title: Rotenburg I – Heidekreis
text: # Rotenburg I – Heidekreis
  
  Rotenburg I – Heidekreis 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 35. It is located in northern Lower Saxony, comprising the Heidekreis district and the southern part of the 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 of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
  
  ## Geography
  
  Rotenburg I – Heidekreis is located in northern Lower Saxony. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Heidekreis district, as well as the municipalities of Rotenburg an der Wümme, Scheeßel, and Visselhövede and the Samtgemeinden of Bothel, Fintel, 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.
  
  | Election | No. | Name | Borders |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | 1980 | 30 | Soltau – Rotenburg | Soltau-Fallingbostel district Rotenburg district |
  | 1983 | 30 | Soltau – Rotenburg | Soltau-Fallingbostel district Rotenburg district |
  | 1987 | 30 | Soltau-Fallingbostel – Rotenburg II | Soltau-Fallingbostel district Rotenburg district |
  | 1990 | 30 | Soltau-Fallingbostel – Rotenburg II | Soltau-Fallingbostel district Rotenburg district |
  | 1994 | 30 | Soltau-Fallingbostel – Rotenburg II | Soltau-Fallingbostel district Rotenburg district |
  | 1998 | 30 | Soltau-Fallingbostel – Rotenburg II | Soltau-Fallingbostel district Rotenburg district |
  | 2002 | Abolished | Abolished | Abolished |
  | 2005 | Abolished | Abolished | Abolished |
  | 2009 | 36 | Rotenburg I – Soltau-Fallingbostel | Heidekreis district Rotenburg district (only Rotenburg an der Wümme, Scheeßel, and Visselhövede municipalities and Bothel, Fintel, and Sottrum Samtgemeinden) |
  | 2013 | 34 | Rotenburg I – Heidekreis | Heidekreis district Rotenburg district (only Rotenburg an der Wümme, Scheeßel, and Visselhövede municipalities and Bothel, Fintel, and Sottrum Samtgemeinden) |
  | 2017 | 34 | Rotenburg I – Heidekreis | Heidekreis district Rotenburg district (only Rotenburg an der Wümme, Scheeßel, and Visselhövede municipalities and Bothel, Fintel, and Sottrum Samtgemeinden) |
  | 2021 | 34 | Rotenburg I – Heidekreis | Heidekreis district Rotenburg district (only Rotenburg an der Wümme, Scheeßel, and Visselhövede municipalities and Bothel, Fintel, and Sottrum Samtgemeinden) |
  
  ## 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, 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 of the CDU won the constituency and served two terms. In 2017, Lars Klingbeil was elected as representative.
  
  | Election | Election | Member | Party | % |
  | - | - | - | - | - |
  | | 1980 | Ingeborg Hoffmann | CDU | 47.0 |
  | | 1983 | Ingeborg Hoffmann | CDU | 53.9 |
  | | 1987 | Ingeborg Hoffmann | CDU | 49.2 |
  | | 1990 | Heinz-Günter Bargfrede | CDU | 50.9 |
  | | 1994 | Heinz-Günter Bargfrede | CDU | 49.6 |
  | | 1998 | Kurt Palis | SPD | 47.0 |
  | Abolished (2002–2009) |||||
  | | 2009 | Reinhard Grindel | CDU | 40.2 |
  | | 2013 | Reinhard Grindel | CDU | 44.8 |
  | | 2017 | Lars Klingbeil | SPD | 41.2 |
  | | 2021 | Lars Klingbeil | SPD | 47.6 |
  
  ## Election results
  
  ### 2021 election
  
  Federal election (2021): Rotenburg I – Heidekreis :
  
  | Notes: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
  | | SPD | Y Lars Klingbeil | Y Lars Klingbeil | 59,131 | 47.6 | 6.4 | 43,196 | 34.8 | 7.6 |
  | | CDU | Carsten Büttinghaus | Carsten Büttinghaus | 32,720 | 26.4 | 9.7 | 31,119 | 25.1 | 12.7 |
  | | Greens | Michael Kopatz | Michael Kopatz | 10,035 | 8.1 | 3.3 | 16,857 | 13.6 | 5.6 |
  | | AfD | Volker Körlin | Volker Körlin | 9,182 | 7.4 | 0.8 | 9,945 | 8.0 | 1.2 |
  | | FDP | Alexander Künzle | Alexander Künzle | 7,354 | 5.9 | 1.4 | 12,526 | 10.1 | 1.6 |
  | | Left | Kathrin Otte | Kathrin Otte | 3,010 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 3,536 | 2.8 | 3.0 |
  | | Tierschutzpartei | | | | | | 1,754 | 1.4 | 0.5 |
  | | FW | Günter Scheunemann | Günter Scheunemann | 2,734 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 1,433 | 1.2 | 0.5 |
  | | dieBasis | | | | | | 1,192 | 1.0 | |
  | | PARTEI | | | | | | 1,057 | 0.9 | 0.2 |
  | | Pirates | | | | | | 444 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
  | | Volt | | | | | | 341 | 0.3 | |
  | | NPD | | | | | | 186 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
  | | Team Todenhöfer | | | | | | 180 | 0.1 | |
  | | ÖDP | | | | | | 107 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
  | | Humanists | | | | | | 94 | 0.1 | |
  | | V-Partei3 | | | | | | 90 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
  | | du. | | | | | | 74 | 0.1 | |
  | | LKR | | | | | | 42 | 0.0 | |
  | | DKP | | | | | | 17 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
  | | MLPD | | | | | | 14 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
  | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 934 | | | 896 | | |
  | Total Valid votes | Total Valid votes | Total Valid votes | Total Valid votes | 124,166 | | | 124,204 | | |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 125,100 | 74.1 | 1.5 | | | |
  | | SPD hold | SPD hold | Majority | 26,411 | 21.2 | 16.1 | | | |
  
  ### 2017 election
  
  Federal election (2017): Rotenburg I – Heidekreis :
  
  | Notes: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
  | | SPD | Lars Klingbeil | Lars Klingbeil | 51,938 | 41.2 | 0.6 | 34,211 | 27.1 | 4.1 |
  | | CDU | Kathrin Rösel | Kathrin Rösel | 45,510 | 36.1 | 8.7 | 47,558 | 37.7 | 5.9 |
  | | AfD | Michael Stewart | Michael Stewart | 10,331 | 8.2 | | 11,671 | 9.3 | 5.5 |
  | | Greens | Ellen Gause | Ellen Gause | 6,053 | 4.8 | 0.2 | 10,068 | 8.0 | 0.5 |
  | | FDP | Hendrik Jürgens | Hendrik Jürgens | 5,659 | 4.5 | 2.8 | 10,699 | 8.5 | 4.4 |
  | | Left | Agnes Hasenjäger | Agnes Hasenjäger | 5,219 | 4.1 | 0.2 | 7,422 | 5.9 | 1.3 |
  | | FW | Günter Scheunemann | Günter Scheunemann | 1,387 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 770 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
  | | Tierschutzpartei | | | | | | 1,145 | 0.9 | 0.1 |
  | | PARTEI | | | | | | 877 | 0.7 | |
  | | NPD | | | | | | 447 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
  | | Pirates | | | | | | 396 | 0.3 | 1.1 |
  | | DM | | | | | | 219 | 0.2 | |
  | | BGE | | | | | | 188 | 0.1 | |
  | | DiB | | | | | | 138 | 0.1 | |
  | | V-Partei³ | | | | | | 137 | 0.1 | |
  | | ÖDP | | | | | | 114 | 0.1 | |
  | | MLPD | | | | | | 34 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
  | | DKP | | | | | | 10 | 0.0 | |
  | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 974 | | | 967 | | |
  | Total Valid votes | Total Valid votes | Total Valid votes | Total Valid votes | 126,097 | | | 126,104 | | |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 127,071 | 75.6 | 2.4 | | | |
  | | SPD gain from CDU | SPD gain from CDU | Majority | 6,428 | 5.1 | | | | |
  
  ### 2013 election
  
  Federal election (2013): Rotenburg I – Heidekreis :
  
  | Notes: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
  | | CDU | Y Reinhard Grindel | Y Reinhard Grindel | 54,448 | 44.8 | 4.6 | 53,163 | 43.6 | 8.5 |
  | | SPD | Lars Klingbeil | Lars Klingbeil | 49,301 | 40.6 | 5.3 | 38,018 | 31.2 | 3.6 |
  | | Greens | Hans-Peter Ludewig | Hans-Peter Ludewig | 6,026 | 5.0 | 2.6 | 10,332 | 8.5 | 1.6 |
  | | Left | Lennart Onken | Lennart Onken | 4,758 | 3.9 | 3.0 | 5,572 | 4.6 | 3.5 |
  | | FDP | Henrik Schröder | Henrik Schröder | 2,097 | 1.7 | 6.5 | 4,930 | 4.0 | 10.0 |
  | | AfD | | | | | | 4,586 | 3.8 | |
  | | Pirates | Stefan Scharringhausen | Stefan Scharringhausen | 1,875 | 1.5 | | 1,722 | 1.4 | 0.5 |
  | | NPD | Ingo Rüdiger Helge | Ingo Rüdiger Helge | 1,617 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 1,275 | 1.0 | 0.5 |
  | | FW | Günter Scheunemann | Günter Scheunemann | 1,384 | 1.1 | | 796 | 0.7 | |
  | | Tierschutzpartei | | | | | | 1,028 | 0.8 | 0.1 |
  | | PBC | | | | | | 174 | 0.1 | |
  | | PRO | | | | | | 143 | 0.1 | |
  | | REP | | | | | | 68 | 0.1 | |
  | | MLPD | | | | | | 22 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
  | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,317 | | | 994 | | |
  | Total Valid votes | Total Valid votes | Total Valid votes | Total Valid votes | 121,506 | | | 121,829 | | |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 122,823 | 73.2 | 0.8 | | | |
  | | CDU hold | CDU hold | Majority | 5,147 | 4.2 | 0.7 | | | |
  
  ### 2009 election
  
  Federal election (2009): Rotenburg I – Soltau-Fallingbostel :
  
  | Notes: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
  | | CDU | Reinhard Grindel | Reinhard Grindel | 48,344 | 40.2 | 1.5 | 42,324 | 35.1 | 0.7 |
  | | SPD | Lars Klingbeil | Lars Klingbeil | 42,395 | 35.3 | 9.3 | 33,279 | 27.6 | 13.1 |
  | | FDP | Knuth Uhland | Knuth Uhland | 9,895 | 8.2 | 4.0 | 16,930 | 14.0 | 4.5 |
  | | Greens | Sven-Christian Kindler | Sven-Christian Kindler | 9,101 | 7.6 | 3.5 | 12,155 | 10.1 | 3.1 |
  | | Left | Heinz Kühsel | Heinz Kühsel | 8,366 | 7.0 | 3.6 | 9,759 | 8.1 | 4.1 |
  | | NPD | Matthias Behrens | Matthias Behrens | 2,138 | 1.8 | 0.1 | 1,825 | 1.5 | 0.0 |
  | | Pirates | | | | | | 2,252 | 1.9 | |
  | | Tierschutzpartei | | | | | | 1,172 | 1.0 | 0.3 |
  | | RRP | | | | | | 597 | 0.5 | |
  | | DVU | | | | | | 167 | 0.1 | |
  | | ÖDP | | | | | | 133 | 0.1 | |
  | | MLPD | | | | | | 22 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
  | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,702 | | | 1,326 | | |
  | Total Valid votes | Total Valid votes | Total Valid votes | Total Valid votes | 120,239 | | | 120,615 | | |
  | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 121,941 | 72.3 | 6.3 | | | |
  | | CDU win new seat | CDU win new seat | Majority | 5,949 | 4.9 | | | | |
  