Rotenburg I – Heidekreis 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 35. 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

Heidekreis Heidekreis ("Heath district") is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Harburg, Lüneburg, Uelzen, Celle, Hanover, Nienburg, Verden and Rotenburg. History Hist ...

district and the southern part of the

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, ...

district. Rotenburg I – Heidekreis was created for the 1980 federal election. It was abolished in 2002 and re-established in the 2009 federal election. Since 2017, it has been represented by

Lars Klingbeil Lars Klingbeil (born 23 February 1978) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party who has been serving as the party's Co-Leader since 2021, together with Saskia Esken. Klingbeil previously was the General Secretary of the Social Demo ...

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).

Geography

Rotenburg I – Heidekreis is located in northern

. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Heidekreis district, as well as the municipalities of

Rotenburg an der Wümme Rotenburg an der Wümme (also known as ''Rotenburg (Wümme)''; ''Rotenburg in Hannover'' until May 1969; Northern Low Saxon: ''Rodenborg'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Rotenburg. Geography Rotenburg ...

Scheeßel Scheeßel (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Scheeßl'') is a municipality in the district of Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Wümme, approx. 10 km northeast of Rotenburg, 45 km east of Bremen, and 70 km south ...

, and

Visselhövede Visselhövede () is a town in the district of Rotenburg in Lower Saxony, Germany. Nearby towns include the district capital Rotenburg, Walsrode and Verden. Larger cities within a 100 km radius are Bremen, Hanover and Hamburg. Visselhövede b ...

and the

Samtgemeinde A ''Samtgemeinde'' (; plural: ''Samtgemeinden'') is a type of administrative division in Lower Saxony, Germany. ''Samtgemeinden'' are local government associations of municipality, municipalities, equivalent to the ''Amt (administrative division ...

n of Bothel,

Fintel Fintel is a municipality in the district of Rotenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany and has about 3,000 inhabitants. It is located on the rivers Fintau and Ruschwede. History Fintel belonged to the Prince-Bishopric of Verden, established in 1180. ...

, and Sottrum from the Rotenburg district.

History

Rotenburg I – Heidekreis was created in 1980, then known as ''Soltau – Rotenburg''. In its first incarnation, it was constituency 30 in the numbering system. Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Soltau-Fallingbostel and Rotenburg. In the 1987 election, it was renamed ''Soltau-Fallingbostel – Rotenburg II''. It was abolished in the 2002 election, and divided between the new constituencies of ''Rotenburg – Verden'' and ''Soltau-Fallingbostel – Winsen L.'' The constituency was re-established in the 2009 election, acquiring the name ''Rotenburg I – Soltau-Fallingbostel''. It was constituency number 36. In the 2013 election, it was renamed to ''Rotenburg I – Heidekreis'' and became constituency number 34. Its borders have not changed since its re-establishment.

Members

The constituency was first held by Ingeborg Hoffmann of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who served from 1980 until 1990. She was succeeded by fellow CDU member

Heinz-Günter Bargfrede Heinz-Günter Bargfrede is a German politician ( CDU) and former member of the Bundestag. Life Bargfrede joined the CDU in 1971 and was chairman of the Rotenburg municipal association from 1986 to 1990. He was a member of the German Bundest ...

, who served until 1998. In 1998, Kurt Palis of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) won the constituency, serving until its abolition in the next Bundestag term. After its re-establishment in the 2009 election,

Reinhard Grindel Reinhard Dieter Grindel (born 19 September 1961) is a German journalist, politician ( CDU) and football administrator. From 2002 to 2016 Grindel was member of the Bundestag (Lower Chamber of the German Parliament). On 15 April 2016, he was elec ...

of the CDU won the constituency and served two terms. In 2017, Lars Klingbeil was elected as representative.

Election results

2021 election

2017 election

2013 election

2009 election

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotenburg I - Heidekreis Federal electoral districts in Lower Saxony Hanover 1980 establishments in West Germany Constituencies established in 1980