Krefeld

Krefeld is a city on the Lower Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia with 234,000 inhabitants.

Understand
"Krimvelde" was first mentioned in a deed around 1005. From the middle of the 12th century on, Krefeld's fate was determined by that of the counts of Moers. Owing to the special connections to the Emperor, in 1373 the Moerser Count received through a deed the right to raise Krefeld to city status. The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States and Krefeld have an interesting connection, as it was 13 Quaker families from Krefeld who were invited by Governor Penn in 1683 to settle the vacant lands of todays Germantown district there and a festival was held in both cities in 1983 to celebrate the occasion. Krefelds city centre was expanded in multiple stages and consists of a grid system with grand buildings. Krefeld is also called the "Velvet and Silk City", though this industry fell victim to the modern times. The city still has some heavy industry with a large steel plant and a major global rail rolling stock manufacturer. Its proximity to Düsseldorf makes it a good alternative to a stay in the more expensive capital.

By plane
Düsseldorf Airport with many international connections is 20 km from Krefeld. It takes about an hour to connect from the terminal to Krefeld main station using public transport (S-Bahn and underground). Taxi costs around. When traveling with low-cost carriers like Ryanair, you may arrive at Weeze/Niederrhein Airport, 50 km from Krefeld. From there, it takes one hour by bus and train to go to Krefeld main station.

By train
is served by frequently running regional trains from Aachen (takes xx minutes), Cologne (takes 40 minutes), Duisburg (15–25 minutes), Mönchengladbach (20 minutes) and Kleve (one hour). Moreover, once a day an ICE train arrives from Berlin, Hanover and Aachen. Otherwise, you will usually have to change in Düsseldorf (from where the underground goes to Krefeld every 20 minutes) or Duisburg. Another station is
 * RE 7 Rheine - Münster - Hamm - Unna - Hagen - Wuppertal - Cologne - Dormagen - Neuss - Krefeld.
 * RE 10 Kleve - Weeze - Krefeld - Düsseldorf
 * RE42 Münster - Dülmen - Gelsenkirchen - Essen - Duisburg - Krefeld - Viersen - Mönchengladbach
 * RB33 Essen - Duisburg - Krefeld - Mönchengladbach - Geilenkirchen - Aachen
 * RB35 Gelsenkirchen - Oberhausen - Duisburg - Krefeld - Mönchengladbach
 * RB37 Krefeld - Meerbusch - Neuss

Get around
Municipal company SWKmobil operate most of the public transport in Krefeld, including trams which connect to the Düsseldorf system via light rail U76. All trams meet in front of the central station and use Ostwall street until Rheinstraße stop, where U76 terminates. The 4 other lines run in every direction until about midnight, on weekend nights until 03:00. Most vehicles are low-floor, at some stops boarding still happens in the middle of the street. Buses serve the neighbourhoods away from the trams and to the surrounding towns and cities, on weekends night buses supplement the late trams. As of 2024 the stop in front of Krefeld station is getting modernised, check SWK for updates and potential bus replacement services.

Do

 * Home of KFC Uerdingen football club, who play in the regional league. The fans know they're not Bayern or PSG but it's an authentic and affordable football experience.

Learn
Krefeld has hosted an honours program in foreign language (German) studies. The program annually places thirty specially selected high school students with families in and around Krefeld for intensive German language training.

Eat
A local specialty, now produced in nearby Kempen, is Nappo, Rhombus-shaped chunks of Nougat covered in a chocolate coating, the packaging has stayed the same since the 1930s.

Sleep
There are a large number of hotels in and around the town to choose from.

Go next

 * Duisburg, grimy but authentic working class industrial city with large migrant communities
 * Düsseldorf, state capital and fashion city, large east asian neighbourhood
 * Meerbusch, commuter town between Krefeld and Düsseldorf
 * Cologne, fourth largest german city, carnival capital and large LGBT community
 * Neuss, Düsseldorf's neighbour across the Rhine