KREFELD

'Krefeld' () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located southwest of the Ruhr area, its center just a few kilometres to the west of the River Rhine. (The borough of 'Uerdingen' is situated directly on the Rhine.) The city was also known as ''Crefeld'' until 1929. It is accessed by the autobahns A57 (Cologne - Nijmegen) and the A44 (Aachen - Düsseldorf - Dortmund - Kassel)
The origins of the town were in Roman times, when the legions founded the military camp of 'Gelduba' (today the borough of Gellep). Krefeld itself was first mentioned in 1105 under the name of ''Krinvelde''. Uerdingen was originally an independent town east of Krefeld, founded in 1255. In medieval times it was larger and more important than Krefeld.
The growth of the town began in the 17th century, when Krefeld was one of few towns spared the horrors of the Thirty Years' War. The town was quickly overpopulated. In 1683 a group of thirteen families (Mennonites) left Krefeld, crossed the Atlantic and founded the settlement of Germantown (now incorporated in Philadelphia).
The town of Uerdingen was less fortunate; it was completely destroyed in the Thirty Years' War by troops from Hesse and almost ceased to exist. Krefeld got ahead of Uerdingen; both towns merged in 1928.
Krefeld is also called the "Velvet and Silk City".
In more recent decades the city has hosted an honors program in foreign language (German) studies. The program annually places thirty specially selected high school students with families in and around Krefeld for intensive German language training.^[2]
Krefeld's residents speak Hochdeutsch, the standard German which all educated Germans are taught. However, the native dialect is a Low German variety, sometimes locally called "Krefelder Plattdeutsch," "Krieewelsch Platt," "Plattdeutsch,," or sometimes simply "Platt." The Uerdingen line isogloss, separating general dialectical areas in Germany and neigboring Germanic-speaking countries, runs through and is named for Krefeld's Uerdingen district, originally an independent municipality.^[3]

Contents

Districts

Incorporations

Historical population of Krefeld

City counsellors 1946 until 1999

Transportation

Twinnings

Notable Natives

External links

Districts

★ 010 Stadtmitte

★ 020 Kempener Feld/Baackeshof

★ 030 Inrath/Kliedbruch

★ 040 Cracau

★ 050 Dießem/Lehmheide

★ 060 Benrad-Süd

★ 070 Forstwald

★ 080 Benrad-Nord

★ 090 Hülser Berg

★ 100 Traar, pop: about 5,000, postal code: 47802

★ 110 Verberg

★ 120 Gartenstadt

★ 130 Bockum, pop: about 28,000, elevation: 35 m, postal code: 47800 (old: 4150 Krefeld 1)

★ 140 Linn
::Linn, with its own history reaching to between 1090 and 1120, was situated on the banks of the Rhine. There is in Linn a park built around a Wasserburg, a castle built at the water's edge, and with a water-filled moat. The Burg Linn, as the castle is known, has been preserved for the city's residents as a park and museum. ^[4][5][6]

★ 150 Gellep-Stratum

★ 160 Oppum

★ 170 Fischeln

★ 180 Uerdingen, pop: about 25,000, elevation: 31 m, postal code: 47829

★ 190 Hüls

Incorporations

Here are the old cities and places that were incorporated into Krefeld:

★ 1901: Linn (Stadtrecht since 1314)

★ 1907: Bockum, Verberg und Oppum (all mayoralty Bockum)

★ 1929:

★
★ Krefeld became an independent city

★
★ Uerdingen, Krefeld (received municipal law in 1255/1344, added Hohenbudberg in today's Duisburg district Friemersheim)

★
★ Fischeln, Krefeld district

★
★ Traar, Krefeld district

★
★ Gellep and Stratum (in Lank), Krefeld district

★
★ Forstwald (Vorst), Krefeld district

★
★ Benrad und Hülserberg (Hüls), Kempem

★ 1975: Locality of Hüls from Kempen (since 1970 integrated and belonged since 1929 to the Kempen-Krefeld district; in 1936 Orbroich had been independent)

Historical population of Krefeld

Year Population 1604 350 1722 1,499 1787 7,896 1830 18,511 1871 57,105 1875 ¹ 62,905 1880 73,872 December 1, 1890 ¹ 105,376 December 2, 1895 ¹ 107,245 December 1, 1900 ¹ 106,928 December 1, 1905 ¹ 110,344 December 1, 1910 ¹ 129,406 October 8 1919 ¹ 124,325

Year Population June 16 1925 ¹ 131,098 June 16, 1933 ¹ 165,305 May 17, 1939 ¹ 170,968 September 13, 1950 ¹ 171,875 June 6, 1961 ¹ 213,104 December 31, 1970 222,700 June 30, 1975 230,500 June 30, 1980 223,400 June 30, 1985 217,000 January 1, 1989 235,423 June 30, 1997 246,800 December 31, 2003 238,565

¹ Census data
== Mayors of Krefeld from 1848 ==

★ 1848 - 1872: Ludwig Heinrich Ondereyck

★ 1872 - 1881: Friedrich Christian Roos

★ 1882 - 1903: Ernst Küper

★ 1903 - 1905: Dr. Wilhelm Hammerschmidt

★ 1905 - 1911: Dr. Adalbert Oehler

★ 1911 - 1930: Dr. Johannes Johansen

★ 1945 - 1946: Dr. Johannes Stepkes

★ 1946 - 1947: Dr. Wilhelm Warsch

★ 1947 - 1949: Hermann Passen

★ 1949 - 1951: Hanns Müller (FDP)

★ 1951 - 1956: Johannes Hauser (CDU)

★ 1956 - 1961: Josef Hellenbrock (SPD)

★ 1961 - 1968: Herbert van Hüllen (CDU)

★ 1968 - 1982: Hansheinz Hauser (CDU)

★ 1982 - 1989: Dieter Pützhofen , first term in office (CDU)

★ 1989 - 1994: Willi Wahl (SPD)

★ 1994 - 2004: Dieter Pützhofen, second term in office (CDU)

★ 2004 - present: Gregor Kathstede (CDU)

City counsellors 1946 until 1999

★ 1946 - 1949: Dr. Johan Stepkes

★ 1949 - 1964: Dr. Bernhard Heun

★ 1964 - 1986: Dr. Hermann Steffens

★ 1986 - 1988: Dr. Alfred Dahlmann

★ 1988 - 1999: Heinz-Josef Vogt

Transportation

Krefeld is connected to the Deutsche Bahn network with several stations, however they all carry local trains only. The Düsseldorf-based Rheinbahn operates a Stadtbahn service to the centrally located Rheinstraße stop. This line was the first electric inter-city rail line in Europe, established in 1898, and commonly called the K-Bahn because of the letter "K" used to denote the trains to Krefeld. Nowadays, in the VRR notation it is called U76, with the morning express trains numbered as U70, the line number there being of a red colour instead of the usual blue used for U-Bahn lines. The term 'K-Bahn', however, prevails in common usage.
The city of Krefeld itself operates four tramway and several bus lines under the umbrella of SWK Mobil, a city-owned company. The tram network, however, has fallen into disrepair as the newest rolling stock has already passed 25 years of age and is not at all friendly towards handicapped passengers. The tramway's future is presently being discussed.

Twinnings

★ - Venlo, The Netherlands, since 1964 ★ - Leicester, England, since 1969 ★ - Dunkerque, France, since 1974 ★ - Leiden, The Netherlands, since 1974

★ - Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, since 1986 ★ - Beeskow, Oder-Spree district, Brandenburg, Germany, since 1990 ★ - Ulyanovsk, Russia, since 1993

Notable Natives

★ Heinrich Band (1821 - 1860)

★ Heinrich Campendonk (November 3, 1889 - May 9, 1957 in Amsterdam)

★ Werner Voss (April 13, 1897 - September 23, 1917), German WW1 aviator

★ Otto Brües (May 1, 1897 - April 18, 1967)

★ Max Zorn (June 6, 1906 - March 9, 1993 in Bloomington, Indiana), German mathematician

★ Kurt Feltz (April 14, 1910 - August 3, 1982 in Majorca)

★ Werner Ross (1912 in Uerdingen - 2002), German writer

★ Joseph Beuys (Mat 12, 1921 - 1986), German artist

★ Rudi Dornbusch (December 1, June 8, 1942 - July 25, 2002, German economist

★ Ralf Hütter (August 20, 1946), Lead Singer of Electronic Music Pioneers Kraftwerk

★ Albert Oehlen, German artist

★ Markus Oehlen, German artist

★ Blind Guardian, popular German heavy metal band

★ Martin Hyun, German and U.S. hockey player

★ Aquagen, popular German trance and techno artists

External links

★ Official city website

★ http://www.strassenmodenschau.de/ - Straßenmodenschau

★ http://www.flachsmarkt.de/ - Krefeld-Linner Flachsmarkt

★ http://www.krefeld-pinguine.de/ - Krefeld Icehockeyteam

★ http://www.kfc-online.de/ - Krefeld Soccerteam

★ http://www.theater-krefeld.de/ - Stadttheater Krefeld

★ http://www.phenomer.com/ - Krefelds Serious Friend Network
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