Krefeld's residents now speak Hochdeutsch, or standard German, but the native dialect is a Low Franconian variety, sometimes locally called Krefelder Platt, Krieewelsch Platt, or sometimes simply Platt. The Uerdingen lineisogloss, separating general dialectical areas in Germany and neighboring Germanic-speaking countries, runs through and is named after Krefeld's Uerdingen district, originally an independent municipality.
History
Early history
Records first mention Krefeld in 1105 under the name of Krinvelde.
In February 1598, Walburga, wife of Adolf van Nieuwenaar, and last Countess of Limburg and Moers, gave the County of Moers, which included Krefeld, to Maurice, Prince of Orange. After her death in 1600, John William of Cleves took possession of these lands, but Maurice successfully defended his heritage in 1601. Krefeld and Moers would remain under the jurisdiction of the House of Orange and the Dutch Republic during the Dutch Golden Age (1588–1672).[8] Krefeld was one of few towns spared the horrors of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). The town of Uerdingen, incorporated into Krefeld in the 20th century, had been destroyed at the hands of troops from Hesse during the Thirty Years' War, and almost ceased to exist.
In 1872 Krefeld became an independent city within Rhenish Prussia. In 1918 during the First World War the Belgian Army used it as a base during the occupation of the Rhineland. In 1929 Krefeld and Uerdingen merged to form Krefeld-Uerdingen; in 1940 the name was shortened to simply Krefeld.
The Mennonites of Krefeld
From 1607 Mennonites arrived in Krefeld, as in nearby Gronau, from neighboring Roman Catholic territories where they were persecuted. In 1609 Herman op den Graeff, originally from Aldekerk, moved with his family to Krefeld. There he became a lay preacher and chairman of the Mennonite religious community. In 1637, Op den Graeff was referred to as “the Mennonite lord Bishop” (der hiesigen Mennoniten Herrn Bischof) of Krefeld in the reformed community’s minutes book.[9] They sought refuge in the lands of the more tolerant House of Orange-Nassau, at the time rulers of Krefeld; in 1657 their congregation was officially recognized and in 1693 they were allowed to build their own church, although hidden in a back yard (which still exists, reconstructed after World War II, with about 800 members). Also the Quaker Evangelists received a sympathetic audience among the larger of the German-Mennonite congregations around Krefeld, Gronau, Emden and Altona, Hamburg.[10] In 1683 a group of thirteen Mennonite families (twelve of them Mennonite-Quakers), the so called Original 13, including three of the Op den Graeff families left Krefeld to re-settle in Pennsylvania in order to enjoy religious freedom. They crossed the Atlantic on the ship Concord,[11] and founded the settlement of Germantown (now incorporated in Philadelphia), invited by William Penn, and thus beginning the Pennsylvania Dutch ethnic identity.[12] The most important Mennonite family of Krefeld were the silk merchants and silk weaving industrialists Von der Leyen who, by 1763, employed half of Krefeld's population of 6,082 in their factories. Their residence, built from 1791, is the current City Hall.
The Jews of Krefeld
Jews were listed as citizens of Krefeld from 1617. In 1764, a synagogue was erected, and by 1812, under French rule, the town included 196 Jewish families, with three Jewish-owned banks. Under Napoleon, the town became the capital for the surrounding Jewish communities including over 5000 Jews, and by 1897 they comprised 1.8% of the population.[13] In 1846 a Jewish representative was voted onto the town's municipal council, while rising antisemitism was noted during these elections.[13] A reform synagogue was built in 1876, arousing opposition from the Orthodox community. A Jewish school existed in the town, with more than 200 students around 1900.[13]
In November 1938, during the November pogroms, a synagogue on Marktstraße, as well as synagogues in Linn, Uerdingen and Hüls were destroyed, in addition to attacks on Jewish shops and homes.[14] In 1941 following an order from Hitler to deport the German Jews to the east, Jews from the town were sent to the area around Riga[15][13] and murdered there.[16]
In 2008, a new synagogue, library and Jewish cultural center were erected on the location of one of the demolished synagogues. Around 1100 Jews were reported to live in and around Krefeld at the time.[17]
On 11 December 1941, during World War II, a detailed report on the transport of Jews from Krefeld and its surroundings listed 1007 Jews from Krefeld and Duisburg, were deported to the Šķirotava Railway Station near Riga, later to become Jungfernhof concentration camp. They were transported in freezing conditions with no drinking water for more than two days.[15] Almost immediately upon arrival, they were shot in the Rumbula forest massacre.[16]
On 21 June 1943, British bombs destroyed many buildings in the east part of the city; a firestorm consumed large parts of the city center (apart from the central train station, which remained intact apart from minor damage). On 3 March 1945 US troops entered Krefeld.[18] After occupying the city and due to a lack of fluent German speakers in the intelligence unit to which he was assigned, the U.S. Army placed Henry Kissinger, then a private, in charge of the city administration.[19]
During the Cold War, the city was host to the 16th Signal Regiment of the United Kingdom's Royal Corps of Signals stationed at Bradbury Barracks.[20] The town became part of the new state of North Rhine-Westphalia after World War II.
Linn, with its own history reaching to between 1090 and 1120, was situated on the banks of the Rhine. In Linn, there is 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.[23]
1975: Locality of Hüls from Kempen (since 1970 integrated and belonged since 1929 to the Kempen-Krefeld district; in 1936 Orbroich had been independent)
Demographics
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±%
1604
350
—
1722
1,499
+328.3%
1787
7,896
+426.8%
1830
18,511
+134.4%
1871
57,105
+208.5%
1875
62,905
+10.2%
1880
73,872
+17.4%
1890
105,376
+42.6%
1895
107,245
+1.8%
1900
106,928
−0.3%
1905
110,344
+3.2%
1910
129,406
+17.3%
1919
124,325
−3.9%
1925
131,098
+5.4%
1933
165,305
+26.1%
1939
170,968
+3.4%
1950
171,875
+0.5%
1961
213,104
+24.0%
1970
222,700
+4.5%
1975
230,500
+3.5%
1980
223,400
−3.1%
1985
217,000
−2.9%
1990
244,020
+12.5%
2001
239,559
−1.8%
2011
222,247
−7.2%
2022
230,666
+3.8%
Population size may be affected by changes in administrative divisions.
Source for 1990-2022: [24]
Year
Population
1604
350
1722
1,499
1787
7,896
1830
18,511
1871
57,105
1875 ¹
62,905
1880
73,872
1 December 1890 ¹
105,376
2 December 1895 ¹
107,245
1 December 1900 ¹
106,928
1 December 1905 ¹
110,344
1 December 1910 ¹
129,406
8 October 1919 ¹
124,325
Year
Population
16 June 1925 ¹
131,098
16 June 1933 ¹
165,305
17 May 1939 ¹
170,968
13 September 1950 ¹
171,875
6 June 1961 ¹
213,104
31 December 1970
222,700
30 June 1975
230,500
30 June 1980
223,400
30 June 1985
217,000
1 January 1989
235,423
30 June 1997
246,800
31 December 2003
238,565
31 December 2007
240,648
¹ Census data
Largest migrant communities in Krefeld by 31.12.2017 are
The current mayor of Krefeld is Frank Meyer of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows:
The following is a list of city counsellors from 1946 until 1999:
1946–1949: Johan Stepkes
1949–1964: Bernhard Heun
1964–1986: Hermann Steffens
1986–1988: Alfred Dahlmann
1988–1999: Heinz-Josef Vogt
City council
Results of the 2020 city council election.
The Krefeld city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:
Krefeld is connected to the Deutsche Bahn network with several stations, including its main station, Krefeld Hauptbahnhof. They are served by Intercity, Regional-Express and Regionalbahn trains. 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 and afternoon express trains numbered as U70, the line number there coloured red 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. Since 2010, 19 of the oldest trams of the type Duewag GT8 were replaced by modern barrier-free trams of the type Bombardier Flexity Outlook. SWK Mobil owns an option to buy another 19 trams of the same type to replace the last 19 Duewag M8 trams. The whole tram fleet will then be barrier-free. Next to that the city plans to extend the line 044 in Krefeld-Hüls to connect the northern district of Hüls with the Krefeld downtown area.
Economy
The headquarters of Fressnapf, a pet food retailer franchise company, are situated in Krefeld.
Since 1964,[26] the city has hosted an "honors program in foreign language (German) studies" for high school students from Indiana, United States. The program annually places approximately thirty carefully selected high school juniors with families in and around Krefeld for intensive German language training.[27] Since 1973, the fire services of Krefeld and twin city Leicester have played each other in an annual 'friendly' football match.[28]
^Staff. "The Western Front". The Observer. Vol. 248 No. 7, 737. London. p. 9, col. 3. Archived from the original on 24 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
^Taufgesinnte und großes Kapital: die niederrheinisch-bergischen Mennoniten und der Aufstieg des Krefelder Seidengewerbes, Mitte des 17. Jahrhunderts-1815. Page 105. Von Peter Kriedte (2007)
^C. Henry Smith, Smith's Story of the Mennonites, p. 139 (1981, 5th ed. Faith and Life Press) ISBN0-87303-060-5
^ ab(German) Gottwald, Fred, and Schulle, Diana: Die „Judendeportationen“ aus dem Deutschen Reich 1941–1945. (The Jewish deportations by the German Empire from 1941 to 1945.) Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN3-86539-059-5, p.121 I heard that the Jews were evacuated in rows - and as they left the train - they were shot" (Victor Klemperer, diary entry of 13 January 1942)
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