Records attest that the commander c. 89 CE was Marcus Hordeonius Flaccus; his nickname ("Castra Ordeonii") has been proposed as an etymon for "Uerdingen".

The earliest reference to a permanent settlement in the Krefeld-Uerdingen area dates to 809: the city charter for Friemersheim describes a nearby town as "Urdingi".

By the mid-thirteenth century, Uerdingen was a thriving port, serving the Rhine river trade as the northernmost exclave of the Electorate of Cologne.

By the early modern period, Uerdingen found itself on the front lines of multiple European (and eventually world-wide) conflicts.

In 1929, under the influence of the Prussian minister of the interior, Uerdingen and Krefeld united in a special municipal government giving each urbanity equal rights.

The area also has the rail car manufacturer Waggonfabrik Uerdingen (founded 1898), formerly Duewag and today Siemens Mobility.

This factory is famous for producing the ICE trains for international fleets and the Uerdingen railbus, a type of light locomotive largely for passenger service on branch lines.

Uerdingen is bounded on its west by the Krefeld city districts of Bockum, Gartenstadt, and Elfrath; on the northwest by Traar; on the north by Duisburg-Rumeln-Kaldenhausen; and on the northeast by Hohenbudberg in the direction of Duisburg-Rheinhausen.

The arms of Uerdingen show the golden keys of Saint Peter upon a divided background, blue above and red below.

Uerdingen voters after World War II were overwhelmingly inclined towards the SPD, the Social Democratic Party of Germany.