Remscheid

Remscheid
City
German Röntgen Museum
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Remscheid
Remscheid Show map of Germany Remscheid Show map of North Rhine-Westphalia
Coordinates: 51°11′N 07°12′E
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Düsseldorf
District	Urban district
Government
• Lord mayor (2020–25)	Burkhard Mast-Weisz[1] (SPD)
Area
• Total	74.6 km^2 (28.8 sq mi)
Elevation	365 m (1,198 ft)
Population  (2023-12-31)[2]
• Total	112,970
• Density	1,500/km^2 (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

City Hall

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

Results of the 2020 city council election.

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.

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Remscheid is twinned with:^[7]

• Ashington, England, United Kingdom
• Kırşehir, Turkey
• Newbiggin by the Sea, England, United Kingdom
• Pirna, Germany
• Prešov, Slovakia
• Quimper, France

Remscheid also cooperates with Mrągowo County, Poland and Schmalkalden, Germany.^[7]

Notable people

• Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt (1773–1854), scientist
• Gottfried Duden (1789–1856), writer
• Oscar Schlitter (1838–1939), banker
• Johannes Fastenrath (1839–1908), lawyer, writer and translator
• August Gissler (1857–1935), adventurer and treasure hunter
• Wilhelm Röntgen (1845–1923), discoverer of x-rays
• Otto Jungtow (1892–1959), footballer
• Otto Kuhler (1894–1977), American designer of locomotives
• Hans Stammreich (1902–1969), German-Brasilian chemist
• Teo Otto (1904–1968), stage designer
• Wolfgang von der Nahmer (1906–1988), conductor
• Gustav Adolf Theill (1924–1997), composer and musicologist
• Karl Michael Vogler (1928–2009), actor
• Wolfgang Seiler (born 1940), biogeochemist and climatologist
• Peter Brötzmann (1941–2023), free jazz saxophonist
• Christel Frese (born 1944), athlete
• Michael Bacht (born 1947), artist
• Frank Plasberg (born 1957), journalist
• Wolfgang Tillmans (born 1968), photographer
• Georg Wurth (born 1972), lobbyist and activist
• Christiane Soeder (born 1975), German-Austrian cyclist
• Robert A. Küfner (born 1988), entrepreneur, raised here
• The Rotation (born 1996), professional wrestler

Gallery

• 
  Müngsten Bridge
• 
  Teo Otto Theater
• 
  Kraspütt 3 in Lennep
• 
  bond of the town Remscheid, issued 25 August 1922

References

1. Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020 Archived 17 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine, Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 19 June 2021.
2. "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2023 – Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes auf Basis des Zensus vom 9. Mai 2011" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
3. https://zensus2011.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Publikationen/Aufsaetze_Archiv/2015_12_NI_GWZ_endgueltig.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4 Archived 29 March 2024 at the Wayback Machine ^{[bare URL]}
4. "US Army SS 01 Chronology 1941–1945: 1945". Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
5. "Lightning, the History of the 78th Infantry Division". Washington, Infantry journal press. 1947.
6. "Informationen der Statistikstelle: Remscheider Einwohnerinnen und Einwohner am 31. Dezember 2019" (PDF). Stadt Remscheid. pp. 6, 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020. Available on Stadt Remscheid website under "Bevölkerung und Bevölkerungsentwicklung Archived 16 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine".
7. "Städtepartnerschaften" (in German). Remscheid. Retrieved 25 January 2024.

• Flohr, Gustav (2020). Noch ein Partisan (in German). Verlag J.H.W. Dietz Nachf. Bonn. pp. 161–191, 482–483. ISBN 978-3-8012-0546-1.

External links

• Official website
• "Lennep" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 419.
• German Roentgen-Museum (in German)