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ELBERFELD

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 163 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ELBERFELD , a manufacturing See also:

town of See also:Germany, in the Prussian See also:Rhine See also:province, on the See also:Wupper, and immediately See also:west of and contiguous to See also:Barmen (q.v.). Pop. (1816) 21,710;•(1840) 31,514; (1885) 109,218; (1905) 167,382. Elberfeld-Barmen, although administratively See also:separate, practically See also:form a single whole. It winds, a continuous See also:strip of houses and factories, for 9 M. along the deep valley, on both See also:banks of the Wupper, which is crossed by numerous See also:bridges, the engirdling hills crowned with See also:woods. See also:Local intercommunication is provided by an electric See also:tramway See also:line and a novel See also:hanging railway—on the See also:Langen mono-See also:rail system—suspended over the See also:bed of the See also:river, with frequent stations. In the centre of the town are a number of irregular and narrow streets, and the river, polluted by the refuse of dye-See also:works and factories, constitutes a See also:constant eyesore. Yet within See also:recent years See also:great alterations have been effected; in the newer quarters are several handsome streets and public buildings; in the centre many insanitary dwellings have been swept away, and their See also:place occupied by imposing blocks of shops and business premises, and a magnificent new town-See also:hall, erected in a dominant position. Among the most recent improvements must be mentioned the Brausenwerther Platz, flanked by the See also:theatre, the public See also:baths, and the railway station and administrative offices. There are eleven Evangelical and five See also:Roman See also:Catholic churches (noticeable among the latter the Suitbertuskirche), a See also:synagogue, and chapels of various other sects. Among other public buildings may be enumerated the civic hall, the See also:law courts and the old town-hall. The town is particularly See also:rich in educational, See also:industrial, philanthropic and religious institutions.

The See also:

schools include the Gymnasium (founded in 1592 by the See also:Protestant community as a Latin school), the Realgymnasium (founded in 1830, for " See also:modern " subjects and Latin), the Oberrealschule and Realschule (founded 1893, the latter wholly " modern "), two girls' high schools, a girls' See also:middle-class school, a large number of popular schools, a See also:mechanics' and See also:polytechnic school, a school of mechanics, an industrial See also:drawing school, a commercial school, and a school for the See also:deaf and dumb. There are also a theatre, an See also:institute of See also:music, a library, a museum, a zoological See also:garden, tnd numerous scientific See also:societies. The town is the seat of the See also:Berg See also:Bible Society. The See also:majority of the inhabitants are Protestant, with a strong tendency towards See also:Pietism; but the Roman Catholics number upwards of 40,000, forming about one-See also:fourth of the See also:total See also:population. The See also:industries of Elberfeld are on a See also:scale of great magnitude. It is the See also:chief centre in Germany of the See also:cotton, See also:wool, See also:silk and See also:velvet manufactures, and of upholstery, drapery and haberdashery of all descriptions, of printed calicoes, of See also:Turkey-red and other dyes, and of See also:fine chemicals. See also:Leather and See also:rubber goods, See also:gold, See also:silver and See also:aluminium wares, machinery, See also:wall-See also:paper, and stained See also:glass are also among other of its See also:staple products. See also:Commerce is lively and the exports to See also:foreign countries are very considerable. The railway See also:system is well devised to meet the requirements of its rapidly increasing See also:trade. Two See also:main lines of railway See also:traverse the valley; that on the See also:south is the main line from See also:Aix-la-Chapelle, See also:Cologne and See also:Dusseldorf to central Germany and See also:Berlin, that on the See also:north feeds the important towns of the See also:Ruhr valley. The surroundings of Elberfeld are attractive, and public grounds and walks have been recently opened on the hills around with results eminently beneficial to the See also:health of the population. In the 12th See also:century the site of Elberfeld was occupied by the See also:castle of the lords of Elverfeld, feudatories of the archbishops of Cologne.

The See also:

fief passed later into the See also:possession of the See also:counts of Berg. The industrial development of the place started with a See also:colony of bleachers, attracted by the clear See also:waters of the Wupper, who in 1532 were granted the exclusive See also:privilege of See also:bleaching See also:yarn. It was not, however, until into that Elberfeld was raised to the status of a town, and in 164o was surrounded with walls. In 176o the manufacture of silk was introduced, and See also:dyeing with Turkey-red in 1780; but it was not till the end of the century that its industries See also:developed into importance under the See also:influence of See also:Napoleon's See also:continental system, which barred out See also:British competition. In 1815 Elberfeld was assigned by the See also:congress of See also:Vienna, with the See also:grand-duchy of Berg, to See also:Prussia, and its prosperity rapidly developed under the Prussian See also:Zollverein. See Coutelle, Elberfeld, topographisch-statistischeDarstellung (Elberfeld, 1853) ; Schell, Geschichte der Stadt Elberfeld (1900) ; A. See also:Shadwell, Industrial Efficiency (See also:London, 1906) ; and Jorde, Fuhrer durch Elberfeld and See also:seine Umgebung (1902).

End of Article: ELBERFELD

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