Wuppertal
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Wuppertal
(vo͝op`ərtäl), city (1994 pop. 386,625), North Rhine–Westphalia, W Germany, on the Wupper River. It is an industrial center, formed in 1929 by the merger of Barmen, Elberfeld, Vohwinkel, and several smaller towns. Manufactures include textiles, machinery, tools, chemicals, rubber, vehicles, printing equipment, and beer. Barmen was first mentioned in the 11th cent. and Elberfeld in the 12th cent. Elberfeld pioneered in legislation for poor relief with a system that it adopted in the mid-19th cent. and that was widely imitated (see poor lawpoor law,in English history, legislation relating to public assistance for the poor. Early measures to relieve pauperism were usually designed to suppress vagrancy and begging.
..... Click the link for more information. ). As a major production center of ball bearings and chemicals in World War II, the city was heavily damaged by Allied bombing raids. Of note are the city hall (1912–22) and the opera house (1956) as well as the suspended electric railway (opened 1901). There is a museum of the history of clocks and watches.
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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Wuppertal
a city in the Federal Republic of Germany, located in the Land (state) of North Rhine-Westphalia, on the Wupper River (Rhine basin). Population, 413,000 (1969).
Wuppertal came into being in 1929 as a result of a merger of several cities, including Barmen (the birthplace of F. Engels) and Elberfeld. It is an important transportation junction as well as a significant industrial and commercial center of the Ruhr. Wuppertal is a major center of the textile industry and manufactures textile machinery, chemicals, and Pharmaceuticals. It produces rolled iron and electronic equipment. Wuppertal has administrative, economic, pedagogical, and technical academies. The city also has a conservatory and an opera theater.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Wuppertal
a city in W Germany, in North Rhine-Westphalia state on the Wupper River (a Rhine tributary): formed in 1929 from the amalgamation of the towns of Barmen and Elberfeld and other smaller towns; textile centre. Pop.: 362 137 (2003 est.)
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005