Harz (electoral district)

Harz 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 68. It is located in western Saxony-Anhalt, comprising the district of Harz.^[1]

68 Harz
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Harz in 2025
State	Saxony-Anhalt
Population	248,200 (2019)
Electorate	207,942 (2021)
Major settlements	Halberstadt Wernigerode Aschersleben
Area	2,339.9 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1990
Party	CDU
Member	Heike Brehmer
Elected	2009, 2013, 2017, 2021

Harz was created for the inaugural 1990 federal election after German reunification. Since 2009, it has been represented by Heike Brehmer of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).^[2]

Geography

Harz is located in western Saxony-Anhalt. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Harz district as well as the municipalities of Aschersleben and Seeland from the Salzlandkreis district.^[1]

History

Harz was created after German reunification in 1990, then known as Harz and Vorharzgebiet. It acquired its current name in the 2002 election. In the 1990 through 1998 elections, it was constituency 285 in the numbering system. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 68. In the 2009 election, it was number 69. Since the 2013 election, it has been number 68.

Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Wernigerode, Oschersleben, and Halberstadt. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it comprised the districts of Halberstadt, Quedlinburg, and Wernigerode. It acquired its current configuration and borders in the 2009 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1990	285	Harz and Vorharzgebiet	Halberstadt district Oschersleben district Wernigerode district
1994
1998
2002	68	Harz	Halberstadt district Quedlinburg district Wernigerode district
2005
2009	69		Harz district Salzlandkreis district (only Aschersleben and Seeland municipalities)
2013	68
2017
2021
2025

Members

The constituency was first represented by Monika Brudlewsky of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1990 to 1998. Tobias Marhold of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was elected in 1998 and served until 2005, followed by Andreas Steppuhn until 2009. Heike Brehmer of the CDU became representative in 2009, and was re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1990	Monika Brudlewsky	CDU	43.7
	1994			40.9
	1998	Tobias Marhold	SPD	44.1
	2002			44.9
	2005	Andreas Steppuhn	SPD	33.8
	2009	Heike Brehmer	CDU	33.0
	2013			46.0
	2017			36.4
	2021			27.7

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Harz[3]
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 Heike Brehmer		37,884	27.7	8.7	30,508	22.3	11.4
	SPD	Maik Berger		34,812	25.4	7.9	37,330	27.2	11.0
	AfD	Sören Stefanowicz		24,947	18.2	2.1	24,790	18.1	1.2
	Left	Karsten Lippmann		14,413	10.5	8.7	12,700	9.3	8.4
	FDP	Denise Köcke		10,064	7.4	2.4	12,532	9.1	2.1
	Greens	Wolfgang Strauhs		6,320	4.6	1.5	7,495	5.5	2.0
	FW	Carlo Gottschalk		4,972	3.6	1.3	2,840	2.1	0.9
	dieBasis	Uwe Rohrbeck		3,160	2.3		2,621	1.9
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,736	1.3
	Tierschutzallianz						1,480	1.1	0.5
	PARTEI						934	0.7	0.3
	Gartenpartei						758	0.6	0.2
	Pirates						435	0.3
	NPD						296	0.2	0.4
	Independent	Thomas Barth		272	0.2
	Volt						178	0.1
	Humanists						129	0.1
	du.						119	0.1
	MLPD						91	0.1	0.1
	ÖDP						78	0.1
Informal votes				1,728			1,522
Total valid votes				136,844			137,050
Turnout				138,572	66.6	0.1
	CDU hold		Majority	3,072	2.3	14.9

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Harz[3]
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 Heike Brehmer		51,386	36.4	9.6	47,574	33.6	9.9
	Left	Evelyn Edler		27,104	19.2	3.8	25,069	17.7	5.2
	SPD	Eberhard Brecht[a]		24,767	17.5	1.6	22,915	16.2	2.6
	AfD	Frank-Ronald Bischoff		22,792	16.1		23,860	16.9	13.1
	FDP	Denise Köcke		6,923	4.9	3.5	9,902	7.0	4.7
	Greens	Susan Sziborra-Seidlitz		4,462	3.2	0.6	4,968	3.5	0.1
	FW	Dieter Kühn		3,253	2.3	1.5	1,648	1.2	0.5
	Tierschutzallianz						2,176	1.5
	PARTEI						1,344	0.9
	NPD						868	0.6	1.4
	MG						445	0.3
	BGE						365	0.3
	DiB						213	0.2
	MLPD	Frank Oettler		441	0.3		184	0.1	0.0
Informal votes				2,439			2,036
Total valid votes				141,128			141,531
Turnout				143,567	66.6	7.7
	CDU hold		Majority	24,282	17.2	5.8

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Harz[4]
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 Heike Brehmer		59,779	46.0	13.0	56,619	43.5	12.1
	Left	Elke Reinke		29,860	23.0	8.1	29,875	22.9	9.3
	SPD	Mario Hennig		24,875	19.1	1.2	24,407	18.7	1.6
	AfD						4,924	3.8
	Greens	Sabine Wetzel		4,928	3.8	1.7	4,716	3.6	1.4
	NPD	Michael Grunzel		3,304	2.5	0.2	2,651	2.0	0.3
	Pirates	Henning Lübbers		2,556	2.0		2,255	1.7	0.3
	FDP	Detlef Ebert		1,852	1.4	5.8	2,961	2.3	7.1
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,679	1.3
	FW	Ethel-Maria Muschalle-Höllbach		1,111	0.9		929	0.7
	PRO						433	0.3
	ÖDP						293	0.2
	MLPD						136	0.1	0.1
Informal votes				2,595			2,340
Total valid votes				129,944			130,199
Turnout				132,539	58.9	2.0
	CDU hold		Majority	29,919	23.0	21.1

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Harz[5]
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	Heike Brehmer		46,632	33.0	6.0	44,402	31.3	6.4
	Left	Elke Reinke		43,952	31.1	4.8	45,676	32.2	5.9
	SPD	Andreas Steppuhn		28,732	20.3	14.0	24,320	17.2	16.7
	FDP	Wolfgang Döcke		10,236	7.2	1.9	13,274	9.4	2.0
	Greens	Undine Kurth		7,791	5.5	1.7	7,141	5.0	1.2
	NPD	Matthias Heyder		3,862	2.7	0.2	3,277	2.3	0.2
	Pirates						2,897	2.0
	DVU						345	0.2
	MLPD						309	0.2	0.0
Informal votes				3,135			2,699
Total valid votes				141,205			141,641
Turnout				144,340	60.9	10.2
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	2,680	1.9

Notes

1. Brecht entered the Bundestag on the SPD list after the resignation of Burkhard Lischka in October 2019.

References

1. "Constituency Harz". Federal Returning Officer.
2. "Results for Harz". Federal Returning Officer.
3. Results for Harz
4. Results for Harz
5. Results for Harz