Editing Elberfeld (section)

==History==
[[File:Elberfeld suspension railway.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Wuppertal Schwebebahn|suspension railway of Elberfeld]] was built over the river in order to keep the streets unobstructed.]]
[[File:Elberfeld 1899.jpg|thumb|Elberfeld ca. 1899]]
[[File:Stadt Elberfeld 1922.JPG|thumb|Bond of the former town Elberfeld, issued 1. March 1922]]
The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's [[Wupper]] River as "''elverfelde''" was in a document of 1161. Etymologically, ''elver'' is derived from the old [[Low German]] word for "river." (See etymology of the name of the German [[Elbe#Etymology|Elbe]] River; cf. [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]] ''älv''.) Therefore, the original meaning of "elverfelde" can be understood as "field on the river." Elverfelde received its town charter in 1610.

In 1726, Elias Eller and a pastor, Daniel Schleyermacher, founded a [[Philadelphian Society]]. They later moved to [[Ronsdorf]] in the [[Duchy of Berg]], becoming the [[Zionites (Germany)|Zionites]], a fringe sect.

In 1826 [[Friedrich Harkort]], a famous German industrialist and politician, had a type of suspension railway built as a trial and ran it on the grounds of what is today the tax office at Elberfeld. In fact the railway, the [[Schwebebahn Wuppertal]], was eventually built between Oberbarmen and Vohwinkel and runs through Elberfeld.

In 1888 the district of Sonnborn was incorporated into Elberfeld. In 1929 the towns of [[Barmen]], Elberfeld, Vohwinkel, [[Cronenberg, Wuppertal|Cronenberg]] and Ronsdorf became a municipal entity officially called "Barmen-Elberfeld;" in the same year, the unified city administration through a vote of its council members decided to rename the newly incorporated city "Wuppertal." This took place in 1930. Today Elberfeld is the largest municipal subdivision of Wuppertal.

During [[World War II]], [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced laborers]] of the 3rd [[SS construction brigade]] were dispatched by the Nazis in Barmen-Elberfeld in 1943.<ref>{{cite book|last=Megargee|first=Geoffrey P.|year=2009|title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I|publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|page=1385|isbn=978-0-253-35328-3}}</ref>