In the year 1423, the fortress and the "Land of Cuijk" came under
the House of Egmond and Arnoud van Egmond. The Duke of Gelre became its ruler.
During the reign of Arnoud, the fortifications of Grave were improved.
In the early part of 1568, Spanish troops invaded Grave. Nine years later,
Grave returned to state government thanks to the help of the Prince of Orange.
In 1596, the Duke of Parma arrived at Grave and after a 3 months’ siege, Grave
was back under Spanish rule. The great Prince Maurits took care that in 1602
Grave was freed of Spanish occupation for ever.
Until 1672, no skirmishes of note took place, but Grave and its inhabitants
were being exploited and Grave was not flourishing. Due to a tactical mistake of
the state army the fortress fell into French hands, undamaged, in 1672. Two
years later, Lt. General Raubenhaupt appeared at Grave with a large state army
to drive the French occupation, under the Marquess de Chamilly, away from the
fortress. After a siege of nearly 4 months, the fortress Grave was surrendered
to the Prince of Orange by the Marquess de Chamilly. Most buildings in town were
in ruin. The castle of Grave had become uninhabitable and has never been
restored. It would take years before the impoverished city was able to rebuild
the houses to a reasonable standard.
In 1675, the building of barracks and stables begun, in an effort to free the
burghers of Grave of military billeting.
In 1794, the French army arrived at the fortress and after a heroic battle
General de Bons had to surrender the fortress to the French.
With the foundation of the Netherlands in 1813, peace returned to Europe. In
1874, the Vestingwet brought Grave’s history as a fortress to an end. In the
decade that followed, most of the part of the old fortifications were
demolished. In their place came the leafy "city promenade" of Grave in
wich the river "Maas" also played an important role.
In this new millennium, Grave is on the eve of restoration and renewal. The
local government have started a process of reconstruction and restauration. The
theme of this process is:
The built environment in which we live should link utility to beauty and
quality to affordability. In addition building projects yet to be realised must
harmonise with the existing environment in such a way that they show both
respect for history and a vision of culture.
And as a logical consquence of Grave’s membership.Additional to this
principles, Grave subscribe the Piran declaration: Walled Towns are unique
inheritances from times long past and should be treasured, maintained and
safeguarded from neglect and destruction and passed on to perpetuity as
irreplaceable 'Timestones of History'.
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