MOERS

also spelled Mrs, city, North RhineWestphalia Land (state), western Germany. It lies immediately west of Duisburg, in the Ruhr industrial region. The site of the Roman town Asciburgium, Moers was first mentioned in the 9th century and developed as a medieval flax market around the castle of the counts of Moers (now a museum). It was chartered about 1300. In 1601 Moers became the property of Maurice of Nassau, prince of Orange, who fortified it. The city passed to Prussia in 1712. The old section of the town is partly ringed by a fortification wall that is 2 miles (3 km) long with a moat and star-shaped dam. Moers became important industrially after 1900 as a coal- and salt-mining centre. The city has several technical schools, and the Gymnasium Adolfinum continues the tradition of the Protestant college founded there in 1582. The city's manufactures now include machinery and construction materials. Pop. (1991 est.) 104,595.