Kleve (also Cleve or Cleves), city, west central Germany, in North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), near the Rhine River and the Dutch border. It was built in Dutch architectural style on three hills. Leather goods, machinery, and tobacco products are manufactured here. With mineral springs in the vicinity, Kleve is frequented as a summer resort. In the center of the city is the famous Schwanenburg, or Swans' Castle, said to have been founded by Gaius Julius Caesar and associated with the “Knights of the Swan” legend, dramatized in Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin. Among other notable buildings is a 14th-century Gothic church. The city became the seat of the counts of Kleve in the 11th century and later was the capital of the duchy of Kleve, created in 1417. In 1614 the duchy, which embraced land on both sides of the Rhine, came into the possession of Brandenburg. The part of the duchy east of the Rhine was ceded to France in 1795; the remaining portion was seized by France from Prussia during the Napoleonic Wars. Both portions were restored in 1815 except for some small sections that were made part of the Netherlands. Population (1997) 48,136.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
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