Early history grave, c. 500 AD, with golden
Spangenhelm from
Gelduba (
Gellep-Stratum) Records first mention Krefeld in 1105 under the name of
Krinvelde. In February 1598, Walburga, wife of
Adolf van Nieuwenaar, and last Countess of Limburg and Moers, gave the
County of Moers, which included Krefeld, to
Maurice, Prince of Orange. After her death in 1600,
John William of Cleves took possession of these lands, but Maurice successfully defended his heritage in 1601. Krefeld and Moers would remain under the jurisdiction of the
House of Orange and the
Dutch Republic during the
Dutch Golden Age (1588–1672). Krefeld was one of few towns spared the horrors of the
Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). The town of Uerdingen, incorporated into Krefeld in the 20th century, had been destroyed at the hands of troops from
Hesse during the Thirty Years' War, and almost ceased to exist. After the death of
William III of Orange in 1702, Krefeld passed to the
Kingdom of Prussia. In 1872 Krefeld became an
independent city within Rhenish Prussia. In 1918 during the
First World War the
Belgian Army used it as a base during the
occupation of the Rhineland. In 1929 Krefeld and Uerdingen merged to form
Krefeld-Uerdingen; in 1940 the name was shortened to simply
Krefeld.
The Mennonites of Krefeld From 1607
Mennonites arrived in Krefeld, as in nearby
Gronau, from neighboring Roman Catholic territories where they were persecuted. In 1609
Herman op den Graeff, originally from
Aldekerk, moved with his family to Krefeld. There he became a lay preacher and chairman of the Mennonite religious community. In 1637, Op den Graeff was referred to as “the Mennonite lord Bishop” (der hiesigen Mennoniten Herrn Bischof) of Krefeld in the reformed community’s minutes book. They sought refuge in the lands of the more tolerant
House of Orange-Nassau, at the time rulers of Krefeld; in 1657 their congregation was officially recognized and in 1693 they were allowed to build their own church, although hidden in a back yard (which still exists, reconstructed after World War II, with about 800 members). Also the
Quaker Evangelists received a sympathetic audience among the larger of the German-Mennonite congregations around Krefeld, Gronau,
Emden and
Altona, Hamburg. In 1683 a group of thirteen Mennonite families (twelve of them Mennonite-Quakers), the so called
Original 13, including three of the
Op den Graeff families left Krefeld to re-settle in
Pennsylvania in order to enjoy religious freedom. They crossed the Atlantic on the ship
Concord, and founded the settlement of
Germantown (now incorporated in
Philadelphia), invited by
William Penn, and thus beginning the
Pennsylvania Dutch ethnic identity. The most important Mennonite family of Krefeld were the
silk merchants and silk weaving industrialists
Von der Leyen who, by 1763, employed half of Krefeld's population of 6,082 in their factories. Their residence, built from 1791, is the current City Hall.
The Jews of Krefeld Jews were listed as citizens of Krefeld from 1617. In 1764, a
synagogue was erected, and by 1812, under French rule, the town included 196 Jewish families, with three Jewish-owned banks. Under
Napoleon, the town became the capital for the surrounding Jewish communities including over 5000 Jews, and by 1897 they comprised 1.8% of the population. In 1846 a Jewish representative was voted onto the town's municipal council, while rising antisemitism was noted during these elections. In 1941 following an order from
Hitler to deport the German Jews to the east, Jews from the town were sent to the area around Riga
World War II of the US Army in Krefeld in March 1945 On 11 December 1941, during
World War II, a detailed report on the transport of Jews from Krefeld and its surroundings listed 1007 Jews from Krefeld and Duisburg that were deported to the Šķirotava Railway Station near
Riga, later to become
Jungfernhof concentration camp. They were transported in freezing conditions with no drinking water for more than two days. Almost immediately upon arrival, they were shot in the
Rumbula forest massacre.
Forced laborers of the 3rd
SS construction brigade were dispatched in the town in 1943. On 21 June 1943, British bombs destroyed many buildings in the east part of the city; a firestorm consumed large parts of the city center (apart from the central train station, which remained intact apart from minor damage). On 3 March 1945 US troops entered Krefeld. After occupying the city and due to a lack of fluent German speakers in the intelligence unit to which he was assigned, the U.S. Army placed
Henry Kissinger, then a private, in charge of the city administration. During the Cold War, the city was host to the 16th Signal Regiment of the United Kingdom's Royal Corps of Signals stationed at Bradbury Barracks. The town became part of the new state of
North Rhine-Westphalia after World War II. ==Points of interest==