Hamburg-Altona 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 19. It is located in western Hamburg, comprising the Altona borough.
Hamburg-Altona was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Linda Heitmann of the Alliance 90/The Greens.
Geography Hamburg-Altona is located in western Hamburg. As of the 2021 federal election, it is coterminous with the borough of Altona.
History Hamburg-Altona was created in 1949, then known as Hamburg II. From 1965 to 1980, it was simply named Altona. It acquired its current name in the 1980 election. In the inaugural Bundestag election, it was constituency 7 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 16. From 1965 through 1998, it was number 13. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 20. Since 2013, it has been constituency 19.
Originally, it comprised the entirety of the Altona borough with the exception of the quarters of Altona-Altstadt and the Ortsteil of Altona-Nord/Süd from Altona-Nord. From 1965, it gained the Ortsteil of Altona-Altstadt/Nord, but lost the remainder of Altona-Nord. Since the 1980 election, it has been coterminous with the Altona borough, with a brief exception from 2009–2013 when the newly-created quarter of Sternschanze, administratively part of the Altona borough, remained within the Hamburg Mitte constituency; it was transferred to Hamburg-Altona in the 2013 election.
Election Name Borders 1949 Hamburg II Altona borough (excluding Altona-Altstadt quarter and Altona-Nord/Süd Ortsteil) 1953 16 1957 1961 1965 13 Altona Altona borough (excluding Altona-Altstadt/Süd Ortsteil) 1969 1972 1976 1980 Hamburg-Altona Altona borough 1983 1987 1990 1994 1998 2002 20 2005 2009 Altona borough (excluding Sternschanze) 2013 19 Altona borough 2017 2021 2025
Members The constituency has been held by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) during all but five Bundestag terms since 1949; it returned a representative from the SPD in every federal election from 1957 to 2021 with the exception of 1987. Its first representative was Hugo Scharnberg of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who served from 1949 to 1957. The SPD's Karl-Wilhelm Berkhan won the constituency in 1957 and served until 1976, when he was succeeded by Horst Gobrecht. The CDU held it for a single term in 1987 under representative Jürgen Echternach; it returned to the SPD's candidate Marliese Dobberthien in 1990. Future Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz represented the constituency from 1998 to 2001, when he resigned to become Senator for the Interior of Hamburg. He was elected again in 2002 and was re-elected twice before resigning to take office as First Mayor of Hamburg. In the 2013 election, Matthias Bartke was elected as his successor. In 2021, the constituency was won by Linda Heltmann of the Greens.
Election Member Party % 1949 Hugo Scharnberg CDU 41.3 1953 55.6 1957 Karl Wilhelm Berkhan SPD 42.9 1961 43.5 1965 46.7 1969 55.3 1972 57.3 1976 Horst Gobrecht SPD 50.1 1980 50.4 1983 47.4 1987 Jürgen Echternach CDU 42.0 1990 Marliese Dobberthien SPD 41.8 1994 40.5 1998 Olaf Scholz SPD 48.1 2002 49.4 2005 45.9 2009 36.1 2013 Matthias Bartke SPD 34.9 2017 28.9 2021 Linda Heitmann GRÜNE 29.7 2025 27.5
Election results
2025 election
2021 election
2017 election
2013 election
2009 election
2005 election
References