Editing Krefeld (section)

===Early history===
[[file:FrankFürstGrab.JPG|thumb|left|upright|[[Franks|Frankish]] 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, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg|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&ndash;1672).<ref name=peele>Ada Peele, [https://books.google.com/books?id=VAgUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 Een uitzonderlijke erfgenaam: De verdeling van de nalatenschap van Koning-Stadhouder Willem III], Uitgeverij Verloren, 2013, Germany, pp. 36-39.</ref> 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 England|William III of Orange]] in 1702, Krefeld passed to the [[Kingdom of Prussia]].<ref name=peele/> The [[Battle of Krefeld]] occurred nearby in 1758 during the [[Seven Years' War]]. Krefeld and Uerdingen were included within the Prussian [[Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg]] in 1815 (after 1822 the [[Rhine Province]]).

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''.