MULHAUSEN (Fr. Mulhouse)  , a town of Germany, in Upper Alsace, on the Ill, an affluent of the Rhine, and the Rhine-Rhone canal, about 56 in . S. of Strassburg and 21 M . N.W. of Basel by rail . The old town, surrounded by arms of the Ill, has narrow and irregular streets, while to the south, on the canal, lie the handsome villas and promenades of the new town . Most of the older buildings have made way for factories, so that the town-hall, dating from 1551, is an almost solitary witness to the town's medieval prosperity . The most important interest of Mulhausen centres in the making of cotton goods . This industry was introduced in 1746, and has since prospered in the hands of several wealthy families which are closely connected by intermarriage, and lend each other support . A large pro-portion of the inhabitants of the town and the neighbourhood is engaged in woollen and other textile manufactures, the products of which are exported to all parts of the world . The manufactures of machinery, especially locomotives and railway plant, chemicals, and hardware are also important . A note-worthy feature is the attention paid by the manufacturers to the well-being of their workpeople . In 1853, Johann Heinrich Dollfus (r800-1887), mayor of the town, founded the " artisans' town " (cite ouvriere) to the north-east of the old town, consisting of about 1200 model dwellings with public bath-, wash- and bake-houses, and library . The houses were let on a system by which the occupant became the owner after the payment of a certain number of instalments .

Of

recent years, however, the operatives have moved into the suburbs, leaving the model houses of the " artisans' town " to small tradesmen . A " societe industrielle" for the encouragement of original discovery and invention among the workmen has existed since 1825, and there are various benevolent societies . Mulhausen carries on an active trade in grain, wine, colonial produce and timber, which is facilitated by its river harbour . After the annexation of Alsace to Germany in 1871 the French sympathies of the inhabitants were shown by the extraordinary decrease in their number . The population has since increased, amounting in 1905 to 94,514, of whom about two-thirds are Roman Catholics . Mentioned as early as 717, Mulhausen was raised to the rank of a free town of the empire in 1198, and received very extensive privileges from Rudolph of Hapsburg in 1273 . It suffered considerably in the various wars of the middle ages, but generally managed to maintain its independence . In 1466 it formed an alliance with the Swiss, and this became a permanent union in 1515 . By the peace of Westphalia (1648) it was recognized as an independent ally of the Swiss League . In 1797 it soughtincorporation with France from motives of commercial policy, and in 1871 it passed to Germany . See A . Metzger, La Republique de Mulhouse 717–1798 (Basel, 1884) ; Schall, Das Arbeiteequartier von Mulhausen (Berlin, 1877) ; Herkner, Die ober-elsassische Saumwollindustrie and ihre Arbeiter (Strassburg, 1887) ; and E .

Tournier, Mulhausen

im 16 . Jahrhundert (Illyach, 1894) . MULHEIM-AM-RHEIN, a town of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine province, on the right bank of the Rhine, 2 m. below Cologne, of which it is practically a suburb, and on the main lines of railway Cologne-Dusseldorf and Cologne-Elberfeld . Pop . (1905), 50,807 . There are important manufactures of silk, ribbons, velvet, sailcloth, tobacco, vinegar, yarn and chemicals, in addition to rolling-mills, boiler works, telegraph works, breweries, tanneries and a ship-building yard . Mulheim also carries on a brisk trade by rail and river . Of ancient foundation, Mulheim received municipal rights in 1322 . Its industrial prosperity is in great part due to the influx of Protestants expelled from Cologne at the beginning of the 17th century . In 1784 the town suffered severely from an inundation caused by the rapid breaking-up of the ice on the Upper Rhine . MULHEIM-AN-DER-RUHR, a town of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine province, on the Ruhr, an affluent of the Rhine, about 7 in . W. from Essen and at the intersection of several railways .

Pop . (1905), 93,598 . It has a

parish church dating from the 12th century . Like most of the towns in this district, Mulheim finds its chief industry in iron-working, and contains numerous blast-furnaces, rolling-mills, foundries and engine-works; it also carries on manufactures of leather, wool, cotton, calico, tobacco, paper, beer, and other miscellaneous goods . An enormous traffic, by river and rail, is carried on in coal, and there is also a considerable trade in timber and colonial produce . In the neighbourhood are important sandstone quarries, glass-works, and a carpet manufactory . Mulheim was formerly included in the duchy of Berg, and became a town in 15o8 . In 1815 it passed to Prussia .