ELBERFELD, ZI'btr-feld, Germany, town in the Prussian Rhine province, 15 miles east of Diisseldorf, in the beautiful valley, and on both sides of the Wupper, enclosed by lofty hills. It has no historical or antiquanan im portance. Its prosperity has been acquired mostly within the last century and is due to the cotton manufacture, of which it is the central locality in Rhenish Prussia. The old town was irregularly built with a maze of narrow streets, but the new portion has fine modern streets with buildings of the latest style bordering them; the pnncipal of these are the courthouse and the Rathaus. The city has some fine public monuments. It is an important industrial cen tre, especially dealing in textiles, their manu facture and dyeing. In addition to cotton, silks, woolens, etc., it manufactures chemicals, leather, furniture and carpets, firearms, rubber goods, paper, machinery and glass. It is also a great commercial centre and has many foreign con sulates. It contains a gymnasium, polytechnic
school, school of industrial drawing, an institute of music and a school for mechanics. Seven railroads serve the city and in addition there are electric roads to nearby centres. During the Middle Ages the town grew around Ether feld Castle and became a city in 1610. Silk manufacturing and dye-works were introduced toward the close of the 18th century and there after Elberfeld grew rapidly. It was early part of the Duchy of Berg and in 1815 was united to Prussia. It has a unique poor-relief system, which has been copied in many parts of the world. Pop. 170,195. Consult Schnell, (Geschichte der Stadt Elberfeld) (Elberfeld 1900) ; A. Shadwell, (Industrial Efficiency' (London 1906); Jorde, (Fiihrer durch Elberfeld und seine Umgebung) (Elberfeld 1902).