Stadt Osnabrück (English: Osnabrück City) 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 39. It is located in western Lower Saxony, comprising the independent city of Osnabrück.
Stadt Osnabrück was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. From 2021-2025, it has been represented by Manuel Gava of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Since 2025 it has been represented by Mathias Middelberg of the CDU.
Geography Stadt Osnabrück is located in western Lower Saxony. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the independent city of Osnabrück and the municipalities of Belm, Georgsmarienhütte, Hagen am Teutoburger Wald, Hasbergen, and Wallenhorst from the district of Osnabrück.
History Stadt Osnabrück was created in 1949, then known as Osnabrück-Stadt und -Land. In the 1965 through 1983 elections, it was simply named Osnabrück. It acquired its current name in the 1987 election. In the inaugural Bundestag election, it was Lower Saxony constituency 6 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 28. From 1965 through 1998, it was number 33. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 39. In the 2009 election, it was number 40. Since the 2013 election, it has been number 39.
Originally, the constituency comprised the independent city of Osnabrück and the entirety of the district of Osnabrück, which at the time was significantly smaller than its present area. In the 1980 election, it acquired its current borders.
Election Name Borders 1949 Osnabrück-Stadt und -Land Osnabrück city Osnabrück district 1953 28 1957 1961 1965 33 Osnabrück 1969 1972 1976 1980 Osnabrück city Osnabrück district (only Belm, Georgsmarienhütte, Hagen am Teutoburger Wald, Hasbergen, and Wallenhorst municipalities) 1983 1987 Stadt Osnabrück 1990 1994 1998 2002 39 2005 2009 40 2013 39 2017 2021 2025
Members The constituency was first held by Anton Storch of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who served from 1949 until 1965. He was succeeded by fellow CDU member Ferdinand Erpenbeck. In 1972, Alfred Emmerlich of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) won the constituency. In 1976, Karl-Heinz Hornhues of the CDU was elected representative, but Emmerlich won again in 1980. Hornhues was against elected in 1983, and served until 1998. In 1998, Ernst Schwanhold of the SPD won the constituency. He was succeeded by fellow SPD member Martin Schwanholz in 2002. Mathias Middelberg of the CDU was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. Manuel Gava regained it for the SPD in 2021.
Election Member Party % 1949 Anton Storch CDU 35.4 1953 52.1 1957 52.3 1961 47.1 1965 Ferdinand Erpenbeck CDU 50.0 1969 49.0 1972 Alfred Emmerlich SPD 48.7 1976 Karl-Heinz Hornhues CDU 48.8 1980 Alfred Emmerlich SPD 49.4 1983 Karl-Heinz Hornhues CDU 51.0 1987 45.8 1990 47.4 1994 46.8 1998 Ernst Schwanhold SPD 47.8 2002 Martin Schwanholz SPD 45.7 2005 44.1 2009 Mathias Middelberg CDU 38.4 2013 45.7 2017 40.3 2021 Manuel Gava SPD 30.3 2025 Mathias Middelberg CDU 29.7
Election results 2025 election
2021 election
2017 election
2013 election
2009 election
2005 election
References