Wuppertal I 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 101. It is located in western

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 ...

, comprising most of the city of

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 ...

. Wuppertal I was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2017, it has been represented by Helge Lindh 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

Wuppertal I is located in western

. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the independent city of Wuppertal excluding the districts of Cronenberg and

Ronsdorf Ronsdorf is a district of the German city of Wuppertal. It has population of about 22,500. Ronsdorf was first mentioned in 1494, and in 1745 it received its town charter. It was founded only a few years before by Elias Eller when he relocated the ...

History

Wuppertal I was created in 1949. In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 16 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 75. From 1965 through 1998, it was number 69. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 103. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 102. From the 2025 election, it has been number 101. Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Elberfeld, Elberfeld-West, Uellendahl-Katernberg, Vohwinkel, and Cronenberg from the city of Wuppertal. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Members

The constituency was first represented by Carl Wirths of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) from 1949 to 1957. He was succeeded by

Otto Schmidt Otto Yulyevich Shmidt, be, Ота Юльевіч Шміт, Ota Juljevič Šmit (born Otto Friedrich Julius Schmidt; – 7 September 1956), better known as Otto Schmidt, was a Soviet scientist, mathematician, astronomer, geophysicist, statesm ...

of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the 1957 election. Schmidt served until 1965, when Hermann Herberts of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was elected for a single term. Adolf Scheu of the SPD succeeded him in 1969 and served until 1980. He was followed by

Rudolf Dreßler Rudolf Dreßler (born 17 November 1940 in Wuppertal) is a German politician and diplomat. Life In his childhood he lived in Sprockhövel and went to school in Wuppertal. He learned at a printer company and worked then for different newspapers ...

until 2002. Manfred Zöllmer was representative from 2002 to 2017. Helge Lindh was elected in 2017.

Election results

2021 election

2017 election

2013 election

2009 election

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wuppertal I Federal electoral districts in North Rhine-Westphalia Wuppertal 1949 establishments in West Germany Constituencies established in 1949