Oberhausen – Wesel III

Oberhausen – Wesel III 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 116. It is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the city of Oberhausen and a small part of the Wesel district.

116 Oberhausen – Wesel III
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Oberhausen – Wesel III in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	278,100 (2019)
Electorate	199,156 (2021)
Major settlements	Oberhausen
Area	124.8 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	SPD
Member	Dirk Vöpel
Elected	2013, 2017, 2021

Oberhausen – Wesel III was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Dirk Vöpel of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Geography

Oberhausen – Wesel III is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the independent city of Oberhausen and the Dinslaken municipality from Wesel district.

History

Oberhausen – Wesel III was created in 1949, then known as Oberhausen. It acquired its current name in the 2002 election. In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 28 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 87. From 1965 through 1976, it was number 85. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 86. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 118. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 117. From the 2025 election, it has been number 116.

Originally, the constituency comprised only the city of Oberhausen. In the 2002 election, it acquired the municipality of Dinslaken from Wesel district.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	28	Oberhausen	Oberhausen city
1953	87
1957
1961
1965	85
1969
1972
1976
1980	86
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	118	Oberhausen – Wesel III	Oberhausen city Wesel district (only Dinslaken municipality)
2005
2009
2013	117
2017
2021
2025	116

Members

The constituency has been held by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) continuously since 1961. It was first represented by Martin Heix of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1949 to 1953. In the 1953 election, the CDU supported Centre Party candidate Johannes Brockmann, who became the first and last candidate of his party to win a constituency in the Bundestag. The alliance was dissolved before the 1957 election, and former member Heix regained the constituency for the CDU. He was re-elected in 1961. Luise Albertz of the SPD was elected in 1965 and served a single term. Fellow SPD member Erich Meinike then served until 1983. He was succeeded by Dieter Schanz from 1983 to 1998, followed by Wolfgang Grotthaus from 2002 to 2009. Michael Groschek was representative for a single term from 2009 to 2013. Dirk Vöpel was elected in 2013, and re-elected in 2017 and 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Martin Heix	CDU	29.0
	1953	Johannes Brockmann	ZP	47.2
	1957	Martin Heix	CDU	54.3
	1961			45.4
	1965	Luise Albertz	SPD	52.6
	1969	Erich Meinike	SPD	54.0
	1972			62.3
	1976			58.8
	1980			59.9
	1983	Dieter Schanz	SPD	57.5
	1987			59.1
	1990			55.5
	1994			59.3
	1998	Wolfgang Grotthaus	SPD	65.3
	2002			61.8
	2005			58.2
	2009	Michael Groschek	SPD	44.6
	2013	Dirk Vöpel	SPD	45.1
	2017			38.5
	2021			38.8

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Oberhausen – Wesel III
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 Dirk Vöpel		55,790	38.8	0.3	53,034	36.8	3.8
	CDU	Marie-Luise Dött		32,277	22.5	6.6	30,770	21.4	4.9
	Greens	Stefanie Weyland		17,171	11.9	6.3	17,945	12.5	6.9
	AfD	Olaf Wilhelm		13,601	9.5	2.8	13,099	9.1	3.4
	FDP	Roman Müller-Böhm		10,132	7.0	0.7	13,573	9.4	0.6
	PARTEI	Hans-Joachim Sommers		6,464	4.5		2,199	1.5	0.7
	Left	Sascha H. Wagner		4,908	3.4	4.2	5,613	3.9	4.4
	Human Environment Animal Protection						2,473	1.7	0.8
	Team Todenhöfer						1,113	0.8
	dieBasis	Ralf Wosnek		1,434	1.0		1,064	0.7
	FW	Guido Horn		1,378	1.0		847	0.6	0.3
	Pirates						515	0.4	0.2
	Volt						357	0.2
	LIEBE						209	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						201	0.1	0.0
	NPD						182	0.1	0.2
	LfK						167	0.1
	V-Partei3	Simon Thomas		454	0.3		154	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						100	0.1	0.0
	Humanists						87	0.1	0.0
	Bündnis C						74	0.1
	MLPD	Erhan Aktürk		145	0.1	0.1	71	0.0	0.0
	du.						54	0.0
	PdF						45	0.0
	DKP						28	0.0	0.0
	LKR						22	0.0
	SGP						20	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,478			1,216
Total valid votes				143,754			144,016
Turnout				145,232	72.9	0.5
	SPD hold		Majority	23,513	16.3	6.9

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Oberhausen – Wesel III
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 Dirk Vöpel		56,987	38.5	6.6	49,165	33.0	8.3
	CDU	Marie-Luise Dött		43,077	29.1	3.2	39,085	26.3	3.8
	AfD	Uwe Kamann		18,197	12.3		18,560	12.5	8.3
	Left	Niema Movassat		11,331	7.6	0.3	12,373	8.3	0.3
	FDP	Roman Müller-Böhm		9,357	6.3	4.7	14,890	10.0	6.7
	Greens	Patrick Voss		8,349	5.6	2.2	8,228	5.5	1.1
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,422	1.0
	PARTEI						1,284	0.9	0.5
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						942	0.6
	Pirates						795	0.5	1.9
	DIE VIOLETTEN	Karin Schäfer		554	0.4
	NPD						508	0.3	1.7
	FW						362	0.2	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						166	0.1	0.1
	V-Partei³						150	0.1
	MLPD	Wolf Dieter Rochlitz		269	0.2		146	0.1	0.0
	Gesundheitsforschung						143	0.1
	ÖDP						133	0.1	0.0
	DiB						131	0.1
	BGE						122	0.1
	DM						115	0.1
	Die Humanisten						86	0.1
	DKP						31	0.0
	SGP						24	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,191			1,451
Total valid votes				148,121			148,861
Turnout				150,312	73.4	2.7
	SPD hold		Majority	13,910	9.4	3.4

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Oberhausen – Wesel III
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	Dirk Vöpel		65,442	45.1	0.5	60,222	41.3	1.9
	CDU	Marie-Luise Dött		46,889	32.3	4.9	43,882	30.1	5.7
	Greens	Bärbel Höhn		11,396	7.8	2.3	9,604	6.6	2.5
	Left	Niema Movassat		10,627	7.3	2.3	11,732	8.0	3.1
	AfD						6,145	4.2
	Pirates	Andreas Ronig		4,440	3.1		3,579	2.5	0.9
	NPD	Timo Diemer		4,001	2.8	0.9	2,938	2.0	0.6
	FDP	Dorothea Dresenkamp		2,415	1.7	4.7	4,802	3.3	7.0
	PRO						641	0.4
	PARTEI						525	0.4
	Volksabstimmung						293	0.2	0.1
	REP						234	0.2	0.2
	FW						225	0.2
	Nichtwahler						168	0.1
	ÖDP						167	0.1	0.0
	BIG						155	0.1
	Party of Reason						116	0.1
	RRP						104	0.1	0.1
	MLPD						92	0.1	0.0
	BüSo						49	0.0	0.0
	Die Rechte						47	0.0
	PSG						47	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,469			1,912
Total valid votes				145,210			145,767
Turnout				147,679	70.7	0.9
	SPD hold		Majority	18,553	12.8	4.4

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Oberhausen – Wesel III
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	Michael Groschek		65,189	44.6	13.6	57,689	39.4	14.5
	CDU	Marie-Luise Dött		40,001	27.4	1.0	35,712	24.4	1.1
	Greens	Bärbel Höhn		14,772	10.1	4.2	13,352	9.1	2.2
	Left	Niema Movassat		14,008	9.6	4.0	16,311	11.1	4.5
	FDP	Gerald Schädlich		9,231	6.3	3.7	15,049	10.3	4.0
	Pirates						2,325	1.6
	NPD	Wolfgang Georg Duda		2,643	1.8	0.6	2,011	1.4	0.4
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,109	0.8	0.2
	FAMILIE						740	0.5	0.1
	RENTNER						667	0.5
	REP						480	0.3	0.0
	RRP						211	0.1
	DVU						135	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						119	0.1	0.0
	MLPD	Reinhardt Meyer		282	0.2	0.0	118	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						106	0.1
	Centre						93	0.1	0.0
	BüSo						43	0.0	0.0
	PSG						35	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,982			1,803
Total valid votes				146,126			146,305
Turnout				148,108	69.8	8.1
	SPD hold		Majority	25,188	17.2	14.6