LUDWIGSHAFEN  , a

town of Germany, in the Bavarian Palatinate, on the left bank of the Rhine, immediately opposite to Mannheim, with which it is connected by a steam ferry and a railway bridge . Pop . (1885) 21,042, (1900) 61,905, (1905) 72,168 . It has an increasing trade in iron, timber, coal and agricultural products, a trade which is fostered by a harbour opened in 1897; and also large factories for making aniline dyes and soda . Other industries are the manufacture of cellulose, artificial manure, flour and malt; and there are saw-mills, iron foundries and breweries in the town . The place, which was founded in 1843 by Louis I., king of Bavaria, was only made a town in 1859 . See J . Esselborn, Geschichle der Stadt Ludwigshafen (Ludwigshafen, 1888) .