Emmerich am Rhein, Port settlement and Hanseatic city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Emmerich am Rhein is a port settlement on the northern bank of the Rhine at the border with the Netherlands in North Rhine-Westphalia. A large suspension bridge connects both banks and shapes the skyline along the water in a way visible from far away.
Roman settlers founded an outpost here and the place appeared in documents for the first time in 828 as Villa Embrici. Joining the Hanseatic League in 1407 brought prosperity through trade and navigation on the Rhine.
The name probably comes from the Frankish personal name Amalrich or from the Latin word Emporium meaning trading post. Today the town center with its postwar buildings and wide streets along the Rhine often appears surprisingly modern and open to visitors.
A railway station in the center offers connections to Oberhausen and Arnhem with onward links in many directions. Paths along the Rhine bank work well for walks and bicycle tours beside the river.
A bombing raid in 1944 destroyed more than nine tenths of all buildings and changed the appearance of the town completely. The present townscape therefore consists almost entirely of postwar architecture with few older remains.
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