Osterholz – Verden is an electoral constituency (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

. It elects one member via

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 34. It is located in northern

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

, comprising the districts of

Osterholz Osterholz is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Wesermarsch, Cuxhaven, Rotenburg and Verden, and by the city of Bremen. History Originally the prince-archbishops ...

and Verden. Osterholz – Verden was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. It was abolished in 2002 and re-established in the 2009 federal election. Since 2009, it has been represented by

Andreas Mattfeldt Andreas Mattfeldt (born 28 September 1969) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Lower Saxony since 2009. Political career Mattfeldt became a member ...

of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Geography

Osterholz – Verden is located in northern

. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the districts of Osterholz and Verden.

History

Osterholz – Verden was created in 1949, then known as ''Verden – Rotenburg – Osterholz''. In the 1965 through 1983 elections, it was named ''Verden''. From 1987 until its abolition, it was named ''Verden – Osterholz''. In the inaugural Bundestag election, it was Lower Saxony constituency 12 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 34. From 1965 until its abolition, it was number 29. Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Verden, Osterholz, and

Rotenburg Rotenburg may refer to: *Rotenburg (district), Lower Saxony, Germany *Rotenburg an der Wümme, capital of the district *Rotenburg an der Fulda, near Kassel in Hesse *Rothenburg ob der Tauber, in the Franconia region of Bavaria *Hersfeld-Rotenburg, ...

. In the 1980 election, the district of Rotenburg was transferred away. Verden – Osterholz was abolished in the 2002 election, and was divided between the new constituencies of ''Cuxhaven – Osterholz'' and ''Rotenburg – Verden''. The constituency was re-established in the 2009 election, acquiring the name ''Osterholz – Verden''. It was constituency number 35, then number 34 since the 2013 election. Its borders have not changed since its re-establishment.

Members

The constituency was first held by

Hans-Joachim von Merkatz Hans-Joachim von Merkatz (7 July 1905 – 25 February 1982) was a German politician. He was Federal Minister of Justice from 1956 to 1957. He was a member of the Bundestag from 1949 to 1961. He was a member of the German Party before joining the ...

of the German Party (DP), who served from 1949 until 1961. In 1961,

Karl Ravens Karl Ravens (29 June 1927 – 8 September 2017) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He served as the Federal Minister of Regional Planning, Construction and Urban Development for West Germany W ...

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) won the constituency. In the 1965 election, von Merkatz regained his seat, now as a candidate of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Ravens won the constituency again in 1969, and served until 1980. He was succeeded by fellow SPD member

Arne Börnsen Arne may refer to: Places * Arne, Dorset, England, a village ** Arne RSPB reserve, a nature reserve adjacent to the village * Arné, Hautes-Pyrénées, Midi-Pyrénées, France * Arne (Boeotia), an ancient city in Boeotia, Greece * Arne (Thessaly), ...

, who served a single term before Martin Oldenstädt of the CDU won the constituency in 1983. In the 1987 election, Börnsen returned as representative. He served until 1998, when he was succeeded by fellow SPD member

Joachim Stünker Joachim Stünker (born 29 March 1948 in Langwedel) is a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He was a member of the German Bundestag from 1998 to 2009, where he was a legal policy spokesman for the SPD par ...

, who served a single term before the constituency was abolished in 2002. Upon its re-establishment, it was won by the CDU's Andreas Mattfeldt. He was re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Election results

2021 election

2017 election

2013 election

2009 election

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osterholz - Verden Federal electoral districts in Lower Saxony 1949 establishments in West Germany Constituencies established in 1949