Osterholz – Verden

Osterholz – Verden 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 34. It is located in northern Lower Saxony, comprising the districts of Osterholz and Verden.^[1]

34 Osterholz – Verden
Former electoral district for the Bundestag
Osterholz – Verden in 2025
State	Lower Saxony
Population	251,100 (2019)
Electorate	197,490 (2021)
Major settlements	Achim Osterholz-Scharmbeck Verden an der Aller
Area	1,442.0 km2
Former electoral district
Created	1949 2009 (re-established)
Abolished	2002
Party	CDU
Member	Andreas Mattfeldt
Elected	2009, 2013, 2017, 2021

Osterholz – Verden was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. It was abolished in 2002 and re-established in the 2009 federal election. Since 2009, it has been represented by Andreas Mattfeldt of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).^[2]

Geography

Osterholz – Verden is located in northern Lower Saxony. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the districts of Osterholz and Verden.^[1]

History

Osterholz – Verden was created in 1949, then known as Verden – Rotenburg – Osterholz. In the 1965 through 1983 elections, it was named Verden. From 1987 until its abolition, it was named Verden – Osterholz. In the inaugural Bundestag election, it was Lower Saxony constituency 12 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 34. From 1965 until its abolition, it was number 29. Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Verden, Osterholz, and Rotenburg. In the 1980 election, the district of Rotenburg was transferred away. Verden – Osterholz was abolished in the 2002 election, and was divided between the new constituencies of Cuxhaven – Osterholz and Rotenburg – Verden.

The constituency was re-established in the 2009 election, acquiring the name Osterholz – Verden. It was constituency number 35, then number 34 since the 2013 election. Its borders have not changed since its re-establishment.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	12	Verden – Rotenburg – Osterholz	Verden district Osterholz district Rotenburg district
1953	45
1957
1961
1965	29	Verden
1969
1972
1976
1980			Verden district Osterholz district
1983
1987		Verden – Osterholz
1990
1994
1998
2002	Abolished
2005
2009	35	Osterholz – Verden	Osterholz district Verden district
2013	34
2017
2021
2025

Members

The constituency was first held by Hans-Joachim von Merkatz of the German Party (DP), who served from 1949 until 1961. In 1961, Karl Ravens of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) won the constituency. In the 1965 election, von Merkatz regained his seat, now as a candidate of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Ravens won the constituency again in 1969, and served until 1980. He was succeeded by fellow SPD member Arne Börnsen, who served a single term before Martin Oldenstädt of the CDU won the constituency in 1983. In the 1987 election, Börnsen returned as representative. He served until 1998, when he was succeeded by fellow SPD member Joachim Stünker, who served a single term before the constituency was abolished in 2002. Upon its re-establishment, it was won by the CDU's Andreas Mattfeldt. He was re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Hans-Joachim von Merkatz	DP	32.7
	1953			47.3
	1957			47.8
	1961	Karl Ravens	SPD	36.9
	1965	Hans-Joachim von Merkatz	CDU	51.8
	1969	Karl Ravens	SPD	46.8
	1972			53.1
	1976			48.5
	1980	Arne Börnsen	SPD	50.6
	1983	Martin Oldenstädt	CDU	46.6
	1987	Arne Börnsen	SPD	46.4
	1990			44.6
	1994			47.6
	1998	Joachim Stünker	SPD	53.4
Abolished (2002–2009)
	2009	Andreas Mattfeldt	CDU	37.1
	2013			44.0
	2017			39.2
	2021			33.7

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Osterholz – Verden[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 Andreas Mattfeldt		50,274	33.7	5.6	36,183	24.1	10.9
	SPD	Michael Harjes		48,574	32.5	0.6	49,430	32.9	6.5
	Greens	Lena Gumnior		21,933	14.7	8.0	24,183	16.1	6.8
	FDP	Gero Hocker		13,764	9.2	3.8	15,653	10.4	1.6
	AfD						11,329	7.5	2.1
	Left	Mizgin Ciftci		6,375	4.3	2.8	5,253	3.5	3.8
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,986	1.3	0.4
	FW	Dominique Paetz		4,578	3.1	2.4	1,494	1.0	0.6
	dieBasis	Anton Körner		3,883	2.6		1,661	1.1
	PARTEI						1,134	0.8	0.1
	Pirates						443	0.3	0.1
	Team Todenhöfer						440	0.3
	Volt						343	0.2
	Humanists						131	0.1
	NPD						125	0.1	0.1
	V-Partei3						112	0.1	0.1
	ÖDP						105	0.1	0.0
	du.						103	0.1
	LKR						50	0.0
	MLPD						34	0.0	0.0
	DKP						27	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,927			1,089
Total valid votes				149,381			150,219
Turnout				151,308	76.6	1.4
	CDU hold		Majority	1,700	1.2	6.0

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Osterholz – Verden[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 Andreas Mattfeldt		59,560	39.2	4.8	53,035	34.9	5.0
	SPD	Christina Jantz-Herrmann		48,505	32.0	5.5	40,047	26.4	6.7
	AfD	Jochen Rohrberg		12,995	8.6	5.4	14,675	9.7	5.8
	Left	Herbert Behrens		10,714	7.1	2.0	11,055	7.3	1.7
	Greens	Monika Geils		10,146	6.7	0.1	14,052	9.3	0.3
	FDP	Gero Hocker		8,273	5.5	4.5	13,464	8.9	5.2
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,445	1.0	0.1
	PARTEI						1,252	0.8
	FW	Ingo Lesch		1,072	0.7		631	0.4	0.1
	Pirates						560	0.4	1.5
	Independent	Susanne Hirsch-Sternberg		503	0.3
	NPD						354	0.2	0.7
	BGE						343	0.2
	DM						284	0.2
	DiB						228	0.2
	V-Partei³						194	0.1
	ÖDP						125	0.1
	MLPD						35	0.0	0.0
	DKP						19	0.0
Informal votes				1,268			1,238
Total valid votes				151,768			151,798
Turnout				153,036	78.0	3.2
	CDU hold		Majority	11,055	7.2	0.6

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Osterholz – Verden[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 Andreas Mattfeldt		63,174	44.0	7.0	57,243	40.0	8.0
	SPD	Christina Jantz		53,660	37.4	0.8	47,413	33.1	3.9
	Greens	Erich von Hofe		9,729	6.8	1.8	13,708	9.6	2.3
	Left	Herbert Behrens		7,195	5.0	3.5	8,008	5.6	4.0
	AfD	Thomas Hochrainer		4,499	3.1		5,487	3.8
	Pirates	Ole Schwettmann		2,516	1.8		2,655	1.9	0.2
	FDP	Cédrik Kamlah		1,359	0.9	6.6	5,235	3.7	8.8
	NPD	Claus Oeltjen		1,289	0.9	0.8	1,321	0.9	0.5
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,250	0.9	0.0
	FW						392	0.3
	PBC						190	0.1
	PRO						165	0.1
	REP						90	0.1
	MLPD						58	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,502			1,708
Total valid votes				143,421			143,215
Turnout				144,923	74.8	0.5
	CDU hold		Majority	9,514	6.6	6.1

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Osterholz – Verden[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	Andreas Mattfeldt		53,070	37.1	2.5	45,908	32.0	2.1
	SPD	Joachim Stünker		52,397	36.6	11.9	41,979	29.2	14.4
	Greens	Heiner Haase		12,318	8.6	2.1	17,053	11.9	2.8
	Left	Herbert Behrens		12,242	8.5	4.4	13,830	9.6	4.6
	FDP	Tim Schardelmann		10,787	7.5	2.9	17,889	12.5	3.3
	NPD	Rigolf Hennig		2,417	1.7	0.0	1,981	1.4	0.2
	Pirates						2,339	1.6
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,228	0.9	0.2
	RRP						976	0.7
	DVU						187	0.1
	ÖDP						152	0.1
	MLPD						24	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,642			1,337
Total valid votes				143,241			143,546
Turnout				144,883	75.3	4.8
	CDU win new seat		Majority	683	0.5

References

1. "Constituency Osterholz – Verden". Federal Returning Officer.
2. "Results for Osterholz – Verden". Federal Returning Officer.
3. Results for Osterholz – Verden
4. Results for Osterholz – Verden
5. Results for Osterholz – Verden