Oberbergischer Kreis (electoral district)

Oberbergischer Kreis 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 98. It is located in southern North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the Oberbergischer Kreis district.^[1]

98 Oberbergischer Kreis
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Oberbergischer Kreis in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	272,100 (2019)
Electorate	206,640 (2021)
Major settlements	Gummersbach Wiehl Radevormwald
Area	918.8 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CDU
Member	Carsten Brodesser
Elected	2017, 2021

Oberbergischer Kreis was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2017, it has been represented by Carsten Brodesser of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).^[2]

Geography

Oberbergischer Kreis is located in southern North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it is coterminous with the Oberbergischer Kreis district.^[1]

History

Oberbergischer Kreis was created in 1949. It was named Oberbergischer Kreis upon its creation, but renamed to Oberbergischer Kreis – Siegkreis II in the 1965 and 1969 elections. In the 1972 and 1976 elections, it was named Oberbergischer Kreis – Rhein-Sieg-Kreis II. It returned to its current name in the 1980 election. In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 12 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 71. From 1965 through 1976, it was number 65. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 66. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 100. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 99. From the 2025 election, it has been number 98.

Originally, it was coterminous with the Oberbergischer Kreis district. In the 1965 through 1976 elections, it also contained the entirety of Siegkreis district (Rhein-Sieg-Kreis district from 1972) excluding the modern municipalities of Bad Honnef, Königswinter, Niederkassel, Troisdorf, and Sankt Augustin. It acquired its current borders in the 1980 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	12	Oberbergischer Kreis	Oberbergischer Kreis district
1953	71
1957
1961
1965	65	Oberbergischer Kreis – Siegkreis II	Oberbergischer Kreis district Siegkreis district (excluding Bad Honnef, Königswinter, Niederkassel, Troisdorf, and Sankt Augustin municipalities)
1969
1972		Oberbergischer Kreis – Rhein-Sieg-Kreis II	Oberbergischer Kreis district Rhein-Sieg-Kreis district (excluding Bad Honnef, Königswinter, Niederkassel, Troisdorf, and Sankt Augustin municipalities)
1976
1980	66	Oberbergischer Kreis	Oberbergischer Kreis district
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	100
2005
2009
2013	99
2017
2021
2025	98

Members

The constituency has been held by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) during all but one Bundestag term since 1949. It was first represented by August Dresbach 1949 to 1965, followed by Gustav Stein until 1972. Horst Waffenschmidt was elected in 1972 and served until 1998. The Social Democratic Party (SPD)'s candidate Friedhelm Julius Beucher won the constituency in 1998, but the CDU regained it in 2002. Klaus-Peter Flosbach then represented it until 2017. Carsten Brodesser of the CDU was elected as representative in 2017 and re-elected in 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	August Dresbach	CDU	37.0
	1953			43.5
	1957			56.0
	1961			45.0
	1965	Gustav Stein	CDU	51.9
	1969			45.7
	1972	Horst Waffenschmidt	CDU	47.7
	1976			51.7
	1980			49.1
	1983			55.0
	1987			50.3
	1990			50.1
	1994			48.8
	1998	Friedhelm Julius Beucher	SPD	44.9
	2002	Klaus-Peter Flosbach	CDU	45.2
	2005			49.1
	2009			48.4
	2013			52.2
	2017	Carsten Brodesser	CDU	43.7
	2021			33.9

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Oberbergischer Kreis[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 Carsten Brodesser		53,757	33.9	9.8	44,018	27.7	8.7
	SPD	Michaela Engelmeier		42,461	26.8	0.1	42,413	26.7	4.1
	Greens	Sabine Grützmacher		19,015	12.0	5.9	19,959	12.6	6.1
	FDP	Jörg Von Polheim		15,636	9.9	2.0	19,796	12.5	1.3
	AfD	Bernd Rummler		15,071	9.5	0.6	15,211	9.6	1.0
	Left	Diyar Agu		4,587	2.9	2.3	5,153	3.2	3.1
	PARTEI	Philipp Ernst Wüster		2,887	1.8		1,622	1.0	0.3
	dieBasis	Markos Pavlidis		2,847	1.8		2,809	1.8
	Human Environment Animal Protection						2,426	1.5	0.7
	FW	Christian Abstoß		2,246	1.4		1,434	0.9	0.7
	Bündnis C						699	0.4
	Pirates						652	0.4	0.0
	Team Todenhöfer						635	0.4
	Volt						403	0.3
	LIEBE						236	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						221	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						183	0.1	0.0
	LfK						178	0.1
	NPD						153	0.1	0.1
	PdF						110	0.1
	Humanists						104	0.1	0.0
	V-Partei3						89	0.1	0.0
	du.						78	0.0
	LKR						34	0.0
	MLPD						25	0.0	0.0
	SGP						18	0.0	0.0
	DKP						15	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,639			1,472
Total valid votes				158,507			158,674
Turnout				160,146	77.5	2.4
	CDU hold		Majority	11,296	7.1	9.9

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Oberbergischer Kreis[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	Carsten Brodesser		67,603	43.7	8.5	56,567	36.5	8.8
	SPD	Michaela Engelmeier		41,305	26.7	3.4	35,078	22.6	4.4
	AfD	Stefan Zühlke		15,648	10.1	7.1	16,413	10.6	5.6
	FDP	Heinz Jörg Kloppenburg		12,123	7.8	5.7	21,353	13.8	8.1
	Greens	Michael Braun		9,489	6.1	1.0	9,995	6.4	0.5
	Left	Diyar Agu		7,999	5.2	0.9	9,887	6.4	1.0
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,238	0.8
	PARTEI						1,099	0.7	0.3
	Pirates						640	0.4	1.5
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						531	0.3
	Independent	Felix Staratschek		464	0.3
	FW						386	0.2	0.0
	NPD						328	0.2	0.7
	ÖDP						253	0.2	0.0
	DM						232	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						204	0.1	0.1
	DiB						186	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						175	0.1
	BGE						153	0.1
	V-Partei³						148	0.1
	Die Humanisten						91	0.1
	MLPD						52	0.0	0.0
	DKP						16	0.0
	SGP						9	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,962			1,559
Total valid votes				154,631			155,034
Turnout				156,593	75.1	3.1
	CDU hold		Majority	26,298	17.0	5.1

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Oberbergischer Kreis[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	Y Klaus-Peter Flosbach		77,800	52.2	3.8	67,437	45.3	7.0
	SPD	Michaela Engelmeier		44,773	30.1	2.3	40,185	27.0	3.0
	Greens	Michael Braun		7,675	5.2	1.6	10,347	6.9	1.7
	Left	Georg Hewald		6,373	4.3	2.2	8,055	5.4	2.0
	AfD	Rolf Plötz		4,455	3.0		7,487	5.0
	FDP	Jörg von Polheim		3,226	2.2	6.6	8,446	5.7	11.2
	Pirates	Heiko Knotte		2,769	1.9		2,849	1.9	0.5
	NPD	Frank Ipach		1,491	1.0	0.2	1,329	0.9	0.0
	PARTEI						629	0.4
	PRO						473	0.3
	FW						364	0.2
	Volksabstimmung						363	0.2	0.1
	Independent	Felix Johannes Staratschek		354	0.2
	ÖDP						262	0.2	0.0
	Nichtwahler						189	0.1
	REP						152	0.1	0.2
	Party of Reason						130	0.1
	BIG						80	0.1
	RRP						72	0.0	0.1
	PSG						32	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						26	0.0	0.0
	Die Rechte						21	0.0
	BüSo						18	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,983			1,953
Total valid votes				148,916			148,946
Turnout				150,899	72.1	1.0
	CDU hold		Majority	22,037	22.1	1.5

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Oberbergischer Kreis[6]
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 Klaus-Peter Flosbach		71,759	48.4	0.7	56,807	38.3	1.6
	SPD	Michaela Engelmeier		41,165	27.8	10.5	35,604	24.0	10.2
	FDP	Jörg von Polheim		12,990	8.8	4.6	25,007	16.8	4.2
	Greens	Andreas Schmitz		10,066	6.8	3.0	12,826	8.6	1.9
	Left	Axel Hofmann		9,599	6.5	2.9	11,070	7.5	3.0
	Pirates						2,035	1.4
	NPD	Marc-Benedict Kremer		1,734	1.2	0.2	1,317	0.9	0.0
	Human Environment Animal Protection						977	0.7	0.1
	FAMILIE						905	0.6	0.1
	RENTNER						551	0.4
	REP						380	0.3	0.0
	ÖDP	Felix Johannes Staratschek		458	0.3		264	0.2
	Independent	Dirk Grabowski		449	0.3
	RRP						228	0.2
	Volksabstimmung						193	0.1	0.0
	DVU						119	0.1
	Centre						79	0.1	0.0
	BüSo						36	0.0	0.0
	PSG						22	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						16	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,389			2,173
Total valid votes				148,220			148,436
Turnout				150,609	71.1	6.6
	CDU hold		Majority	30,594	20.6	9.8

References

1. "Constituency Oberbergischer Kreis". Federal Returning Officer.
2. "Results for Oberbergischer Kreis". Federal Returning Officer.
3. Results for Oberbergischer Kreis
4. Results for Oberbergischer Kreis
5. Results for Oberbergischer Kreis
6. Results for Oberbergischer Kreis