Kleve (German: [ˈkleːfə] ⓘ; traditional English: Cleves /kliːvz/ KLEEVZ; Dutch: Kleef; French: Clèves; Spanish: Cléveris; Latin: Clivia; Low Rhenish: Kleff) is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine.

In addition to the inner city, the territory of Kleve comprises fourteen villages and populated places: Bimmen, Brienen, Donsbrüggen, Düffelward, Griethausen, Keeken, Kellen, Materborn, Reichswalde, Rindern, Salmorth, Schenkenschanz, Warbeyen and Wardhausen.

The name Kleff probably derives from Middle Dutch clef, clif 'cliff, bluff', referring to the promontory on which the Schwanenburg castle was constructed.

It is located at the northern terminus of the Kermisdahl[further explanation needed] where it joins with the Spoykanal, which was previously an important transportation link to the Rhine.

The old castle has a massive tower, the Schwanenturm 180 feet (55 m) high, that is associated in legend with the Knight of the Swan, immortalized in Richard Wagner's Lohengrin.

Significant amounts of his original plan for Kleve were put into effect and have been maintained to the present, a particularly well-loved example of which is the Forstgarten (Forest Garden).

The mineral waters of Kleve and the wooded parkland surrounding it made it a fashionable spa in the 19th century.

[4] During World War II Kleve was the site of one of the two radio wave stations that served the Knickebein aircraft navigation system.

It was replaced by the higher frequency X-Gerät system, which used transmitter stations located on the channel coast of France.

[6] Most of the destruction was the result of a raid late in the war in 1945, conducted at the request of Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks in preparation for Operation Veritable.

Those structures spared include a number of historic villas built during the heyday of the spa Bad Kleve, located along the B9 near the Tiergarten.

After the Second World War important employers in the area were associated with the West German "Economic Miracle" (Wirtschaftswunder), and included the XOX Bisquitfabrik (XOX Biscuit Factory) GmbH and the Van den Berg'schen Margerinewerke (Van den Berg’s Margarine Factory).

Lower costs of real estate have attracted a wave of Dutch citizens, who purchased houses in the area.

The largest section of this group are residents without any religious affiliation, but there are also sizeable Russian Orthodox and Muslim communities in Kleve.

The fifty killed Jewish citizens of Cleves are remembered with signs that tell their names, and dates and places of death.

Prior to the Nazi Era, Kleve's local politics were dominated by the Catholic Centre Party.

This situation continued with the Christian Democratic successor party CDU after the Second World War, in spite of resettled displaced people from eastern Germany, most of them Protestants.

On the other hand, the Dutch artist Barend Cornelis Koekkoek (1803–1862) settled in Kleve and became a successful landscape painter.