SOLINGEN  , a

town of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine Province, on a height above the Wupper, 13 m . S.E. of Dusseldorf, and 20 M . N.E. of Cologne by rail . Pop . (r905), 4.9,018 . Solingen is one of the chief seats of the German iron and steel industry,, its speciality consisting in all kinds of cutlery, Solingen sword-blades have been celebrated for centuries, and are widely used outside Germany, while bayonets, knives, scissors, surgical instruments, files, steel frames and the like are also produced in enormous quantities . These articles are largely made by the workmen at their own homes and supplied to the depots of the large dealers; there are about 20,000 workers in steel in Solingen and the vicinity . Solingen received its municipal charter in 1374 . Sword-blades have been made here since the early middle ages, and tradition affirms that the art was introduced during the Crusades by smiths from Damascus .