Krefeld, also spelled Crefeld until 1925, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its center lying just a few kilometers to the west of the river Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine. Because of its economic past, Krefeld is often referred to as the "Velvet and Silk City". It is accessed by the autobahns A57 (Cologne-Nijmegen) and A44).
Krefeld's residents speak Hochdeutsch, or standard German, but the native dialect is a Low Franconian variety, sometimes locally called Krefelder Plattdeutsch, Krieewelsch Platt, Plattdeutsch, or sometimes simply Platt. The Uerdingen line isogloss, 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.
Points of interest include:
- Linn Castle at night
- Linn Castle (German)
- Botanischer Garten Krefeld, a municipal botanical garden
- Krefeld Zoo
- Lange and Esters Houses, neighbouring houses by early Mies van der Rohe, now serving as local contemporary art museum venues
- Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, contemporary art museum
- German Textile Museum
- Galopprennbahn Krefeld, horse racing track
- The well-preserved historic old towns of the formerly independent districts Uerdingen, Linn and Hüls
|
