Goh

The total area of ​​the city of Goh is 115 square meters. km, and the city is located at an altitude of 17.1 m above sea level. The population of the city is 34,000 inhabitants, who live in the territory of eight settlements:

• Goh (19.642 inhabitants)
• Asperden (2.121 inhabitants)
• Hassum (1,047 inhabitants)
• Hommerzum (461 inhabitants)
• Hulm (725 inhabitants)
• Kessel (2.054 inhabitants)
• Nierswalde (932 inhabitants)
• Pfalzdorf (6.432 inhabitants)

In the north, the city of Goch borders the city of Kleve and the communities of Kranenburg and Bedburg-Hau, in the east - with the community of Udem, in the south with the community of Weeze, and also in the west with the communities of Bergen and Gennep (both are areas of Limburg, Lower Lausitz)

In 1261, Goh was first documented as a city. However, the exact year of assigning the status of the city is unfortunately impossible to establish. But it is reliably known that the assignment of the status of the city occurred during the reign of Otto II , Count Geldern (1229-1271)

The first city fortification was completely completed in 1350.

At first, Goch was in the power of the counts, later in the power of the Dukes of Geldern. In 1473 he passed to the Duchy of Cleve , and in 1614, according to the Xanten Treaty, to Brandenburg-Prussia .

Over the next 200 years, power in Goha changed many times. In 1615 the city was conquered by the Netherlands , from 1622 to 1625 the Spaniards dominated in Goha. From 1757 to 1763, the city was captured by French troops. From 1795 to 1815, Goch belonged to France . And from 1815 to 1947 it belonged again to Prussia , and then to Germany.

In 1741, on the territory of the Gokha wasteland settled the Palatinate, who initially wanted to move to America. This settlement grew into the village of Pfalzdorf, which in 1799 became an independent community. Thus the Palatinate language island was formed.

In 1847, the linen market was first organized. In the early 19th century, linen markets were very widespread in the Lower Rhine. Flax is one of the cultivated plants that used to be cultivated for fiber. Gocha's linen market is held twice a year today, where haberdashery goods are mainly sold.

The construction of the Cologne-Kleve and Boxtel-Vesel railway lines (Boxtel Railway), at the intersection of which was Goch, led to the location of some new industrial enterprises in Goch, and the city itself experienced an economic boom. The most significant industrial enterprise was Dutch Margarine Jurgens and Pritsen LLC. In 1928, in Gocha alone, more than 3,000 workers were employed in the Jurgens and Princen plants.

On the night of the pogrom, organized by the Third Reich, from November 9 to 10, 1938, in Gocha on Herzogenstrasse Street, the synagogue was destroyed and burned to the ground by the troops of the SA and SS .

On the night of February 7-8, 1945 and a few days later, February 12, 1945, Goh was aerial bombardment by the combined forces. The Meuse-Rhine operation , which took place in the Kleve region from February 7 to 22, partially reached Goch from February 17 to 22, where street battles with the use of artillery weapons took place. Destruction during bombing raids and combat around the city amounted to 80% of all structures. The leadership of the combined forces believed that the bunker installations around Goch are a continuation of the Western Wall or, as it is also called, the Siegfried Line (Geldern Line), which was considered the reason for the massive bombardment. The aim of the subsequent British offensive ground attack was to cross the Rhine at Wesel and advance further into the Ruhr area .

On the night of May 24, 1993, the bell tower of the church of St. Mary Magdalena collapsed 67 meters high. The reconstruction of the bell tower lasted ten years. In many circles of the public, it is assumed that the cause of the collapse was damage to the structure, which was formed due to the bombing in 1945.

Thanks to the Bishop of Münster, Reinhard Lettmann, on May 18, 2005, Goch became a place of pilgrimage. Since the holy father Arnold Janssen was canonized, more and more pilgrims visit the church of St. Mary Magdalen, where he was baptized, the house where he was born, and the parish named after Arnold Janssen, which was re-founded in the 1970s.

Due to the fact that the city became a place of pilgrimage, numerous extensions were made in the city on the main thoroughfare street, on the ring highway and at the station.

On September 8, 2011, Goch was given enough attention by the German media, as the city became the epicenter of an earthquake of 4.4 points on the Richter scale, which was felt in an area of ​​about 200 km in diameter.

• Goch, Johannes von
• Enne Birman

•   Fechel ( Netherlands )
•   Redon ( France )
•   Nowy Tomysl ( Poland )
•   Andover (Hampshire)
•   Putignano ( Italy )

• Goh official page