リースのおすすめウォーキング＆ハイキングルート

Very beautiful tower. A photogenic spot too.

Nice! The color is fading a bit.

A little boy wearing a bear suit.

A large number of sculptures await you in the historic town centre of Rees. Be it at the frog pond, on the Rhine promenade or in numerous other places. These conditions offer the best conditions for a sculpture tour through Rees. You can get the corresponding brochure free of charge from the tourist information office of the town of Rees. This offers a complete overview of all the sculptures and contains a map extract that you can use as a guide. In addition, the cycle tour booklet contains a separate route (No. 8 "Sculpture route") along the works of art. The cycle tour booklet is also available free of charge from the tourist information office of the town of Rees. This page offers you a brief overview of all the sculptures from the historic town centre of Rees. You can find the sculptures from the districts of the town of Rees via the link "Art in the districts" below. "Wilma" and "Paul"

Rees on the Lower Rhine Come with us on a tour of the oldest town on the Lower Rhine Despite the unpleasant February, I was lucky enough to catch a nice sunny day for my visit to Rees. I parked my car right next to the sculpture park, in one of the free parking spaces in Rees. On the way there, I had already seen a bit of Rees, but it was mostly residential areas with single-family homes. So I was happy that I could start my tour right at one of the town's sights. In addition, the sculpture park is right at the beginning of the Rhine promenade and was therefore an ideal starting point.

Gauge tower The modern tower is not part of the historic city fortifications. It is maintained by the Duisburg Water and Shipping Authority for shipping. "In Rees there has been a gauge for water level monitoring since at least the early 1770s. In 1802 a staff gauge with a zero point in the riverbed and a scale division according to the Rhineland foot was erected on a tower of the old city wall. In 1818, the year in which regular water level monitoring began, a second gauge with a zero point 2 feet lower was erected next to the existing staff gauge. This second gauge was the main instrument for water level monitoring from November 1, 1822. In 1872 the scale was changed to meter measurements. From 1901 a floating recorder gauge was installed, which was destroyed in 1945. In 1957 a new floating recorder gauge and a gauge with remote data transmission were put into operation" (according to undine.bafg.de).

Old customs tower The customs tower was part of the original city fortifications on the Rhine side, built in 1299. After the city was elevated to city status in 1228, Rees subsequently received city fortifications, the work on which was carried out on the Rhine promenade between 1290 and 1310. At the same time, this side protected against flooding and ice. The customs tower was used to monitor the Cologne and Cleves Rhine tolls. As early as 1142, there was evidence of a customs office in Rees, which was maintained by the Archbishops of Cologne, but concerned a market toll. In 1392, Rees came into the possession of the Counts of Cleves (from 1417 Dukes) through an exchange for Linn on the left bank of the Rhine. After that, Rees became a customs office of Cleves. Documents only show that it was a customs office for a Rhine toll from 1495 to 1500. The blocks in the lower third come from the archbishop's quarries in the Siebengebirge.

Rees' city fortifications were once among the most important on the Lower Rhine. When Rees was raised to town status in 1228, it already had a ring wall made of wood and earth that surrounded the settlement of Rees. It was not until 1289 that the people of Rees began to build a city wall on the orders of the Archbishop of Cologne. The height of the wall and the towers, as well as their number, showed how important the city was. The city wall also offered protection from roaming looters or wild animals. Within the walls, special laws applied (legal and customs districts) that were intended to better protect the city's citizens. This construction project was financed from the city's consumption tax and later from the cart toll. The construction of the new massive reinforcements lasted until the middle of the 14th century. In the first section, the most vulnerable area of the city was fortified, namely the river side. It was not until 1310 - 1350 that the people of Rees began to build the landward fortification section, which was completed by the round base that had since been built over.