Origin The city originated from a
Franconian manor that was first recorded in the 8th century. In the 12th century, the Duke of Clèves took possession of Wesel. The city became a member of the
Hanseatic League during the 15th century. Wesel was second only to
Cologne in the lower Rhine region as an
entrepôt. It was an important commercial centre: a clearing station for the
transshipment and trading of goods.
Early modern In 1545, a
Walloon community in Wesel was noted, with French-language church services. In 1590, the Spanish captured Wesel after a four-year siege. The city changed hands between the Dutch and Spanish several times during the
Eighty Years War. In 1672, a French force under
Louis II de Bourbon,
Prince de Condé captured the city. Wesel was inherited by the
Hohenzollerns of the
Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1609 but they were unable to take control of Wesel until the
Treaty of Nijmegen in 1678. In 1688, a French
Huguenot commune was founded in the town. in 1945. During
World War II, as a strategic
depot,
Wesel became a target of
Allied bombing. Air raids, using impact and air-burst bombs, on 16, 17, 18 and 19 February 1945, destroyed 97% of the town. The
Wehrmacht blew up bridges along the Rhine and Lippe to prevent Allied forces from advancing. The Wehrmacht also destroyed the 1,950m-long
railway bridge, the last Rhine bridge remaining in German hands, on 10 March. On 23 March, Wesel came under the fire of over 3,000 guns when it was bombarded anew, in preparation for
Operation Plunder. The shelling was assisted by a raid of
RAF bombers and a larger raid that night, during which ten individual bombers each dropped a 10,000 kg bomb on Wesel at 2100 hours. Before the town was finally taken by Allied troops, 97% of its structures were destroyed. In the ensuing attacks by Allied forces, the town was taken with minimal casualties.
Operation Varsity the largest airborne landings of the war in one day and one location dropped 18,000 troops into the area to take the hills behind Wesel. The British
1st Commando Brigade was already attacking Wesel, carried into action by
LVT Buffalos. The remainder of the Allied force crossed the Rhine in more amphibious vehicles. From almost 25,000 in 1939, the population was reduced to 1,900 by May 1945. In 1946, Wesel became part of the new state
North Rhine-Westphalia of
West Germany. ==Transport==