Krefeld

Krefeld, manufacturing town and railway junction of Germany, 12 miles N.W. of Dusseldorf and 4 miles from the left bank of the Rhine. Its importance dates from the introduction of silk and velvet working by religious refugees in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its trade now amounts to nearly £3,000,000. The chief industries are iron-foundries, machine factories, railway repairing shops, and its chief productions spirits, soaps, chemicals, etc.