Goch (; archaic spelling: Gog) is a town in the Kleve district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, close to the border with the Netherlands, south of Kleve and southeast of Nijmegen.

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 during Operation Veritable. On September 8th, 2011, A Magnitude 4.5 struck the town, causing damage to infrasctructure and to homes.

Population

Twin towns – sister cities

Goch is twinned with:

• Andover, England, United Kingdom

• Meierijstad, Netherlands (formerly Veghel)

• Nowy Tomyśl, Poland

• Redon, France

Notable people

• Otto III (980–1002), Holy Roman Emperor

• Johannes von Goch (c. 1400–1475), Medieval theologian

• Maarten Schenck van Nydeggen (1540–1589), military commander in the Netherlands

• Francisco de Moncada (1586–1635), Spanish author, military leader, and governor of the Spanish Netherlands, died here

• Aenne Biermann (1898–1933), photographer

• Hubert Houben (1898–1956), athlete

• Josefa Idem (born 1964), Italian sprint canoer and politician

• Arnold Janssen (1837–1909), founder of the Society of the Divine Word, a Roman Catholic missionary congregation

• Rita Kersting (born 1969), art historian

• Luisa Wensing (born 1993), footballer

Vincent van Gogh, according to his name, which translates to "Vincent from Goch", has ancestors likely native to this location.

Gallery

References

External links