Solingen
Details
- Names
Solingen
- Place Type
- inhabited place
- Description
- The northwestern German city of Solingen is situated on the Wupper river to the east of Düsseldorf. Its existence as documented first in 965, though it did not receive its charter until1374. It belonged to the duchy of Berg until 1600. It passed to Prussia in 1815. In 1929 it grew rapidly, having annexed four neighboring old towns. It has been famed for the crafting of swords and knives since medieval times. Today the city's economy produces other metal products, chemicals, and sweets. Solingen was heavily damaged in World War II, but the old city center has been rebuilt. There is an historical museum, the German Museum of Blades, that illuminates the city's long and celebrated cutlery industry. The population estimate for 2004 was 164,600.
- Authority
- Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- Source
- Canby, Historic Places (1984); Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer (1961); Encyclopaedia Britannica (1988); LC Name Authority Headings. [online] (2002-); NGA/NIMA database (2003-); Rand McNally Atlas (1986); USBGN: Foreign Gazetteers; Webster's Geographical Dictionary (1988); World Gazetteer [online] (1990-2006);
- Born
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