Grefrath

Grefrath
Coat of arms
Grefrath
Location of Grefrath within Viersen district
Coordinates: 51°20′N 6°20′E / 51.333°N 6.333°E / 51.333; 6.333Coordinates: 51°20′N 6°20′E / 51.333°N 6.333°E / 51.333; 6.333
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Düsseldorf
District	Viersen
Government
• Mayor	Manfred Lommetz (Ind.)
Area
• Total	30.98 km2 (11.96 sq mi)
Elevation	32 m (105 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	14,914
• Density	480/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	47929
Dialling codes	0 21 58
Vehicle registration	VIE
Website	www.grefrath.de

Grefrath (German pronun­cia­tion: [ˈɡʁeːfʁaːt]) is a municipality in the district of Viersen, in the western part of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. (It should not be confused with the village of Grefrath which lies just to the south of Neuss on the Rhine River.)

It is situated in the Lower Rhineland region (German: Niederhein), which is located between the river Rhine and the borderline between Germany and the Netherlands.

The river Niers crosses through the municipality from the south to the north. The villages of Grefrath and Vinkrath are located on the westerly bank of the small river, whereas Oedt and Mülhausen are situated on the easterly bank.

Towns and municipalities adjoining Grefrath are (clockwise, beginning in the north):

The nearest bigger cities are Mönchengladbach (15 km to the south-south-east), Krefeld (15 km to the east) and Venlo (15 km to the west).

The town of Grefrath was first mentioned in 1177, at that time bearing the name of Greverode. This stands for "The Earls' Clearing" (German: Rodung der Grafen). .

In 1243 Grefrath was acquired by the county of Geldern (since 1339: duchy of Geldern) to which it belonged for the next centuries. In 1543 the duchy of Geldern was given to the Burgundian Netherlands, also called the Spanish Netherlands after the division of the House of Habsburg.

During the Eighty Years' War, in which the Seventeen Provinces (predecessor of today's Netherlands) fought for their independence from Spain, Grefrath continued to belong to Spain along with the southerly part of the duchy of Geldern. Following the conclusion of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, the Spanish part of the duchy of Geldern was added to Prussia.