RHEYDT  , a

town of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine province, situated on the Niers, 19 M . W. of Dusseldorf, on the main line of railway to Aix-la-Chapelle, and at the junction of lines to Crefeld and Stolberg . Pop . (1905) 40,149 . It has two Roman Catholic and two Evangelical churches, a handsome new town hall (1895), a gymnasium, and several technical schools . The principal products of its numerous factories are silk, cotton, woollen and mixed fabrics, velvet, iron goods, machinery, shoes, cables, soap and cigars . Dyeing and finishing, brewing and distilling, are also carried on . Rheydt is an ancient place, but its industrial importance is of very recent growth, and it only received municipal rights in 1856 . See Rheyter Chronik . Geschichte der Herrschaft and Stadt Rheydt (2 vols., Rheydt, 1897) ; and Strauss, Geschichte der Stadt Rheydt (Rheydt, 1897) .