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Uerdingen () is a district of the city of
Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, with a population of 17,888 (2019). Originally a separate city in its own right, Uerdingen merged with the city of Krefeld in 1929. Today, Uerdingen is best known for a local distillery and a railcar factory, and is the eponym of the
Uerdingen line The Uerdingen Line (german: Ürdinger Linie, Uerdinger Linie, nl, Uerdinger linie; named after Uerdingen by Georg Wenker) is the isogloss within West Germanic languages that separates dialects which preserve the ''-k'' sound in the first person ...
.


History

The earliest archeological artifacts found in Uerdingen date to the first century CE, and are now found in the British museum. The size and permanence of the associated settlement, however, remain unclear, partly because the site was also a camp for the
Roman Legion The Roman legion ( la, legiō, ) was the largest military unit of the Roman army, composed of 5,200 infantry and 300 equites (cavalry) in the period of the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and of 5,600 infantry and 200 auxilia in the period of ...
. Records attest that the commander 89 CE was Marcus Hordeonius Flaccus; his nickname ("Castra Ordeonii") has been proposed as an etymon for "Uerdingen". The earliest reference to a permanent settlement in the Krefeld-Uerdingen area dates to 809: the city charter for Friemersheim describes a nearby town as "Urdingi". By the mid-thirteenth century, Uerdingen was a thriving port, serving the
Rhine river trade ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sou ...
as the northernmost exclave of the
Electorate of Cologne The Electorate of Cologne (german: Kurfürstentum Köln), sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne (german: Kurköln, links=no), was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. ...
. In 1255, Uerdingen was granted its first city charter. The town had an inside harbor and special customs office for ships traveling onwards to Cologne. The town was traded between various German noble houses during the late Middle Ages. By the early modern period, Uerdingen found itself on the front lines of multiple European (and eventually world-wide) conflicts. The town was repeatedly sacked — first in the
Cologne War The Cologne War (german: Kölner Krieg, Kölnischer Krieg, Truchsessischer Krieg; 1583–88) was a conflict between Protestant and Catholic factions that devastated the Electorate of Cologne, a historical ecclesiastical principality of the Holy ...
and then the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
, and finally the city was adjacent to
Friedrich III Frederick III may refer to: * Frederick III, Duke of Upper Lorraine (died 1033) * Frederick III, Duke of Swabia (1122–1190) * Friedrich III, Burgrave of Nuremberg (1220–1297) * Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine (1240–1302) * Frederick III of S ...
's famous in the
War of the League of Augsburg The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between Kingdom of France, France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by t ...
. A
witch hunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern perio ...
erupted in 1589, damaging civic spirit during the recovery from the Cologne War. Nonetheless, the city was unharmed in the
War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
, and began to recover throughout the rest of the 18th century. The current town hall dates to 1714–25, immediately following the War of the Spanish Succession. After the town was damaged in the , Revolutionary French administrators grouped it together with the nearby town of Crefeld. The fates of the two would be ever-closer interlinked from industrialization onwards. In 1929, under the influence of the Prussian minister of the interior, Uerdingen and Krefeld united in a special municipal government giving each urbanity equal rights. The new conglomeration was known as "Krefeld-Uerdingen am Rhein." In April 1940, the
Nazi regime Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
eradicated the condominium, and renamed the city plain "Krefeld." The unification was not reverted following the war, to the annoyance of the Uerdingene. Nonetheless, Uerdingen, as a part of the city of Krefeld, retained an unusual special status within Germany. One sign of this can still be seen today in Krefeld's city coat of
arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...
("''Wappen''"), which still has the Uerdinger arms in its right half. These last remnants of the medieval period were finally eliminated in the
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
n reapportionment of 1975.


Economy

The most important employer in Uerdingen (as well in Krefeld) for the last fifth decades was the
Bayer Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of busi ...
concern. Bayer's second-largest plant was located in the area, and produced synthetics, pigments, and chemical feedstock. In 2004, most of the chemical and approximately a third of synthetic-materials divisions were spun off from
Bayer AG Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of business include pharmaceutica ...
. The ex-Bayer plant is now an industrial park home to several chemical companies, none of which are Bayer AG. The area also has the rail car manufacturer Waggonfabrik Uerdingen (founded 1898), formerly
Duewag Düwag or Duewag, formerly Waggonfabrik Uerdingen, was a German manufacturer of rail vehicles. It was sold in 1999 to Siemens with the brand later retired. History Duewag was founded in March 1898 as Waggonfabrik Uerdingen in Uerdingen an ...
and today
Siemens Mobility Siemens Mobility GmbH is a separately-managed company of Siemens, arising from a corporate restructuring effective 1 August 2018. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens Mobility has four core business units: Mobility Management, dedi ...
. This factory is famous for producing the
ICE Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...
trains for international fleets and the
Uerdingen railbus The Uerdingen railbus (German: ''Uerdinger Schienenbus'') is the common term for the multiple units which were developed by the German firm of Waggonfabrik Uerdingen for the Deutsche Bundesbahn and private railways after the Second World War. Th ...
, a type of light locomotive largely for passenger service on
branch lines A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industri ...
. Finally, Melchers distillery produces the "Uerdinger" brand of gin and a Dujardin Cognac.


Geography

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 ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...
, lies Duisburg-Mündelheim, and on the south lies the Krefeld city district of
Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Places Germany * Linn (Gangkofen), a part ...
. A landmark of Uerdingen is a bridge over the river Rhine, built in 1936 and a national monument since 1987.
Krefeld-Uerdingen station Krefeld-Uerdingen station is a regional station in the district of Uerdingen, which has been part of the city of Krefeld in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia since 1929. It is located in the north-east of Krefeld, near the border with t ...
lies on the Duisburg–Mönchengladbach railway.


Arms

The
arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...
of Uerdingen show the golden
keys Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...
of
Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...
upon a divided background, blue above and red below. Blue and red are said to be the colors of Saint Peter, whereby blue would be said to represent
heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
and red to symbolize
hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
. The colors of Uerdingen are likewise blue and red.


Sport

Uerdingen is best known for its tradition-steeped football team F.C. Bayer 05 Uerdingen, now known as
KFC Uerdingen 05 KFC Uerdingen 05 is a German football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The former Bundesliga side enjoyed its greatest successes in the 1980s but now plays in the fifth-level Oberliga. History The ...
. The soccer-team plays in Germany's
Regionalliga West The Regionalliga West is a German semi-professional football division administered by the Western German Football Association based in Duisburg. It is one of the five German regional football associations. Being the single flight of the Western ...
and was in 1985 winner of the legendary
DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...
against
Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
.


Language

A dialect of
Limburgish Limburgish ( li, Limburgs or ; nl, Limburgs ; german: Limburgisch ; french: Limbourgeois ), also called Limburgan, Limburgian, or Limburgic, is a West Germanic language spoken in the Dutch and Belgian provinces of Limburg (Netherlands), L ...
is still spoken in Uerdingen, a variety known locally as "''Oedingsch Platt''," ''oedingsch'' signifying "of Uerdingen" in the dialect, and ''Platt'' being a northern German term for the varieties of Limburgish in general. ''Oedisch Platt'' should not be confused with ''Krieewelsch Platt'', the Krefeld ''Platt'' variety of Limburgish, as there are small, subtle differences between the two. The best known Uerdingen song in ''Platt'' is "''Oeding blievt Oeding (os Städtche am Rhien)''" by Andreas Otto Kickers, sometimes considered to be the Uerdinger Hymn. The song describes life and history of the city and of its inhabitants. The "''Rhienstädter''" sing this at all occasions, and thereby cultivate the dialect. At the northeastern edge of the city runs the
isogloss An isogloss, also called a heterogloss (see Etymology below), is the geographic boundary of a certain linguistic feature, such as the pronunciation of a vowel, the meaning of a word, or the use of some morphological or syntactic feature. Major d ...
known as the
Uerdingen Line The Uerdingen Line (german: Ürdinger Linie, Uerdinger Linie, nl, Uerdinger linie; named after Uerdingen by Georg Wenker) is the isogloss within West Germanic languages that separates dialects which preserve the ''-k'' sound in the first person ...
.


Politics

Uerdingen voters after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
were overwhelmingly inclined towards the
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...
, the
Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...
. At both of the most recent municipal elections, however, the CDU, the Christian Democratic Union, received the most votes. Uerdingen accounts for the largest part of the ''Bezirksvertretung Uerdingen'' ("District Representation of Uerdingen"), but the area of the electoral district reaches beyond Uerdingen proper. District representation since 2014: Total, 15 seats / 100% *
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...
(Social Democrats) (6 seats/40,95 %) * CDU (Christian Democrats) (5 seats/31,09 %) *
Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...
(1 seat/9,23 %) * FDP (liberal) (1 seat/5,7 %) * The Left (1 seat/4,19 %) *
Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...
(1 seat/3,99 %) District manager: Jürgen Hengst (
SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...
)


Religion

The Uerdingen population adheres largely to
Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
. There are at present three Catholic churches, as well as a Catholic church in Hohenbudberg and an
Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
church, as well. Churches *''Sankt Peter Kirche'', Saint Peter's Church (Catholic) *''Sankt Heinrich Kirche'', Saint Henry's Church (Catholic) *''Sankt Paul Kirche'', Saint Paul's Church (Catholic) *''Sankt Matthias Kirche'', Saint Matthew's Church (Catholic) *''Michaelskirche'', Michael's Church (Evangelical)


References


External links

*Information and addresses (https://web.archive.org/web/20070911024930/http://www.uerdingen.de/)
Uerdingen information on the official home page of the City of Krefeld
{{Authority control Krefeld Former municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia