Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II

Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II is an electoral constituency (German: Wahlkreis) represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 102. It is located in western North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the cities of Solingen, Remscheid, and small parts of Wuppertal.

102 Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	312,700 (2019)
Electorate	220,204 (2021)
Major settlements	Solingen Remscheid Wuppertal (partial)
Area	201.7 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	SPD
Member	Ingo Schäfer
Elected	2021

Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Ingo Schäfer of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Geography

Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II is located in western North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the independent cities of Solingen and Remscheid, as well as the districts of Cronenberg and Ronsdorf from the independent city of Wuppertal.

History

Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II was created in 1949, then known as Remscheid – Solingen. From 1965 through 1976, it was named Solingen. From 1980 through 1998, it was named Solingen – Remscheid. It acquired its current name in the 2002 election. In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 15 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 74. From 1965 through 1998, it was number 71. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 104. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 103. From the 2025 election, it has been number 102.

Originally, the constituency comprised the cities of Solingen and Remscheid. In the 1965 through 1976 elections, it was coterminous with Solingen. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it again comprised Solingen and Remscheid. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	15	Remscheid – Solingen	Remscheid city Solingen city
1953	74
1957
1961
1965	71	Solingen	Solingen city
1969
1972
1976
1980		Solingen – Remscheid	Solingen city Remscheid city
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	104	Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II	Solingen city Remscheid city Wuppertal city (only Cronenberg and Ronsdorf districts)
2005
2009
2013	103
2017
2021
2025	102

Members

The constituency was first represented by Hermann Runge of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 1949 to 1953. It was won by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 1953 and represented by Fritz Hellwig for a single term, followed by fellow CDU member Franz Etzel for two terms. Arthur Killat of the CDU was elected in 1965 and served until 1972, when the SPD won the constituency. Heinz Schreiber then served until 1983, when Bernd Wilz of the CDU was elected. He served three terms before SPD candidate Hans-Werner Bertl won in 1994. He was succeeded in 2005 by Jürgen Kucharczyk, who served a single term. The CDU's Jürgen Hardt was elected in 2009 and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. Ingo Schäfer regained the constituency for the SPD in 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Hermann Runge	SPD	25.0
	1953	Fritz Hellwig	CDU	38.6
	1957	Franz Etzel	CDU	50.7
	1961			41.5
	1965	Arthur Killat	CDU	45.1
	1969			39.3
	1972	Heinz Schreiber	SPD	52.2
	1976			47.6
	1980			49.5
	1983	Bernd Wilz	CDU	47.2
	1987			44.4
	1990			42.0
	1994	Hans-Werner Bertl	SPD	44.7
	1998			49.8
	2002			47.1
	2005	Jürgen Kucharczyk	SPD	43.3
	2009	Jürgen Hardt	CDU	39.0
	2013			44.3
	2017			38.2
	2021	Ingo Schäfer	SPD	32.6

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	SPD	Ingo Schäfer		52,852	32.6	1.8	48,196	29.7	4.6
	CDU	N Jürgen Hardt		44,778	27.6	10.6	39,413	24.3	7.3
	Greens	Silvia Vaeckenstedt		20,967	12.9	7.1	24,296	15.0	7.8
	FDP	Robert Weindl		17,406	10.7	3.0	20,256	12.5	1.6
	AfD	Frederick Kühne		12,335	7.6	1.8	12,506	7.7	2.3
	Left	Mohamad Shoan Vaisi		5,099	3.1	3.1	6,076	3.7	4.1
	Tierschutzpartei						2,521	1.6	0.7
	PARTEI	Judith Röder		3,398	2.1	0.6	2,044	1.3	0.4
	dieBasis	Volker Dörner		2,233	1.4		1,913	1.2
	Team Todenhöfer						1,312	0.8
	FW	Jan Klein		1,662	1.0		1,086	0.7	0.5
	Independent	Peter Kramer		1,070	0.7
	Pirates						624	0.4	0.1
	Volt						470	0.3
	LIEBE						260	0.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						194	0.1	0.0
	Humanists						174	0.1	0.0
	LfK						168	0.1
	NPD						143	0.1	0.1
	V-Partei3						118	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						99	0.1	0.0
	Bündnis C						83	0.1
	MLPD	Christoph Gärtner		169	0.1	0.0	80	0.0	0.0
	PdF						70	0.0
	du.						56	0.0
	LKR						30	0.0
	DKP						17	0.0	0.0
	PSG						13	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,526			1,277
Total valid votes				161,969			162,218
Turnout				163,495	74.2	0.6
	SPD gain from CDU		Majority	8,074	5.0

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	CDU	Y Jürgen Hardt		61,871	38.2	6.1	51,318	31.6	7.4
	SPD	Ingo Schäfer		49,863	30.8	2.6	40,743	25.1	5.2
	AfD	Frederick Kühne		15,303	9.5	5.8	16,221	10.0	5.7
	FDP	Karin van der Most		12,548	7.8	5.1	22,947	14.1	8.1
	Left	Adrian Scheffels		10,105	6.2	0.4	12,689	7.8	1.1
	Greens	Ilka Brehmer		9,403	5.8	1.3	11,726	7.2	0.8
	Tierschutzpartei						1,346	0.8
	PARTEI	Matthias Streib		2,403	1.5		1,331	0.8	0.3
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						1,214	0.7
	Pirates						774	0.5	2.0
	NPD						334	0.2	0.8
	FW						331	0.2	0.0
	DM						249	0.2
	DiB						185	0.1
	V-Partei³						173	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						171	0.1
	BGE						166	0.1
	ÖDP						164	0.1	0.0
	Volksabstimmung						140	0.1	0.1
	MLPD	Gabriele Fechtner		266	0.2	0.1	106	0.1	0.0
	Die Humanisten						102	0.1
	DKP						21	0.0
	SGP						18	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,257			1,550
Total valid votes				161,762			162,469
Turnout				164,019	73.6	2.4
	CDU hold		Majority	12,008	7.4	3.5

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	CDU	Y Jürgen Hardt		70,269	44.3	5.3	62,029	39.0	7.1
	SPD	Sven Wiertz		52,931	33.4	0.9	48,123	30.3	3.5
	Greens	Ursula Linda Zarniko		11,334	7.1	0.9	12,676	8.0	2.2
	Left	Gunhild Böth		9,222	5.8	2.6	10,740	6.8	2.6
	AfD	Hans Werner Karl Schmitz		5,784	3.6		6,853	4.3
	Pirates	Ulrich Hasecke		4,432	2.8		3,901	2.5	0.7
	FDP	Gerd Brems		4,170	2.6	6.1	9,650	6.1	10.2
	NPD						1,590	1.0	0.0
	PARTEI						786	0.5
	PRO						500	0.3
	FW						347	0.2
	REP						345	0.2	0.2
	Volksabstimmung						320	0.2	0.1
	BIG						263	0.2
	ÖDP						216	0.1	0.0
	Nichtwahler						200	0.1
	MLPD	Gabriele Gärtner		430	0.3		177	0.1	0.1
	Party of Reason						138	0.1
	RRP						74	0.0	0.1
	PSG						36	0.0	0.0
	Die Rechte						25	0.0
	BüSo						21	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,357			1,908
Total valid votes				158,572			159,021
Turnout				160,929	71.2	0.6
	CDU hold		Majority	17,338	10.9	6.2

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	CDU	Jürgen Hardt		62,365	39.0	2.0	51,248	32.0	0.9
	SPD	N Jürgen Kucharczyk		54,910	34.3	8.9	42,869	26.7	11.7
	FDP	Hans Lothar Schiffer		13,940	8.7	3.3	26,079	16.3	3.6
	Left	Heinz Hillebrand		13,418	8.4	3.7	15,057	9.4	3.6
	Greens	David Schichel		12,956	8.1	3.8	16,357	10.2	3.0
	Pirates						2,891	1.8
	NPD	Detlef Hartmann		2,446	1.5	0.4	1,668	1.0	0.2
	Tierschutzpartei						1,103	0.7	0.1
	FAMILIE						819	0.5	0.1
	RENTNER						668	0.4
	REP						664	0.4	0.1
	RRP						223	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						193	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						157	0.1
	DVU						139	0.1
	Centre						102	0.1	0.0
	MLPD						91	0.1	0.0
	BüSo						44	0.0	0.0
	PSG						26	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,157			1,794
Total valid votes				160,035			160,398
Turnout				162,192	70.5	6.6
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	7,455	4.7