Goch

Goch (archaic spelling: Gog; Gogh) is a town in the Kleve district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, close to the border with the Netherlands, 12 km south of Kleve and 27 km southeast of Nijmegen.

History
Goch is at least 750 years old: the earliest mention of Goch is in a document dated 1259. It was a part of the Duchy of Cleves. During World War II, the city was completely destroyed by Allied bombers during Operation Veritable.

Twin towns – sister cities
Goch is twinned with:
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Andover, England, United Kingdom
 * Meierijstad, Netherlands (formerly Veghel)
 * 🇵🇱 Nowy Tomyśl, Poland
 * 🇫🇷 Redon, France

Notable people

 * Otto III (980–1002), Holy Roman Emperor
 * Johannes von Goch (c. 1400–1475), Medieval theologian
 * Maarten Schenck van Nydeggen (1540–1589), military commander in the Netherlands
 * Francisco de Moncada (1586–1635), Spanish author, military leader, and governor of the Spanish Netherlands, died here
 * Aenne Biermann (1898–1933), photographer
 * Hubert Houben (1898–1956), athlete
 * Josefa Idem (born 1964), Italian sprint canoer and politician
 * Arnold Janssen (1837–1909), founder of the Society of the Divine Word, a Roman Catholic missionary congregation
 * Rita Kersting (born 1969), art historian
 * Luisa Wensing (born 1993), footballer

Vincent van Gogh, according to his name, which translates to "Vincent of Goch", has ancestors likely native to this location.