Reichs,” in Geog. Zeitschrift (1898), pp. 601–617; and (the official)
Der Elbstrom (1900); B. Weissenborn, Die Elbzölle und Elbstapelplätze
im Mittelalter (Halle, 1900); Daniel, Deutschland; and A.
Supan, Wasserstrassen und Binnenschifffahrt (Berlin, 1902).
ELBERFELD, a manufacturing town of Germany, in the
Prussian Rhine province, on the Wupper, and immediately west
of and contiguous to Barmen (q.v.). Pop. (1816) 21,710; (1840)
31,514; (1885) 109,218; (1905) 167,382. Elberfeld-Barmen,
although administratively separate, practically form a single
whole. It winds, a continuous strip of houses and factories,
for 9 m. along the deep valley, on both banks of the Wupper,
which is crossed by numerous bridges, the engirdling hills
crowned with woods. Local intercommunication is provided
by an electric tramway line and a novel hanging railway—on
the Langen mono-rail system—suspended over the bed of the
river, with frequent stations. In the centre of the town are a
number of irregular and narrow streets, and the river, polluted
by the refuse of dye-works and factories, constitutes a constant
eyesore. Yet within recent years great alterations have been
effected; in the newer quarters are several handsome streets
and public buildings; in the centre many insanitary dwellings
have been swept away, and their place occupied by imposing
blocks of shops and business premises, and a magnificent new
town-hall, erected in a dominant position. Among the most
recent improvements must be mentioned the Brausenwerther
Platz, flanked by the theatre, the public baths, and the railway
station and administrative offices. There are eleven Evangelical
and five Roman Catholic churches (noticeable among the latter
the Suitbertuskirche), a synagogue, and chapels of various other
sects. Among other public buildings may be enumerated the
civic hall, the law courts and the old town-hall.
The town is particularly rich in educational, industrial, philanthropic and religious institutions. The schools include the Gymnasium (founded in 1592 by the Protestant community as a Latin school), the Realgymnasium (founded in 1830, for “modern” subjects and Latin), the Oberrealschule and Realschule (founded 1893, the latter wholly “modern”), two girls’ high schools, a girls’ middle-class school, a large number of popular schools, a mechanics’ and polytechnic school, a school of mechanics, an industrial drawing school, a commercial school, and a school for the deaf and dumb. There are also a theatre, an institute of music, a library, a museum, a zoological garden, and numerous scientific societies. The town is the seat of the Berg Bible Society. The majority of the inhabitants are Protestant, with a strong tendency towards Pietism; but the Roman Catholics number upwards of 40,000, forming about one-fourth of the total population. The industries of Elberfeld are on a scale of great magnitude. It is the chief centre in Germany of the cotton, wool, silk and velvet manufactures, and of upholstery, drapery and haberdashery of all descriptions, of printed calicoes, of Turkey-red and other dyes, and of fine chemicals. Leather and rubber goods, gold, silver and aluminium wares, machinery, wall-paper, and stained glass are also among other of its staple products. Commerce is lively and the exports to foreign countries are very considerable. The railway system is well devised to meet the requirements of its rapidly increasing trade. Two main lines of railway traverse the valley; that on the south is the main line from Aix-la-Chapelle, Cologne and Düsseldorf to central Germany and Berlin, that on the north feeds the important towns of the Ruhr valley.
The surroundings of Elberfeld are attractive, and public grounds and walks have been recently opened on the hills around with results eminently beneficial to the health of the population.
In the 12th century the site of Elberfeld was occupied by the castle of the lords of Elverfeld, feudatories of the archbishops of Cologne. The fief passed later into the possession of the counts of Berg. The industrial development of the place started with a colony of bleachers, attracted by the clear waters of the Wupper, who in 1532 were granted the exclusive privilege of bleaching yarn. It was not, however, until 1610 that Elberfeld was raised to the status of a town, and in 1640 was surrounded with walls. In 1760 the manufacture of silk was introduced, and dyeing with Turkey-red in 1780; but it was not till the end of the century that its industries developed into importance under the influence of Napoleon’s continental system, which barred out British competition. In 1815 Elberfeld was assigned by the congress of Vienna, with the grand-duchy of Berg, to Prussia, and its prosperity rapidly developed under the Prussian Zollverein.
See Coutelle, Elberfeld, topographisch-statistische Darstellung (Elberfeld, 1853); Schell, Geschichte der Stadt Elberfeld (1900); A. Shadwell, Industrial Efficiency (London, 1906); and Jorde, Führer durch Elberfeld und seine Umgebung (1902).
ELBEUF, a town of northern France in the department of
Seine-Inférieure, 14 m. S.S.W. of Rouen by the western railway.
Pop. (1906) 17,800. Elbeuf, a town of wide, clean streets, with
handsome houses and factories, stands on the left bank of the
Seine at the foot of hills over which extends the forest of Elbeuf.
A tribunal and chamber of commerce, a board of trade-arbitrators,
a lycée, a branch of the Bank of France, a school of industry,
a school of cloth manufacture and a museum of natural history
are among its institutions. The churches of St Étienne and St
Jean, both of the Renaissance period with later additions,
preserve stained glass of the 16th century. The hôtel-de-ville
and the Cercle du Commerce are the chief modern buildings.
The town with its suburbs, Orival, Caudebec-lès-Elbeuf,
St Aubin and St Pierre, is one of the principal and most ancient
seats of the woollen manufacture in France; more than half the
inhabitants are directly maintained by the staple industry and
numbers more by the auxiliary crafts. As a river-port it has a
brisk trade in the produce of the surrounding district as well as in
the raw materials of its manufactures, especially in wool from
La Plata, Australia and Germany. Two bridges, one of them a
suspension-bridge, communicate with St Aubin on the opposite
bank of the Seine, and steamboats ply regularly to Rouen.
Elbeuf was, in the 13th century, the centre of an important fief held by the house of Harcourt, but its previous history goes back at least to the early years of the Norman occupation, when it appears under the name of Hollebof. It passed into the hands of the houses of Rieux and Lorraine, and was raised to the rank of a duchy in the peerage of France by Henry III. in favour of Charles of Lorraine (d. 1605), grandson of Claude, duke of Guise, master of the hounds and master of the horse of France. The last duke of Elbeuf was Charles Eugène of Lorraine, prince de Lambesc, who distinguished himself in 1789 by his energy in repressing risings of the people at Paris. He fought in the army of the Bourbons, and later in the service of Austria, and died in 1825.
ELBING, a seaport town of Germany, in the kingdom of
Prussia, 49 m. by rail E.S.E. of Danzig, on the Elbing, a small
river which flows into the Frische Haff about 5 m. from the
town, and is united with the Nogat or eastern arm of the Vistula
by means of the Kraffohl canal. Pop. (1905) 55,627. By the
Elbing-Oberländischer canal, 110 m. long, constructed in 1845–1860,
Lakes Geserich and Drewenz are connected with Lake
Drausen, and consequently with the port of Elbing. The old
town was formerly surrounded by fortifications, but of these only
a few fragments remain. There are several churches, among
them the Marienkirche (dating from the 15th century and restored
in 1887), a classical school (Gymnasium) founded in 1536, a
modern school (Realschule), a public library of over 28,000
volumes, and several charitable institutions. The town-hall
(1894) contains a historical museum.
Elbing is a place of rapidly growing industries. At the great Schichau iron-works, which employ thousands of workmen, are built most of the torpedo-boats and destroyers for the German navy, as well as larger craft, locomotives and machinery. In addition to this there are at Elbing important iron foundries, and manufactories of machinery, cigars, lacquer and metal ware, flax and hemp yarn, cotton, linen, organs, &c. There is a considerable trade also in agricultural produce.
The origin of Elbing was a colony of traders from Lübeck and Bremen, which established itself under the protection of a castle of the Teutonic Knights, built in 1237. In 1246 the town acquired “Lübeck rights,” i.e. the full autonomy conceded by the charter
