Remscheid () is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is, after

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

and

Solingen Solingen (; li, Solich) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located some 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and, with a 2009 population of 161,366, ...

, the third-largest municipality in

Bergisches Land The Bergisches Land (, ''Berg Country'') is a low mountain range region within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains over ...

, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south side of the

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

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 Lüttringhausen is a district of the German town of Remscheid with a population of 17,857 in 2005; 11,829 in 1905; 13,560, mostly Protestant, in 1910. Overview It was founded around the year 1189. At this time, Lüttringhausen belonged to the Coun ...

. Its highest point is the

Brodtberg The Brodtberg, at {{Höhe, 378.86, DE-NN, link=true, is the highest hill in Remscheid and the region of Düsseldorf in Germany. Despite that, it is not particularly prominent; for example the nearby quarter of Lennep Remscheid () is a city in N ...

(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 two factories in Remscheid. Remscheid was part of the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. It ...

from 1822 to 1945. On 31 July 1943, during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Remscheid was almost completely destroyed during a British

bombing raid Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systematic ...

which caused a

firestorm A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires and wildfires. Although the term has been used ...

. This bombing raid was the final operation of RAF's

Battle of the Ruhr The Battle of the Ruhr (5 March – 31 July 1943) was a strategic bombing campaign against the Ruhr Area in Nazi Germany carried out by RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War. The Ruhr was the main centre of German heavy industry with ...

involving 273 aircraft. During 14 and 15 April 1945, Remscheid was captured by the

78th Infantry Division (United States) The 78th Training Division (Operations) ("Lightning") is a unit of the United States Army which served in World War I and World War II as the 78th Infantry Division, and currently trains and evaluates units of the United States Army Reserve for d ...

. An

A-10 Thunderbolt II The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic ...

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:

Politics

Mayor

The current Mayor of Remscheid is Burkhard Mast-Weisz of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(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: ! colspan=2, Candidate ! Party ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Burkhard Mast-Weisz , align=left,

, 22,431 , 60.6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Heidemarie Alexa Bell , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 9,710 , 26.2 , - , , align=left, Peter Keck , align=left, Pro Remscheid , 1,908 , 5.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Fritz Beinersdorf , align=left, The Left , 1,309 , 3.5 , - , , align=left, Roland Kirchner , align=left, W.i.R. Remscheid , 877 , 2.4 , - , , align=left, Bettina Stamm , align=left, Real Remscheid , 775 , 2.1 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 37,010 ! 98.5 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 548 ! 1.5 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 37,558 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 85,783 ! 43.8 , - , colspan=5, 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: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/− ! Seats ! +/− , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 12,718 , 34.5 , 0.3 , 20 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 11,036 , 29.9 , 7.3 , 17 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

(Grüne) , 5,409 , 14.7 , 6.3 , 9 , 5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 1,945 , 5.3 , 0.6 , 3 , 1 , - , , align=left, Pro Remscheid (PRO) , 1,870 , 5.1 , 0.7 , 3 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 1,700 , 4.6 , 1.4 , 3 , ±0 , - , , align=left, W.i.R. Remscheid (WIR) , 1,092 , 3.0 , 1.5 , 2 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Real Remscheid (Echt) , 788 , 2.1 , New , 1 , New , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...

(AfD) , 358 , 1.0 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 36,916 ! 98.4 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 592 ! 1.6 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 37,508 ! 100.0 ! ! 58 ! 6 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 85,783 ! 43.7 ! 0.7 ! ! , - , colspan=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

. 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 William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the f ...

(whose 100th birthday would have been in 1897). * The ''

Eschbachtalsperre The Eschbach Dam (german: Eschbachtalsperre) was the first dam to be built in Germany for drinking water supply. It is located in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With its opening in 1891, this pioneer work of hydraulic engineering wa ...

'', 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

Remscheid is twinned with: *

Ashington Ashington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, with a population of 27,864 at the 2011 Census. It was once a centre of the coal mining industry. The town is north of Newcastle upon Tyne, west of the A189 and bordered to the ...

, England, United Kingdom *

Kırşehir Kırşehir, formerly Mocissus ( grc, Μωκισσός) and Justinianopolis (Ἰουστινιανούπολις), is a city in Turkey. It is the capital district of the Kırşehir Province. According to the 2000 census, the population of the distri ...

, Turkey *

Mrągowo County __NOTOC__ Mrągowo County ( pl, powiat mrągowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local gover ...

, Poland *

Pirna Pirna (; hsb, Pěrno; ) is a town in Saxony, Germany and capital of the administrative district Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge. The town's population is over 37,000. Pirna is located near Dresden and is an important district town as well as ...

, Germany *

Prešov Prešov (, hu, Eperjes, Rusyn language, Rusyn and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Пряшів) is a city in Eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region ( sk, Prešovský kraj) and Šariš, as well as the historic Sáros Cou ...

, Slovakia *

Quimper Quimper (, ; br, Kemper ; la, Civitas Aquilonia or ) is a commune and prefecture of the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the prefecture (capital) of the Finistère department. Geography The ...

, France

Notable people

Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt (5 June 1773 in Lüttringhausen – 6 March 1854 in Leiden) was a Prussian-born Dutch botanist. He is considered to be the founding father of Bogor Botanical Garden in Indonesia. Biography In 1787 he was appre ...

(1773–1854), scientist *

Gottfried Duden Gottfried Duden (May 19, 1789 – October 29, 1856) was a German emigration writer of the early 19th century. His famous book ''Bericht über eine Reise nach den westlichen Staaten Nordamerikas und einen mehrjährigen Aufenthalt am Missouri in d ...

(1789–1856), writer *

Oscar Schlitter Oscar Schlitter (10 January 1868 – 30 November 1939) was a German banker. Reflecting the long-standing "hands-on" approach of banks in Germany, Schlitter was involved in several major commercial and industrial mergers. He played a leading role ...

(1838–1939), banker * Johannes Fastenrath (1839–1908), lawyer, writer and translator *

August Gissler August Gissler (9 September 1857 in Remscheid – 8 August 1935 in New York City) was a German adventurer and treasure hunter who, with brief interruptions, lived on Cocos Island (Costa Rica) from 1889 until 1908. Gissler's aim was to find the Go ...

(1857–1935), adventurer and treasure hunter *

Wilhelm Röntgen Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (; ; 27 March 184510 February 1923) was a German mechanical engineer and physicist, who, on 8 November 1895, produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays or Röntgen rays, an achiev ...

(1845–1923), discoverer of

x-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

s * Otto Jungtow (1892–1959), footballer *

Otto Kuhler Otto August Kuhler (July 31, 1894 – August 5, 1977) was an American designer, one of the best known industrial designers of the American railroads. According to ''Trains'' magazine he streamstyled more locomotives and railroad cars than Cr ...

(1894–1977), American designer of locomotives * Hans Stammreich (1902–1969), German-Brasilian chemist *

Teo Otto Teo Otto (1904–1968) was a Swiss stage designer.Banham (1998, 830). He trained in Kassel and Paris and in 1926 taught at the Bauhaus in Weimar.Baugh (1994, 252). In 1928 he became an assistant at the Berlin Staatsoper. Following the Nazis' se ...

(1904–1968), stage designer * Wolfgang von der Nahmer (1906–1988), conductor * Gustav Adolf Theill (1924–1997), composer and musicologist *

Karl Michael Vogler Karl Michael Vogler (28 August 1928 – 9 June 2009) was a German actor, probably best known for his appearances in several big-budget English language films. In ''The Blue Max'' (1966), he co-starred with George Peppard and Ursula Andress as the ...

(1928–2009), actor *

Wolfgang Seiler Wolfgang Seiler (born 22 January 1940 in Remscheid) is a German biogeochemist and climatologist. Seiler was Director of the Institute of Meteorology and Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU) of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and is ...

(born 1940), biogeochemist and climatologist *

Peter Brötzmann Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German saxophonist and clarinetist. Biography Early life Brötzmann was born in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He studied painting in Wuppertal and was involved with the Fluxus movement ...

(born 1941),

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

saxophonist *

Christel Frese Christel Frese (born 3 August 1944, in Lennep) is a German former athlete who was successful as a 400-meter runner in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She competed for the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1972 Olympics. She won one silver and one ...

(born 1944), athlete * Michael Bacht (born 1947), artist *

Frank Plasberg Frank Plasberg (born 18 May 1957) is a German journalist and television presenter. Biography Born in Remscheid, Plasberg has an education in theatre, politics and pedagogy and works as television presenter on German broadcaster WDR. From 1987 ...

(born 1957), journalist *

Wolfgang Tillmans Wolfgang Tillmans (born 16 August 1968) is a German photographer. His diverse body of work is distinguished by observation of his surroundings and an ongoing investigation of the photographic medium’s foundations. Tillmans was the first photog ...

(born 1968), photographer *

Georg Wurth Georg Wurth (born 1972 in Remscheid) is a German lobbyist and activist. He is CEO and owner of the (DHV), the largest organisation of the hemp rights movement in Germany. See also * 2022 German cannabis legalization framework * Cannabis in ...

(born 1972), lobbyist and activist *

Christiane Soeder Christiane Soeder (born 15 January 1975 in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German-born Austrian road racing cyclist and former duathlete who now lives in Vienna. She won the Austrian National Road Race Championships in 2004, 2006 and 200 ...

(born 1975), German-Austrian cyclist * Robert A. Küfner (born 1988), entrepreneur, raised here * The Rotation (born 1996), professional wrestler

Gallery

Muengsten.jpg,

Müngsten Bridge Müngsten Bridge is the highest railway bridge in Germany. Müngste ...

RS-Theo-Otto-Theater.jpg,

Teo Otto Theater Teo Otto Theater is a theatre in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and ...

Lennep_Kraspuett_3.jpg, Kraspütt 3 in Lennep Stadt Remscheid 1922.JPG, bond of the town Remscheid, issued 25 August 1922

References

External links

*
German Roentgen-Museum

Official website
{{Authority control Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia Populated places established in the 12th century Districts of the Rhine Province