Elberfeld

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Elberfeld
Reichsbahndirektion Elberfeld, Wuppertal-0113.jpg
View of Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof located in the Elberfeld district
DEU Elberfeld COA.svg
Etymology: Elverfelde
Stadt Elberfeld Lage.png
Historic extent of Elberfeld within Wuppertal

Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929.

Contents

History

The suspension railway of Elberfeld was built over the river in order to keep the streets unobstructed. Elberfeld suspension railway.jpg
The suspension railway of Elberfeld was built over the river in order to keep the streets unobstructed.
Elberfeld ca. 1899 Elberfeld 1899.jpg
Elberfeld ca. 1899
Bond of the former town Elberfeld, issued 1. March 1922 Stadt Elberfeld 1922.JPG
Bond of the former town Elberfeld, issued 1. March 1922

The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "elverfelde" was in a document of 1161. Etymologically, elver is derived from the old Low German word for "river." (See etymology of the name of the German Elbe River; cf. North Germanic älv.) Therefore, the original meaning of "elverfelde" can be understood as "field on the river." Elverfelde received its town charter in 1610.

In 1726, Elias Eller and a pastor, Daniel Schleyermacher, founded a Philadelphian Society. They later moved to Ronsdorf in the Duchy of Berg, becoming the Zionites, a fringe sect.

In 1826 Friedrich Harkort, a famous German industrialist and politician, had a type of suspension railway built as a trial and ran it on the grounds of what is today the tax office at Elberfeld. In fact the railway, the Schwebebahn Wuppertal, was eventually built between Oberbarmen and Vohwinkel and runs through Elberfeld.

In 1888 the district of Sonnborn was incorporated into Elberfeld. In 1929 the towns of Barmen, Elberfeld, Vohwinkel, Cronenberg and Ronsdorf became a municipal entity officially called "Barmen-Elberfeld;" in the same year, the unified city administration through a vote of its council members decided to rename the newly incorporated city "Wuppertal." This took place in 1930. Today Elberfeld is the largest municipal subdivision of Wuppertal.

During World War II, forced laborers of the 3rd SS construction brigade were dispatched by the Nazis in Barmen-Elberfeld in 1943. [1]

Notable people

See also

51°16′N7°08′E / 51.267°N 7.133°E / 51.267; 7.133

References

  1. Megargee, Geoffrey P. (2009). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. p. 1385. ISBN   978-0-253-35328-3.
  2. "Beiträge zur Geschichte und Heimatkunde des Wuppertals, Volumes 12-18" (in German). 1966. Retrieved 30 November 2015.