In the shadow of the Schwanenburg

Only a stone's throw from the Netherlands is the Lower Rhine district town of Kleve. Although it looks back on a long history as a royal residence and health resort, there is little to discover in the cityscape, as the old town was turned into a crater landscape by British air raids during the Second World War. Even the Schwanenburg, the legendary landmark of the city, which was built on a mountain range in the 11th century, was destroyed when an airplane crashed into it. Reconstruction gradually came about. Today the former baroque castle above Lohengrinstadt is once again the most important feature in Kleve.

Kleve makes up for the lack of old buildings with several museums worth seeing, some historic villas and above all with an impressive baroque garden landscape. The complex, created in the middle of the 17th century and close to the centre, which also includes a restored amphitheatre with a sculpture of the goddess Minerva, was already a role model at that time. It also includes the historic forest garden in the style of an English landscape park and the zoo with numerous domestic animal breeds threatened with extinction. Another natural paradise is the Reichswald, the largest continuous forest in the region, which covers more than 5000 hectares. Visitors have the best view from the brick tower built in 1892, which has since been restored, on the Klever Mountain, which is only about 100 metres high. 

Kleve is one of the epicenters on the Lower Rhine for motorhome enthusiasts. Nowhere else is there more parking space. Two of them stand out from the rest: the large motorhome park at the former Kurpark for 75 mobile homes and the idyllic site at the small Willisee lake in the Keeken district, which can accommodate 25 mobile homes and is one of the favourites in the relevant site rankings.

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