Anne of Cleves and Swan Castle in Cleves, Germany




anne cleves
(public domain)

Swan Castle (Schloss Schwanenburg) is located in Cleves, Germany. Cleves was the home of Anne of Cleves, the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England. Cleves was a duchy, and at the time of her marriage to Henry, her brother was the ruling Duke. Anne was married to Henry on 6 January 1540. However, the marriage was annulled on 7 July 1540 because Henry was apparently disappointed in her appearance.

Unfortunately, most of the castle is now used as law court offices and is not open to the public. You can still climb the tower, however, which is the home of a geological museum and has a model of the whole castle.

The castle’s tourist information is quite focused on Anne, which is a good thing, but some of the information they offer does not appear to be correct. For example, a brochure I took with me mentions she was divorced from Henry and that she was buried in 1577. As she died in 1557, this seems rather late for a burial!

Below you’ll find the footage of my visit to Cleves!






About Moniek Bloks 2851 Articles
My name is Moniek and I am from the Netherlands. I began this website in 2013 because I wanted to share these women's amazing stories.

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