Xanten up to then, led to an additional degradation of the economic situation and even destroyed the locality Birten several times. The local part Marienbaum instead became the oldest place of pilgrimage at the lower Rhine between 1430 and 1441. In 1460 a monastery of the Birgitten was established, whose abbey church "St. Mariä Himmelfahrt" (englisch: Saint Maria Ascension) today serves as a parish church.
The Evangelist municipality of Xanten has its origin in 1572, however up to the 20th century only 5% of the population belonged to it; up to the beginning of the 21st century it increased to 20%. As Xanten fell to the duke of Brandenburg in the 17th century the Evangelist church got an equal footing to the catholic church on with the Contract of Xanten on 12 November 1614. Thereupon a church was established at the "Großer Markt", which was extended by a church tower in 1622.
Modern times
1802 the Viktor-convent was secularized by Napoléon Bonaparte and the libraries of the waived monasteries were combined with the convent library. Thereupon a further degradation of the economic situation began. To decrease the municipals issues a city gate called "Marstor" was torn off in 1821, the "Scharntor" and parts of the city walls were torn of in 1825. The demolition of the "Klever Tor" and a mill called "Kriemhildmühle" was prevented by the town councillor in 1843. At the same time the ruins of the Colonia Ulpia Traiana, which were used as quarry since the task of the settlement, aroused the interest of archaeologists, so that between 1819 and 1844 excavations were achieved. In September 1927 the catholic church municipality celebrated 1,600 years of existence; in 1937 Pope Pius XI. lent the title of a Basilika minor to the "St. Viktor"-cathedral.
In 1933 the local mayor Heinrich Wagner was locked up in a tower called "Meerturm" accused of alleged nepotism with loan business. His successor became Friedrich Karl Schöneborn, while the post of the deputy mayor should be dressed by Heinrich Prang jr. Prang had already created the local's group of the NSDAP in 1925. As the local parliamentary group of the "Deutsche Zentrumspartei" thereupon was dissolved 3 of formerly 8 parliamentaries became group members of the NSDAP. The remaining opposition of communists and liberal politicians became thereby incompetent to act.
In the following time it came to encroachments against the Jewish population of Xanten. To emphasize here is the destruction of the local praying room and the devastation of several dwellings of Jewish inhabitants on November 9, 1938. After these events the entire Jewish population fled from Xanten. During Second World War a ammunition factory of the Luftwaffe was established in a small forest close to the city, called "Die Hees". While citizens of Xanten worked there in the beginning of the war women and children, but above all foreigners were forced to the hard labour in the course of the war. With incidents on the area of the factory both in November 1942 and in October 1944 parts of the stored ammunition exploded, which cost several workers' lifes. In May 1940 the 256. infantry division became shifted to Xanten to take part at the forthcoming invasion of the Netherlands.
As allied troops reached up to Xanten in February 1945 mayor Schöneborn left the city. With him almost the entire city administration fled into more eastern areas. In the same month the bombardment of the city had began, which above all killed civilians and destroyed far parts of Xantens. Also the cathedral was hit by aerial 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". Thereupon the city, which had been already destroyed to 85% at this time, 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 Rhine bank additionally devastated Xanten in this time. As the crossing of the Rhine on March 24, 1945 finally succeeded the Second World War was finished to Xanten.
The reconstruction of the city and the cathedral was accomplished particularly by the archaeologist and monument conservationist Walter Bader and lasted until 1966. By refugees from eastern Prussia settling in Xanten the population rose around almost 40%. In the course of the local re-organization in 1969 the localities Birten, Lüttingen, Marienbaum, Obermörmter, Vynen and Wardt were integrated so that around 16,000 inhabitants lived within the city boundaries. The surface of the city became larger from 8 km² to 72 km².
Since Xanten contrary to many other formerly Roman settlements didn't develop in the area of the colonia, but next to it, starting from 1975 the "APX" (Archäologischer Park Xanten, english: Archaeological Park Xanten) as partial reconstruction of the Roman Colonia Ulpia Traiana was established and opened for tourism. Further different historical buildings in the town centre were restored and at the "Xantener Südsee" and "Xantener Nordsee", two lakes connected by a channel close to the localities Wardt and Vynen, the "FZX" (Freizeitzentrum Xanten, english: leisure center Xanten) was established in 1982. On November 28, 1988 Xanten, which was visited by approximately 800,000 tourists in the same year, received the title of a "Staatlich anerkannter Erholungsort" (some kind of a "leisure city") as the first city in the governmental district of Düsseldorf. Between 1990 and 2004 the number of inhabitants rose from 16.930 to 21.305.
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