Neuss is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine right opposite to Düsseldorf. Population: 150,000.

History

Neuss was founded by the Romans in the year 16 BC as a military outpost (castellum) south of the city on the confluence of the rivers Rhine and Erft name Novaesium. Later a civil settlement was founded in the area of today's center of the town during the 1st century AD. Novaesium together with Augsburg (Augusta Vindelicorum) and Trier (Augusta Treverorum) is one of the three oldest Roman settlements in Germany.

During the Middle Ages Neuss was a growing town because of its good location with harbour and ferry and the crossing of the great rhine-valley-road with several roads going westwards and eastwards. During the 10th century AD the remains of the martyr and tribune Saint Quirinus (not to be confused with the roman god Quirinus) had been relocated to Neuss resulting in pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Quirinus even from countries beyond the borders of the Holy Roman Empire. Neuss was first documented as a town in the year 1138 AD.

One of the main events in the towns history is the besiegement of the town in the years 1474/1475 by Charles the Bold duke of Burgundy that lasts for nearly a year. The citizens of Neuss withstand the besiegement and therefor had been rewarded by Emperor Friedrich III. The town was granted the right to mint its own coins and to carry the imperial coat of arms, the imperial eagle and the crown, in the town's coat of arms and it became member of the Hanseatic League but was never accepted by the other members of the League.

Several wars during the reign of king Louis XIV of France resulted in very bad financials of the town of Neuss and as a consequence the importance as a place for trading declined rapidly. From midth of 17th century AD on Neuss was reduced to a place of agricultural importance but regained economical power in 19th century AD.

From 1794 till 1814 Neuss was part of France during the reign of Napoleon.

In 1815 Neuss became part of Prussia and was reorganized as a district with the municipalities of Neuss, Dormagen , Nettesheim , Nievenheim , Rommerskirchen , Zons . The town of Neuss had a population of 6.333 at that time.

In 1975 the town of Neuss and the district of Grevenbroich had been joined to form the district of Rhein-Kreis Neuss.

Facts

State: North Rhine-Westphalia

Governmentregion: Düsseldorf

District: Rhinedistrict - Neuss

Expanse: 99,48 km²

Inhabitans: 152.777 (counted: 31. December 2004)

Populationdensity: 1.536 Inhabitans/km²

Foreigners: 13,3 %

Postalcode: 41460-41472 (old: 4040)

Dialling code: 02131, 02137 (Norf), 02182

Carsign: NE

Address of Town Council: Markt 2, 41460 Neuss

Website: www.neuss.de (german)

E-Mail-Address: presseamt@neuss.de (mailto:presseamt@neuss.de)

Politics

Mayor: Herbert Napp (CDU)

Debts: 453 million € (31.12.02)

External link

• Official website (German)
• Novaesium, alias Neuss Website concerning with the roman history and archaeology of Neuss (German)