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Remscheid

City in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
4 min read
Source updated August 31, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

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 113,333 inhabitants at the end of 2025. A variety of the Limburgish language, known locally as Remscheder Platt is spoken in the city through all generations.

01Geography

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

Its highest point is the Brodtberg (378 m).

City Hall
City Hall

02History

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. During 14 and 15 April 1945, Remscheid was captured by the 78th Infantry Division (United States).

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

03Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1965 134,218,     
1970 138,328+0.61%
1975 133,148−0.76%
1980 129,086−0.62%
1985 121,219−1.25%
1990 123,155+0.32%
1995 122,260−0.15%
YearPop.±% p.a.
2000 119,287−0.49%
2005 115,864−0.58%
2010 110,563−0.93%
2015 109,499−0.19%
2020 111,516+0.37%
2025 113,333+0.32%
Population size may be affected by changes in administrative divisions. Source: Landesdatabank Nordrhein-Westfalen

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:

Rank Nationality Population (31.12.2019)
1 Turkey5,749
2 Italy3,158
3 Syria1,264
4 Poland1,187
5 Bulgaria1,039
6 Spain866
7 North Macedonia748
8 Croatia646
9 Serbia583
10 Portugal493

04Politics

Mayor

The current mayor of Remscheid is Sven Wolf of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), elected in 2025.

The previous 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
Results of the 2020 city council election
Results of the 2020 city council election

05Main 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.

06Twin towns, sister cities

Remscheid is twinned with:

Remscheid also cooperates with Mrągowo County, Poland and Schmalkalden, Germany.

07Notable people

Watch videos about RemscheidExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Remscheid”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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