Krefeld is a city in Lower Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia with 234,000 inhabitants.
"Krimvelde" was first mentioned in a deed around 1005. From the middle of the 12th century on, Krefeld's fate was determined by that of the counts of Moers. Owing to the special connections to the Emperor, in 1373 the Moerser Count received through a deed the right to raise Krefeld to city status. Krefeld is also called the "Velvet and Silk City".
Düsseldorf International Airport (IATA: DUS) with many international connections is just 20 km from Krefeld. It takes about an hour to connect from the terminal to Krefeld main station using public transport (S-Bahn and underground). Taxi costs around 50 €. When traveling with low-cost carriers like Ryanair, you may arrive at Weeze/Niederrhein Airport (IATA: NRN), 50 km from Krefeld. From there, it takes one hour by bus and train to go to Krefeld main station.
Once a day an intercity train arrives from Berlin, Hanover and Aachen. Otherwise, you will usually have to change in Düsseldorf (from where the underground goes to Krefeld every 20 minutes) or Duisburg. Moreover, Krefeld main station is served by frequently running regional trains from Cologne (takes 40 minutes), Duisburg (15–25 minutes), Mönchengladbach (20 minutes) and Kleve (one hour).
Krefeld has hosted an honours program in foreign language (German) studies. The program annually places thirty specially selected high school students with families in and around Krefeld for intensive German language training.
There are a large number of hotels in and around the town to choose from.
2nd-order administrative division
Primary administrative division