Right in front of you, you’ll spot the Kleiner Markt as an open triangular square, sloping slightly down to the street below, ringed with buildings and framed by trees, with the towering steeple of St. Mary’s just behind-all at the heart of historic Kleve.
Now, let’s take you on a little time-travel adventure-imagine cobbled footsteps, the sound of merchants, and the murmur of stories echoing off the bricks. You’re now standing on the very spot that has gathered townsfolk for centuries: the Kleiner Markt, one of the oldest squares north of the St. Mary’s church. This triangle-shaped plaza is where several streets meet, with Kirchstraße at the north, the bustling Propsteistraße on the west, and Nassauerstraße along with Goldstraße to the east. If you shuffle your feet, you’ll even feel the slope down towards Kirchstraße-so watch your step, unless you want to practice your moonwalk!
Long ago, the square was a lively meeting point, shaded by the towering double-gabled brick house with its fancy, stepped rooftops, until war swept through and swept them away. If you had come here in 1881, you’d have seen the Lohengrin Monument perched front and center, but by 1909, it had to pack its bags-or rather, get hoisted over to make way for the bold Hohenzollern Monument, with its dramatic equestrian statue of the “Great Elector.” This changing of the statues was such a big deal that Kaiser Wilhelm II himself attended the unveiling! Talk about a square with star power.
Today, the Kleiner Markt has a touch of whimsy thanks to a fountain featuring seven bronze, water-spouting heads. These honor the once-famous “Gecken-Gesellschaft”-the jesters’ society-complete with a king and his council of six. You might even hear echoes of their laughter if you listen closely. And, just on the raised forecourt above, there stands the “Dead Warrior” statue by Ewald Mataré, a haunting, powerful memorial with a truly dramatic story: battered, banned, and broken in the chaos of war, rediscovered decades later, then lovingly restored. Every corner of the square tells a story-of meetings, monarchs, mischief, and memory. I hope you can feel a bit of all that as you stand right here.
