Recklinghausen I

120 Recklinghausen I
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Recklinghausen I in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	214,100 (2019)
Electorate	165,193 (2021)
Major settlements	Recklinghausen Castrop-Rauxel
Area	165.3 km^2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	SPD
Member	Frank Schwabe
Elected	2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021

Recklinghausen 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 120. It is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the southeastern part of the Recklinghausen district.^[1]

Recklinghausen I was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2005, it has been represented by Frank Schwabe of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).^[2]

Geography

Recklinghausen I is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the municipalities of Castrop-Rauxel, Recklinghausen, and Waltrop from the Recklinghausen district.^[1]

History

Recklinghausen I was created in 1949, then known as Recklinghausen-Stadt. It acquired its current name in the 1980 West German federal election.

In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 42 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 101. From 1965 through 1976, it was number 100. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 91. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 122. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 121. From the 2025 election, it has been number 120.

Originally, the constituency comprised only the city of Recklinghausen. From 1965 through 1976, it comprised the independent city of Recklinghausen and the municipalities of Waltrop, Henrichenburg, Datteln, Oer-Erkenschwick, and Haltern from the Recklinghausen district. It acquired its current borders in the 1980 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	42	Recklinghausen-Stadt	Recklinghausen city
1953	101
1957
1961
1965	100		Recklinghausen city Recklinghausen district (only Waltrop, Henrichenburg, Datteln, Oer-Erkenschwick, and Haltern municipalities)
1969
1972
1976
1980	91	Recklinghausen I	Recklinghausen district (only Castrop-Rauxel, Recklinghausen, and Waltrop municipalities)
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	122
2005
2009
2013	121
2017
2021
2025	120

Members

The constituency has been held by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) during all but three Bundestag terms since 1949. It was first represented by Bernhard Winkelheide of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1949 to 1961. Heinrich Auge of the SPD was elected in 1961 and served two terms, followed by Erich Wolfram from 1969 to 1987. Heinz-Werner Meyer served a single term from 1987 to 1990. He was succeeded by Jochen Welt from 1990 to 2005. Frank Schwabe was elected in 2005, and re-elected in 2009, 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Bernhard Winkelheide	CDU	48.3
	1953			49.4
	1957			50.5
	1961	Heinrich Auge	SPD	44.3
	1965			51.1
	1969	Erich Wolfram	SPD	53.5
	1972			59.7
	1976			56.1
	1980			57.5
	1983			53.9
	1987	Heinz-Werner Meyer	SPD	53.9
	1990	Jochen Welt	SPD	52.4
	1994			54.8
	1998			58.8
	2002			56.2
	2005	Frank Schwabe	SPD	55.7
	2009			43.1
	2013			45.2
	2017			38.7
	2021			41.0

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Recklinghausen 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	%	±%
	SPD	Y Frank Schwabe		49,437	41.0	2.4	42,552	35.2	3.7
	CDU	Michael Breilmann		30,845	25.6	5.3	27,988	23.2	5.4
	Greens	Nils Stennei		12,833	10.6	5.7	15,180	12.6	6.8
	AfD	Lutz Wagner		11,087	9.2	2.2	10,927	9.1	3.0
	FDP	Marlies Greve		8,481	7.0	0.2	11,989	9.9	0.4
	Left	Uwe Biletzke		3,605	3.0	3.6	4,239	3.5	3.8
	Tierschutzpartei						1,961	1.6	0.8
	PARTEI	Carsten Majewski		2,722	2.3		1,526	1.3	0.3
	dieBasis	Marcus Puller		1,282	1.1		966	0.8
	Team Todenhöfer						913	0.8
	FW						594	0.5	0.2
	Pirates						473	0.4	0.0
	Volt						242	0.2
	LIEBE						170	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						164	0.1	0.0
	The Homeland						152	0.1	0.2
	LfK						140	0.1
	MLPD	Klaus Dumberger		128	0.1	0.2	87	0.1	0.1
	V-Partei3						80	0.1	0.0
	Humanists						72	0.1	0.0
	Bündnis C						69	0.1
	du.						62	0.1
	ÖDP						60	0.0	0.0
	PdF						42	0.0
	DKP	Werner Sarbok		99	0.1		40	0.0	0.0
	LKR						33	0.0
	SGP						16	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,121			903
Total valid votes				120,519			120,737
Turnout				121,640	73.6	0.4
	SPD hold		Majority	18,592	15.4	7.7

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Recklinghausen 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	%	±%
	SPD	Y Frank Schwabe		47,257	38.7	6.6	38,822	31.6	8.2
	CDU	Michael Breilmann		37,792	30.9	3.4	35,108	28.6	5.3
	AfD	Steffen Michel Sigmar Christ		13,953	11.4	8.2	14,777	12.0	7.5
	FDP	Anne Krüger		8,791	7.2	5.2	12,674	10.3	6.9
	Left	Erich Karl Burmeister		8,043	6.6	0.4	8,970	7.3	0.5
	Greens	Jan Matzoll		6,079	5.0	0.2	7,132	5.8	0.6
	PARTEI						1,163	0.9	0.6
	Tierschutzpartei						1,060	0.9
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						892	0.7
	Pirates						540	0.4	1.8
	The Homeland						362	0.3	1.0
	FW						320	0.3	0.1
	MLPD	Yvonne Adamski		327	0.3		168	0.1	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						138	0.1	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						134	0.1
	V-Partei³						125	0.1
	DiB						124	0.1
	DM						109	0.1
	BGE						100	0.1
	ÖDP						78	0.1	0.1
	Die Humanisten						66	0.1
	DKP						14	0.0
	SGP						8	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,716			1,074
Total valid votes				122,242			122,884
Turnout				123,958	73.2	2.2
	SPD hold		Majority	9,465	7.8	3.1

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Recklinghausen 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	%	±%
	SPD	Y Frank Schwabe		54,504	45.2	2.1	48,070	39.8	4.2
	CDU	Philipp Mißfelder		41,383	34.3	3.6	40,898	33.8	5.5
	Left	Erich Burmeister		7,410	6.1	4.3	8,244	6.8	4.8
	Greens	Sebastian Ohler		6,178	5.1	1.3	7,716	6.4	1.8
	AfD	Ulrich Wolinski		3,921	3.3		5,464	4.5
	Pirates	Thomas Weijers		2,953	2.4		2,661	2.2	0.4
	FDP	Mathias Richter		2,426	2.0	5.4	4,100	3.4	7.6
	The Homeland	Werner Goedeke		1,770	1.5	0.2	1,530	1.3	0.1
	PARTEI						410	0.3
	PRO						402	0.3
	Volksabstimmung						217	0.2	0.1
	REP						204	0.2	0.2
	FW						185	0.2
	Nichtwahler						163	0.1
	BIG						162	0.1
	ÖDP						152	0.1	0.1
	MLPD						86	0.1	0.0
	RRP						85	0.1	0.1
	Party of Reason						79	0.1
	Die Rechte						41	0.0
	PSG						37	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						21	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,801			1,419
Total valid votes				120,545			120,927
Turnout				122,346	71.1	0.1
	SPD hold		Majority	13,121	10.9	1.5

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Recklinghausen 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	%	±%
	SPD	Y Frank Schwabe		52,627	43.1	12.6	43,571	35.5	15.2
	CDU	Philipp Mißfelder		37,504	30.7	0.3	34,732	28.3	0.1
	Left	Erich Burmeister		12,781	10.5	5.0	14,202	11.6	5.3
	FDP	Michael Postel		9,090	7.4	3.8	13,462	11.0	4.8
	Greens	Monya Schnittke		7,846	6.4	3.4	9,984	8.1	2.5
	Pirates						2,162	1.8
	The Homeland	Marion Reinert		2,078	1.7	0.5	1,470	1.2	0.3
	Tierschutzpartei						852	0.7	0.2
	FAMILIE						599	0.5	0.1
	RENTNER						463	0.4
	REP						410	0.3	0.0
	Independent	Herold Albert Schincke		264	0.2
	RRP						202	0.2
	DVU						182	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						102	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						82	0.1
	MLPD						80	0.1	0.0
	Centre						56	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						30	0.0	0.0
	PSG						17	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,847			1,379
Total valid votes				122,190			122,658
Turnout				124,037	71.0	5.2
	SPD hold		Majority	15,123	12.4	12.3

References

1. "Constituency Recklinghausen I". Federal Returning Officer.
2. "Results for Recklinghausen I". Federal Returning Officer.
3. "Ergebnisse Recklinghausen I – Der Bundeswahlleiter". www.bundeswahlleiter.de.
4. "Ergebnisse Recklinghausen I – Der Bundeswahlleiter". www.bundeswahlleiter.de.
5. "Ergebnisse Recklinghausen I – Der Bundeswahlleiter". www.bundeswahlleiter.de.
6. "Übersicht". 16 June 2011. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011.