EMMERICH (the

See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient Embrica)  , a town of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine province, on the right bank of the Rhine and the railway from Cologne to Amsterdam, 5 M . N.E. of Cleves . Pop . (1905) 12,578 . It has a considerable shipping trade, and manufactories of tobacco and cigars, chocolate, margarine, oil, chemicals, brushes, vinegar, soap, guano and perfumery . There are also iron foundries and machine factories . The old minster church, built in the middle of the 11th century, contains some fine choir stalls . Emmerich, formerly called Embrika and Emrik, originally a Roman colony, is mentioned in records so early as the 7th century . St Willibrord founded a monastery and church here . In 1233 the place came into the possession of the dukes of Gelderland and received the status of a town in 1247 . In 1371 it fell to the duchy of Cleves, and passed with it in 1609 to Brandenburg . The town joined the Hanseatic League in 1407 .

In 1794 it was bombarded by the

French under General Vandamme, and in 18o6 it was assigned to the grand-duchy of Berg . It passed into the possession of Prussia in 1815 . See A . Dederich, Annalen der Stadt Emmerich (Emmerich, 1867) .