Remscheid

Remscheid
Remscheid
City
	German Röntgen Museum
	Flag Coat of arms
	Location of Remscheid
	Remscheid Remscheid
	Coordinates: 51°11′N 07°12′E / 51.183°N 7.200°E
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Düsseldorf
District	Urban district
Government
• Lord mayor (2020–25)	Burkhard Mast-Weisz (SPD)
Area
• Total	74.6 km2 (28.8 sq mi)
Elevation	365 m (1,198 ft)
Population (2023-12-31)
• Total	112,970
• Density	1,500/km2 (3,900/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	42801–42899
Dialling codes	02191
Vehicle registration	RS
Website	www.remscheid.de

Remscheid (German pronunciation: [ˈʁɛmʃaɪt] ^ⓘ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south side of the Ruhr area.

Remscheid had around 109,000 inhabitants in 2015. At the end of 2019 it had 113,703 inhabitants.

Geography

Remscheid comprises four boroughs, Alt-Remscheid, Remscheid-Süd, Lennep, and Lüttringhausen.

Its highest point is the Brodtberg (378 m).

History

Remscheid was founded in the 12th century, but remained a small village until the 19th century. Early spellings for the city included Remissgeid (1217), Rymscheyd (1351), Reymscheyd (1487) and Rembscheid (1639). The economic growth of the entire Rhine-Ruhr region led to an increase of the population of Remscheid. Mechanical engineering and toolmaking were the main industries practised within the town. This is carried on today with the Hazet tool company which has three factories in Remscheid. Remscheid was part of the Prussian Rhine Province from 1822 to 1945.

On 31 July 1943, during World War II, Remscheid was almost completely destroyed during a British bombing raid which caused a firestorm. This bombing raid was the final operation of RAF's Battle of the Ruhr involving 273 aircraft. Today around one third of the city consists of buildings from before World War II.^[3] During 14 and 15 April 1945, Remscheid was captured by the 78th Infantry Division (United States).^[4]^[5]

An A-10 Thunderbolt II crashed in the city on 8 December 1988. Six people died.

Demographics

As of 31 December 2019, the city's population was 113,703, of which 92,726 (81.6%) were German citizens and 20,977 (18.4%) were non-Germans (Ausländer); of the non-German population, the top 10 nationalities represented were as follows:^[6]

Rank	Nationality	Population (31.12.2019)
1	Turkey	5,749
2	Italy	3,158
3	Syria	1,264
4	Poland	1,187
5	Bulgaria	1,039
6	Spain	866
7	North Macedonia	748
8	Croatia	646
9	Serbia	583
10	Portugal	493

Politics

Mayor

The current mayor of Remscheid is Burkhard Mast-Weisz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:


Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Burkhard Mast-Weisz	Social Democratic Party	22,431	60.6
	Heidemarie Alexa Bell	Christian Democratic Union	9,710	26.2
	Peter Keck	Pro Remscheid	1,908	5.2
	Fritz Beinersdorf	The Left	1,309	3.5
	Roland Kirchner	W.i.R. Remscheid	877	2.4
	Bettina Stamm	Real Remscheid	775	2.1
Valid votes			37,010	98.5
Invalid votes			548	1.5
Total			37,558	100.0
Electorate/voter turnout			85,783	43.8
Source: State Returning Officer

City council

The Remscheid city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:


Party		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	12,718	34.5	0.3	20	1
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	11,036	29.9	7.3	17	3
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	5,409	14.7	6.3	9	5
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	1,945	5.3	0.6	3	1
	Pro Remscheid (PRO)	1,870	5.1	0.7	3	1
	The Left (Die Linke)	1,700	4.6	1.4	3	±0
	W.i.R. Remscheid (WIR)	1,092	3.0	1.5	2	±0
	Real Remscheid (Echt)	788	2.1	New	1	New

	Alternative for Germany (AfD)	358	1.0	New	0	New
Valid votes		36,916	98.4
Invalid votes		592	1.6
Total		37,508	100.0		58	6
Electorate/voter turnout		85,783	43.7	0.7
Source: State Returning Officer

Main sights

The Müngstener Brücke is a railway bridge crossing a valley and connecting Remscheid with the neighbouring town of Solingen. It is 107 m above the ground, making it the highest railway bridge in Germany. It was constructed in 1897 and originally named the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Brücke after Wilhelm I (whose 100th birthday would have been in 1897).
The Eschbachtalsperre, the first dam built in Germany for the supply of drinking water is located here. It was built in 1891.
The old city of the borough Lennep consists of 116 houses from 1756.