Bochum I

139 Bochum I
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Bochum I in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	277,700 (2019)
Electorate	202,393 (2021)
Major settlements	Bochum (partial)
Area	103.3 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	SPD
Member	Axel Schäfer
Elected	2002, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021

Bochum 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 139. It is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the western and central part of the city of Bochum.^[1]

Bochum I was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2002, it has been represented by Axel Schäfer of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).^[2]

Bochum I is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the city districts (Stadtbezirke) of 1 Bochum-Mitte, 2 Bochum-Wattenscheid, 5 Bochum-Süd, and 6 Bochum-Südwest from the independent city of Bochum.^[1]

Bochum I was created in 1949, then known as Bochum. It acquired its current name in the 1980 election. In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 59 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 118. From 1965 through 1976, it was number 117. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 110. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 141. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 140. From the 2025 election, it has been number 139.

Originally, the constituency was coterminous with the independent city of Bochum. From 1965 through 1976, it comprised western parts of Bochum. From 1980 through 1998, it comprised the 1 Bochum-Mitte, 2 Bochum-Wattenscheid, and 6 Bochum-Südwest Stadtbezirke from Bochum. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

The constituency has been held by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) during all but two Bundestag terms since its creation. It was first represented by Erich Ollenhauer of the SPD 1949 until 1953, when it was won by Franzjosef Müser of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) for two terms. Heinrich Deist regained it for the SPD in 1961 and served a single term. Karl Liedtke was elected in 1965 and served until 1987. He was succeeded by Klaus Hasenfratz, who was then representative until 2002. Axel Schäfer was elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Federal election (2021): Bochum 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 Axel Schäfer		58,235	38.3	1.1	50,162	32.7	3.0
	CDU	Fabian Schütz		32,962	21.7	6.6	29,811	19.4	6.0
	Greens	Max Lucks		28,288	18.6	10.9	30,795	20.1	11.1
	FDP	Olaf in der Beek		13,657	9.0	1.9	14,583	9.5	1.7
	AfD						10,232	6.7	3.1
	Left	Sevim Dağdelen		9,361	6.2	3.8	8,225	5.4	4.9
	Human Environment Animal Protection						2,079	1.4	0.4
	PARTEI	Lena Bormann		4,700	3.1		1,914	1.2	0.0
	Team Todenhöfer						1,303	0.8
	dieBasis	Andreas Triebel		3,846	2.5		1,222	0.8
	FW						636	0.4	0.2
	Pirates						531	0.3	0.1
	Volt						519	0.3
	NPD						205	0.1	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						195	0.1	0.0
	MLPD	Anna Vöhringer		530	0.3	0.0	100	0.1	0.0
	Humanists	Yan Ugodnikov		488	0.3		189	0.1	0.0
	LIEBE						177	0.1
	ÖDP						135	0.1	0.0
	LfK						126	0.1
	V-Partei3						121	0.1	0.1
	Bündnis C						90	0.1
	du.						82	0.1
	DKP						59	0.0	0.0
	LKR						46	0.0
	PdF						39	0.0
	SGP						12	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,624			1,103
Total valid votes				152,067			153,588
Turnout				154,691	76.4	0.4
	SPD hold		Majority	25,273	16.6	7.7

Federal election (2017): Bochum 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 Axel Schäfer		57,655	37.2	7.0	46,243	29.7	8.9
	CDU	Christian Haardt		43,773	28.2	7.4	39,580	25.4	5.1
	Left	Sevim Dağdelen		15,462	10.0	3.1	15,953	10.2	2.3
	AfD	Wolf-Dieter Liese		14,775	9.5		15,190	9.8	5.9
	Greens	Frithjof Schmidt		11,937	7.7	0.9	13,862	8.9	0.7
	FDP	Olaf in der Beek		10,923	7.0	5.7	17,449	11.2	7.4
	PARTEI						1,924	1.2	0.8
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,418	0.9
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						904	0.6
	Pirates						765	0.5	2.1
	NPD						408	0.3	0.0
	FW						302	0.2	0.0
	DiB						270	0.2
	BGE						219	0.1
	V-Partei³						217	0.1
	ÖDP						180	0.1	0.0
	MLPD	Klaus Leymann		492	0.3	0.1	167	0.1	0.0
	Gesundheitsforschung						158	0.1
	DM						155	0.1
	Die Humanisten						143	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						138	0.1	0.1
	DKP						45	0.0
	SGP						14	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,924			1,237
Total valid votes				155,017			155,704
Turnout				156,941	76.0	3.0
	SPD hold		Majority	13,882	9.0	0.4

Federal election (2013): Bochum 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 Axel Schäfer		66,851	44.2	0.9	58,766	38.6	2.3
	CDU	Norbert Lammert		53,861	35.6	4.7	46,448	30.5	5.7
	Left	Sevim Dağdelen		10,331	6.8	2.9	12,022	7.9	2.9
	Greens	Frithjof Schmidt		10,323	6.8	1.6	14,667	9.6	2.2
	AfD						5,820	3.8
	Pirates	Christina Worm		4,608	3.0		3,903	2.6	0.6
	NPD	Claus Cremer		2,832	1.9	0.4	1,916	1.3	0.1
	FDP	Dennis Rademacher		2,069	1.4	4.3	5,862	3.9	6.9
	PARTEI						678	0.4
	PRO						374	0.2
	FW						286	0.2
	Volksabstimmung						245	0.2	0.1
	ÖDP						237	0.2	0.1
	BIG						196	0.1
	Nichtwahler						187	0.1
	REP						170	0.1	0.1
	MLPD	Vesna Buljevic		290	0.2	0.0	145	0.1	0.0
	Party of Reason						71	0.1
	RRP						69	0.0	0.1
	Die Rechte						48	0.0
	BüSo						36	0.0	0.0
	PSG						36	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,865			1,848
Total valid votes				151,165			152,182
Turnout				154,030	73.0	1.3
	SPD hold		Majority	12,990	8.6	3.8

Federal election (2009): Bochum 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 Axel Schäfer		65,810	43.3	12.3	55,224	36.3	12.9
	CDU	Norbert Lammert		47,030	31.0	1.0	37,763	24.8	0.4
	Left	Sevim Dağdelen		14,741	9.7	4.1	16,442	10.8	3.8
	Greens	Frithjof Schmidt		12,775	8.4	3.3	18,094	11.9	2.6
	FDP	Markus Selzener		8,578	5.6	3.3	16,390	10.8	4.1
	Pirates						2,943	1.9
	NPD	Claus Cremer		2,268	1.5	0.4	1,796	1.2	0.3
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,171	0.8	0.2
	FAMILIE						608	0.4	0.0
	RENTNER						538	0.4
	REP						360	0.2	0.0
	RRP						214	0.1
	MLPD	Annegret Gärtner-Leymann		259	0.2	0.0	126	0.1	0.0
	Volksabstimmung						126	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						119	0.1
	DVU						101	0.1
	BüSo	Stephan Hochstein		486	0.3		100	0.1	0.0
	Centre						57	0.0	0.0
	PSG						49	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,853			1,579
Total valid votes				151,947			152,221
Turnout				153,800	71.7	7.7
	SPD hold		Majority	18,780	12.3	13.3