Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I

148 Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I
148 Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I
Electoral district; for the Bundestag
	Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	276,100 (2019)
Electorate	203,350 (2021)
Major settlements	Lüdenscheid; Lennestadt; Olpe
Area	1,161.5 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1980
Party	CDU
Member	Florian Müller
Elected	2021

Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I 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 148. It is located in southern North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the Olpe district and the southern part of the Märkischer Kreis district.^[1]

Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I was created for the 1980 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Florian Müller of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).^[2]

Geography

Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I is located in southern North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Olpe district and the municipalities of Halver, Herscheid, Kierspe, Lüdenscheid, Meinerzhagen, and Schalksmühle from the Märkischer Kreis district.^[1]

History

Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I was created in 1980, then known as Olpe – Siegen-Wittgenstein II. It acquired its current name in the 2002 election. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it was constituency 121 in the numbering system. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 150. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 149. From the 2025 election, it has been number 148.

Originally, the constituency comprised the Olpe district and the municipalities of Freudenberg, Hilchenbach, and Kreuztal from the Siegen-Wittgenstein district. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1980	121	Olpe – Siegen-Wittgenstein II	Olpe district Siegen-Wittgenstein district (only Freudenberg, Hilchenbach, and Kreuztal municipalities)
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	150	Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I	Olpe district Märkischer Kreis district (only Halver, Herscheid, Kierspe, Lüdenscheid, Meinerzhagen, and Schalksmühle municipalities)
2005
2009
2013	149
2017
2021
2025	148

Members

The constituency has been held by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since its creation. It was first represented by Willi Weiskirch from 1980 to 1987, followed by Joachim Grünewald from 1987 to 1994. Hartmut Schauerte became representative in 1994 and served until 2009. Matthias Heider was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. He was succeeded by Florian Müller in 2021.

	Member	Party	%
1980	Willi Weiskirch	CDU	54.8
1983	Willi Weiskirch	CDU	61.1
1987	Joachim Grünewald	CDU	57.0
1990	Joachim Grünewald	CDU	56.2
1994	Hartmut Schauerte	CDU	52.1
1998			49.9
2002			48.2
2005			50.8
2009	Matthias Heider	CDU	47.4
2013			51.7
2017			47.9
2021	Florian Müller	CDU	37.1

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I^[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	Florian Müller		56,879	37.1	10.8	50,364	32.8	7.8
	SPD	Nezahat Baradari		45,366	29.6	3.2	42,362	27.6	4.3
	FDP	Johannes Vogel		15,944	10.4	1.6	19,227	12.5	1.2
	Greens	Holger Thamm		13,645	8.9	5.5	15,243	9.9	5.4
	AfD	Klaus Heger		13,104	8.5	0.3	13,100	8.5	0.6
	Left	Otto Ersching		3,935	2.6	2.2	4,150	2.7	2.7
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,899	1.2	0.6
	FW	Sabrina Dieckmann		2,269	1.5		1,251	0.8	0.6
	dieBasis	Dagmar Welz		2,021	1.3		1,676	1.1
	PARTEI						1,213	0.8	0.2
	Team Todenhöfer						691	0.4
	Pirates						511	0.3	0.1
	Bündnis C						326	0.2
	Volt						278	0.2
	ÖDP						265	0.2	0.0
	LIEBE						211	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						190	0.1	0.0
	NPD						181	0.1	0.2
	LfK						128	0.1
	Humanists						87	0.1	0.0
	V-Partei3						78	0.1	0.0
	du.						69	0.0
	DKP	Engelbert Prevorcic		221	0.1		60	0.0	0.0
	PdF						46	0.0
	LKR						27	0.0
	MLPD						26	0.0	0.0
	SGP						12	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,446			1,159
Total valid votes				153,384			153,671
Turnout				154,830	76.1	2.3
	CDU hold		Majority	11,513	7.5	14.0

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I^[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 Matthias Heider		72,158	47.9	3.8	61,394	40.6	7.4
	SPD	Nezahat Baradari^[a]		39,699	26.3	6.4	35,269	23.3	4.9
	AfD	Klaus Heger		13,306	8.8	6.2	13,847	9.2	5.0
	FDP	Johannes Vogel		13,230	8.8	6.4	20,758	13.7	8.6
	Left	Ingeborg Mohr-Simeonidis		7,197	4.8	1.0	8,205	5.4	0.6
	Greens	Christian Hohn		5,170	3.4	0.0	6,866	4.5	0.6
	Human Environment Animal Protection						975	0.6
	PARTEI						828	0.5	0.2
	Pirates						631	0.4	1.4
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						482	0.3
	NPD						417	0.3	0.8
	FW						371	0.2	0.1
	ÖDP						319	0.2	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						151	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						140	0.1	0.1
	DM						139	0.1
	DiB						128	0.1
	V-Partei³						127	0.1
	BGE						101	0.1
	Die Humanisten						61	0.0
	MLPD						40	0.0	0.0
	DKP						27	0.0
	SGP						13	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,782			1,253
Total valid votes				150,760			151,289
Turnout				152,542	73.8	2.4
	CDU hold		Majority	32,459	21.6	2.6

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I^[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 Matthias Heider		76,911	51.7	4.3	71,437	48.0	8.2
	SPD	Petra Crone		48,711	32.7	4.4	42,002	28.2	3.8
	Left	Wolfgang Hoffmann		5,635	3.8	3.0	7,113	4.8	2.5
	Greens	Kai Bitzer		5,132	3.4	2.2	7,726	5.2	1.8
	AfD	Hasso Simon		3,931	2.6		6,151	4.1
	FDP	Johannes Vogel		3,586	2.4	8.0	7,694	5.2	11.6
	Pirates	Bastian Halbe		2,694	1.8		2,708	1.8	0.5
	NPD			1,692	1.1	0.2	1,574	1.1	0.0
	FW			545	0.4		505	0.3
	PARTEI						488	0.3
	Volksabstimmung						312	0.2	0.1
	PRO						275	0.2
	ÖDP						193	0.1	0.1
	REP						188	0.1	0.2
	Nichtwahler						134	0.1
	BIG						117	0.1
	Party of Reason						101	0.1
	RRP						84	0.1	0.1
	PSG						44	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						27	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						22	0.0	0.0
	Die Rechte						20	0.0
Informal votes				1,632			1,554
Total valid votes				148,837			148,915
Turnout				150,469	71.4	0.8
	CDU hold		Majority	28,200	19.0	0.1

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I^[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	Matthias Heider		70,705	47.4	3.4	59,358	39.7	2.9
	SPD	Petra Crone		42,273	28.3	9.3	36,470	24.4	9.9
	FDP	Johannes Vogel		15,568	10.4	6.6	25,021	16.7	6.0
	Left	Josef Filippek		10,100	6.8	3.0	10,797	7.2	2.8
	Greens	Christian Röner		8,476	5.7	2.8	10,379	6.9	2.0
	Pirates						1,901	1.3
	NPD	Stephan Haase		2,064	1.4	0.3	1,564	1.0	0.2
	Human Environment Animal Protection						978	0.7	0.2
	FAMILIE						879	0.6	0.2
	RENTNER						673	0.5
	REP						503	0.3	0.2
	RRP						281	0.2
	Volksabstimmung						151	0.1	0.0
	DVU						119	0.1
	Centre						115	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						108	0.1
	MLPD						40	0.0	0.0
	PSG						37	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						20	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,941			1,733
Total valid votes				149,186			149,394
Turnout				151,127	70.6	6.8
	CDU hold		Majority	28,432	19.1	5.9

Notes

^ Baradari entered the Bundestag on the SPD list after the resignation of Ulrich Kelber in January 2019.

References

^ ^a ^b "Constituency Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I". Federal Returning Officer.
^ "Results for Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I". Federal Returning Officer.
^ Results for Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I
^ Results for Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I
^ Results for Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I
^ Results for Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I

[5] Baradari entered the Bundestag on the SPD list after the resignation of Ulrich Kelber in January 2019.

[Area-1] "Constituency Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I". Federal Returning Officer.

[2] "Results for Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I". Federal Returning Officer.

[3] Results for Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I

[4] Results for Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I

[6] Results for Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I

[7] Results for Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I

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v t e Electoral districts of North Rhine-Westphalia in the German Bundestag
Current	Aachen I Aachen II Heinsberg Düren Rhein-Erft-Kreis I Euskirchen – Rhein-Erft-Kreis II Cologne I Cologne II Cologne III Bonn Rhein-Sieg-Kreis I Rhein-Sieg-Kreis II Oberbergischer Kreis Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis Leverkusen – Cologne IV Wuppertal I Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II Mettmann I Mettmann II Düsseldorf I Düsseldorf II Neuss I Mönchengladbach Krefeld I – Neuss II Viersen Kleve Wesel I Krefeld II – Wesel II Duisburg I Duisburg II Oberhausen – Wesel III Mülheim – Essen I Essen II Essen III Recklinghausen I Recklinghausen II Gelsenkirchen Steinfurt I – Borken I Bottrop – Recklinghausen III Borken II Coesfeld – Steinfurt II Steinfurt III Münster Warendorf Gütersloh I Bielefeld – Gütersloh II Herford – Minden-Lübbecke II Minden-Lübbecke I Lippe I Höxter – Gütersloh III – Lippe II Paderborn Hagen – Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis I Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II Bochum I Herne – Bochum II Dortmund I Dortmund II Unna I Hamm – Unna II Soest Hochsauerlandkreis Siegen-Wittgenstein Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I Märkischer Kreis II
Other states	Baden-Württemberg Bavaria‎ Berlin Brandenburg‎ Bremen Hamburg‎ Hesse Lower Saxony Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Rhineland-Palatinate‎ Saarland Saxony‎ Saxony-Anhalt‎ Schleswig-Holstein‎ Thuringia‎
See also	List of Bundestag constituencies Elections in Germany