RIXDORF  , a

town of Germany, lying immediately south of Berlin, of which it practically forms a suburb, though retaining its own civic administration . Pop . (188o) 18,729; (1895) 59,495; (1905) 153,650 . It is connected with the metropolis by a railway (Ring-bahn) and by an electric tramway . It contains no public buildings of any interest, and is almost entirely occupied by a large industrial and artisan population, engaged in the manufacture of linoleum, furniture, cloth, pianos, beer, soap, &c . Rixdorf is chiefly interesting as a foundation of Moravian Brethren from Bohemia, who settled here in 1737 under the protection of King Frederick William I . German Rixdorf, which is now united with Bohemian Rixdorf, was a much more ancient place, and appears as Richardsdorf in 1630 and as Riegenstorp in 1435 . Before 1435 it belonged to the order of the Knights of St John .