WESEL

town, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), northwestern Germany. It lies along the Rhine and Lippe rivers and the Lippe-Seiten Canal, northwest of the Ruhr. Chartered in 1241, it joined the Hanseatic League in about 1350 and has long been an important trade and shipping point. It was also a traditional district capital and cultural centre of the border area of the lower Rhine. The town fell to Brandenburg in 1667 and was a Brandenburg-Prussian garrison town until 1918. Its citadel was one of the finest 17th-century examples of its type. Almost completely razed by air raids in World War II (though some medieval buildings still survive), Wesel has since been rebuilt along modern lines. Its most notable new building is the Municipal Playhouse (1958). There are large harbour installations and many industrial plants (mainly for metal products) and business enterprises. Pop. (1989 est.) 57,986.