Rendsburg-Eckernförde (electoral district)

Rendsburg-Eckernförde is an electoral constituency (German: Wahlkreis) represented in the German Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 4. It is located in north central Schleswig-Holstein, comprising almost the entirety of the Rendsburg-Eckernförde district.^[1]

4 Rendsburg-Eckernförde
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Rendsburg-Eckernförde in 2025
State	Schleswig-Holstein
Population	252,100 (2019)
Electorate	202,226 (2021)
Major settlements	Rendsburg Eckernförde
Area	2,165.4 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1976
Party	SPD
Member	Sönke Rix
Elected	2021

Rendsburg-Eckernförde was created for the 1976 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Sönke Rix of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).^[2]

Geography

Rendsburg-Eckernförde is located in north central Schleswig-Holstein. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Rendsburg-Eckernförde district with the exception of the municipalities of Altenholz and Kronshagen, which are part of the Kiel constituency.^[1]

History

Rendsburg-Eckernförde was created in 1976 and contained parts of the abolished constituencies of Schleswig – Eckernförde and Rendsburg – Neumünster. Until 2002, it was coterminous with the district of Rendsburg-Eckernförde; in 2002, the municipalities of Altenholz and Kronshagen were transferred to the Kiel constituency.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1976	4	Rendsburg-Eckernförde	Rendsburg-Eckernförde district
1980
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002			Rendsburg-Eckernförde district (excluding Altenholz and Kronshagen municipalities)
2005
2009
2013
2017
2021
2025

Members

The constituency was held by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from its creation in 1976 until 1983, during which time it was represented by future Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein Heide Simonis. It was won by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 1983, and represented by former Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein Gerhard Stoltenberg. In 1998, it was won by the SPD's Ulrike Mehl. The CDU's Otto Bernhardt won the constituency in 2005, and represented it for a single term before being succeeded by fellow CDU member Johann Wadephul in 2009. Sönke Rix was elected for the SPD in 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1976	Heide Simonis	SPD	47.7
	1980			49.8
	1983	Gerhard Stoltenberg	CDU	52.4
	1987			48.7
	1990			47.4
	1994			46.9
	1998	Ulrike Mehl	SPD	48.8
	2002			48.1
	2005	Otto Bernhardt	CDU	44.1
	2009	Johann Wadephul	CDU	40.2
	2013			45.2
	2017			42.7
	2021	Sönke Rix	SPD	30.8

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Rendsburg-Eckernförde[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	%	±%
	SPD	Sönke Rix		49,474	30.8	1.9	43,148	26.8	3.9
	CDU	N Johann Wadephul		47,688	29.7	13.0	38,517	23.9	12.3
	Greens	Jakob Blasel		23,832	14.8	5.9	28,828	17.9	5.5
	FDP	Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus		12,903	8.0	1.6	19,322	12.0	0.2
	AfD	Gereon Bollmann		10,200	6.3	0.5	10,564	6.6	0.8
	SSW	Maylis Roßberg		5,834	3.6		7,304	4.5
	Left	Hauke Schultze		4,416	2.7	2.4	5,163	3.2	3.2
	dieBasis	Holger Thiesen		2,502	1.6		2,375	1.5
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,728	1.1
	PARTEI	Nils-H. Saul		2,150	1.3		1,618	1.0	0.1
	FW	Bärbel Kahlund		1,651	1.0	0.0	1,174	0.7	0.1
	Volt						253	0.2
	Team Todenhöfer						244	0.2
	NPD						158	0.1	0.1
	Humanists						136	0.1
	V-Partei3						127	0.1
	ÖDP						122	0.1	0.1
	du.						69	0.1
	LKR						49	0.0
	MLPD						33	0.0	0.0
	DKP						23	0.0
Informal votes				1,410			1,105
Total valid votes				160,650			160,955
Turnout				162,060	80.1	1.8
	SPD gain from CDU		Majority	1,786	1.1

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Rendsburg-Eckernförde[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 Johann Wadephul		66,625	42.7	2.5	56,585	36.2	4.6
	SPD	Sönke Rix		45,070	28.9	7.9	35,766	22.9	8.6
	Greens	Claudia Ulrich		13,978	9.0	2.0	19,337	12.4	3.1
	AfD	Gereon Bollmann		10,656	6.8	3.4	11,578	7.4	3.0
	FDP	Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus		10,077	6.5	4.6	19,071	12.2	6.7
	Left	Stefan Karstens		8,074	5.2	1.9	9,962	6.4	2.0
	PARTEI						1,754	1.1
	FW	Hans-Werner Last		1,622	1.0		1,031	0.7	0.2
	BGE						584	0.4
	NPD						307	0.2	0.4
	ÖDP						237	0.2
	MLPD						55	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,252			1,087
Total valid votes				156,102			156,267
Turnout				157,354	78.4	3.1
	CDU hold		Majority	21,555	13.8	5.4

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Rendsburg-Eckernförde[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 Johann Wadephul		66,775	45.2	5.0	60,349	40.8	6.9
	SPD	Sönke Rix		54,397	36.8	4.3	46,658	31.5	4.8
	Greens	Detlef Matthiessen		10,306	7.0	3.1	13,707	9.3	3.5
	AfD	Briga Friederike Krikau		5,084	3.4		6,500	4.4
	Left	Stefan Karstens		4,902	3.3	2.6	6,447	4.4	2.3
	Pirates	Anne Burmeister		2,756	1.9		2,620	1.8	0.3
	FDP	Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus		2,754	1.9	7.9	8,126	5.5	10.5
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,290	0.9
	NPD	Rudolf Reinhard Rosenthal		866	0.6	0.3	854	0.6	0.3
	FW						716	0.5
	Rentner						668	0.5	0.6
	MLPD						32	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,743			1,616
Total valid votes				147,840			147,967
Turnout				149,583	75.2	0.2
	CDU hold		Majority	12,378	8.4	0.7

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Rendsburg-Eckernförde[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	Johann Wadephul		58,876	40.2	3.9	49,789	33.9	4.2
	SPD	Sönke Rix		47,610	32.5	11.2	39,253	26.7	10.9
	Greens	Detlef Matthiessen		14,790	10.1	6.2	18,751	12.8	4.7
	FDP	Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus		14,317	9.8	6.2	23,442	15.9	6.1
	Left	Stefan Karstens		8,729	6.0	2.7	9,821	6.7	2.5
	Pirates						2,985	2.0
	Rentner						1,540	1.0
	NPD	Kevin Stein		1,344	0.9	0.0	1,220	0.8	0.1
	Independent	Holger Thiesen		948	0.6
	DVU						136	0.1
	MLPD						55	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				3,404			3,026
Total valid votes				146,614			146,992
Turnout				150,018	75.4	5.1
	CDU hold		Majority	11,266	7.7	7.3

2005 election

Federal election (2005): Rendsburg-Eckernförde[7]
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	Otto Bernhardt		69,082	44.1	3.7	59,743	38.1	0.8
	SPD			68,480	43.7	4.4	59,001	37.6	5.0
	Greens			6,164	3.9	0.4	12,613	8.0	1.0
	FDP			5,607	3.6	1.5	15,507	9.9	1.9
	Left			5,106	3.3	2.2	6,522	4.2	3.0
	Familie						1,835	1.2
	NPD			1,454	0.9		1,457	0.9	0.7
	Independent			761	0.5
	MLPD						101	0.1
Informal votes				2,187			2,062
Total valid votes				156,654			156,779
Turnout				158,841	80.5	1.2
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	602	0.4

References

1. "Constituency Rendsburg-Eckernförde". Federal Returning Officer.
2. "Results for Rendsburg-Eckernförde". Federal Returning Officer.
3. Results for Rendsburg-Eckernförde
4. Results for Rendsburg-Eckernförde
5. Results for Rendsburg-Eckernförde
6. Results for Rendsburg-Eckernförde
7. Final results by constituency for the 2005 Bundestag election