It was a completely unexpected historical encounter. Heidi de Ruiter and Bert Smulders from the Euregio Rhine-Waal attended a meeting of the city of Rees' culture committee at the Koenraad Bosman Museum in October. The meeting focussed on cooperation between cities in the Lower Rhine region and the Netherlands in the context of the Hanseatic League.
During the guided tour of the museum, they were amazed when they were confronted with the oldest document in the Rees city archives from 1142, on which the name ‘Smithusen’ could be read. At the time, Smithusen was an independent, flourishing market town with a moated castle on the site of today's Schmithausen House, which has been the seat of the Euregio Rhine-Waal since 1993. ‘In the document,’ says Veit Veltzke, the Hanseatic Commissioner of the city of Rees, ‘Archbishop Arnold I of Cologne confirms that merchants living in Rees have the right to trade duty-free in Wesel, Xanten, Emmerich, Elten, Doetinchem and Smithusen and that this duty-free status also applies to merchants from these places when they visit Rees.’‘What makes this document particularly interesting,’ continues Veltzke, "is that this regulation in the document is attributed to a customary law from the later 11th century: evidence of the considerable early economic importance of these places and their early market networking, in which their merchant groups took the reins into their own hands. A testimony to their still pre-civil independence and a milestone on the way to becoming a city." During the guided tour of the Koenraad Bosman Museum, the strong interest of the Euregio representatives in this unexpectedly early mention of ‘Smithusens’ was clearly noticeable. Reason enough for the town of Rees to delight its enthusiastic guests with a reproduction of this document - the only traceable original document of this early market network. The gift has now been presented to the Euregio Rhine-Waal. Andreas Kochs, Managing Director, and Heidi de Ruiter, Deputy Managing Director, enthusiastically accepted the gift. "The document testifies to the fact that our current German-Dutch cultural area has belonged together since around 950 years ago. We are delighted that we can now make it possible to experience and read about what Haus Schmithausen and the Euregio Rhine-Waal still stand for today," says Andreas Kochs.
Veit Veltzke confirms this: "Rees used to be an important trading centre in the region, not only on the Rhine, but also along the IJssel to the IJsselmeer. People also spoke the same language here." Rees and Zutphen are currently working on various projects about their shared history with funding from the Euregio Rhine-Waal. While Rees, Xanten, Emmerich, Doetinchem and Wesel were later granted town rights, the increasing silting up of the arm of the Rhine at Smithusen was to block its further development. The Rhine toll that existed here was also moved to Emmerich in 1318: The Rhine river as fate!
Photo: A document from the 12th century about ‘Smithusen’ for ‘Haus Schmithausen’, the seat of the Euregio Rhine-Waal, with an explanatory plaque attached, was given as a gift by the town of Rees. Here: (from left) Tina Oostendorp, City Archive of the City of Rees, Sebastian Hense, Mayor of the City of Rees, Veit Veltzke, Hanseatic Commissioner of the City of Rees, Andreas Kochs, Managing Director of the Euregio Rhine-Waal, and Heidi de Ruiter, Deputy Managing Director of the Euregio Rhine-Waal.
