Uerdingen

Uerdingen (German pronunciation: [ˈyːɐ̯dɪŋən]) is a district of the city of Krefeld, Germany, with a population of 18,507.

Uerdingen was originally a separate city, east of Krefeld. It got its charter as a city as early as 1255, well before Krefeld and in medieval times was larger and more important than Krefeld. However, during the Thirty Years' War troops from Hesse completely destroyed Uerdingen and it almost ceased to exist. Conversely, Krefeld was one of few towns in Germany spared the horrors of the Thirty Years' War, with the result that thereafter, that what was left of Uerdingen was overshadowed by Krefeld.

Uerdingen was merged with Krefeld in 1929, after which the term “Krefeld-Uerdingen” was used, until, eventually, the use of the term “Uerdingen” fell away altogether.

Until the reapportionment in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia in 1975, Uerdingen, as a part of the city of Krefeld, had a fairly unusual special status within Germany. The former Rhine city had special rights and privileges. One sign of this can still be seen today in Krefeld’s city coat of arms (“Wappen”), which still has the Uerdinger arms in its right half.

The most important employers in Uerdingen, as well as in Krefeld, are the Bayer concern, which has its second largest plant in Uerdingen, and Lanxess (in 2004 most of the chemical and approximately a third of synthetics activities were spun off from Bayer AG), aside from the rail car manufacturer DUEWAG (today Siemens Transportation Systems). After the local “Uerdinger” brand of gin, Uerdingen is perhaps best known for its tradition-steeped soccer team F.C. Bayer 05 Uerdingen, now known as KFC Uerdingen 05.

Uerdingen is bounded on its west by the Krefeld city districts of Bockum, Gartenstadt, and Elfrath; on the northwest by Traar; on the north by Duisburg-Rumeln-Kaldenhausen; and on the northeast by Hohenbudberg in the direction of Duisburg-Rheinhausen. To the east of Uerdingen, across the Rhine, lies Duisburg-Mündelheim, and on the south lies the Krefeld city district of Linn.

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