Paderborn (electoral district)

Paderborn 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 136. It is located in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the Paderborn district.

136 Paderborn
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Paderborn – Gütersloh III in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	307,800 (2019)
Electorate	231,534 (2021)
Major settlements	Paderborn Delbrück Salzkotten
Area	1,246.8 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CDU
Member	Carsten Linnemann
Elected	2009, 2013, 2017, 2021

Paderborn was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2009, it has been represented by Carsten Linnemann of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Geography

Paderborn is located in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it is coterminous with the Paderborn district.

History

Paderborn was created in 1949, then known as Paderborn – Wiedenbrück. From 1980 through 2009, it was named Paderborn. In 2013 and 2017, it was named Paderborn – Gütersloh III. From the 2021 election, it has again been named Paderborn. In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 45 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 104. From 1965 through 1976, it was number 106. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 107. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 138. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 137. From the 2025 election, it has been number 136.

Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Paderborn and Wiedenbrück. From 1965 through 1976, it comprised the Padern and Wiedenbrück districts without the municipality of Gütersloh. From 1980 through 2002, it was coterminous with the Padern district. In 2013 and 2017, it also contained the municipality of Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock from the Gütersloh district. Ahead of the 2021 election, Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock was transferred away from the constituency, and it has again been coterminous with the Paderborn district.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	45	Paderborn – Wiedenbrück	Paderborn district Wiedenbrück district
1953	104
1957
1961
1965	106		Paderborn district Wiedenbrück district (excluding Gütersloh municipality)
1969
1972
1976
1980	107	Paderborn	Paderborn district
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	138
2005			Paderborn district Gütersloh district (only Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock municipality)
2009
2013	137	Paderborn – Gütersloh III
2017
2021		Paderborn	Paderborn district
2025	136

Members

Due to Paderborn being strongly Catholic, the constituency is considered a safe seat for Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and has been held continuously by them since its creation. It was first represented by Maria Niggemeyer from 1949 to 1957, followed by Rainer Barzel until 1980. Heinrich Pohlmeier then served three terms. Friedhelm Ost was representative from 1990 to 2002, when he was succeeded by Gerhard Wächter, who served until 2009. Carsten Linnemann was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Maria Niggemeyer	CDU	44.2
	1953			69.3
	1957	Rainer Barzel	CDU	68.2
	1961			64.9
	1965			70.3
	1969			66.8
	1972			63.9
	1976			66.6
	1980	Heinrich Pohlmeier	CDU	63.9
	1983			69.0
	1987			61.4
	1990	Friedhelm Ost	CDU	58.2
	1994			56.9
	1998			53.9
	2002	Gerhard Wächter	CDU	53.6
	2005			54.9
	2009	Carsten Linnemann	CDU	52.1
	2013			59.1
	2017			53.3
	2021			47.9

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Paderborn
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	%	±%
	CDU	Y Carsten Linnemann		84,669	47.9	5.7	58,419	33.0	7.7
	SPD	Burkhard Blienert		33,513	19.0	0.7	39,089	22.1	3.4
	Greens	Jörg Schlüter		22,926	13.0	6.9	26,981	15.2	7.8
	AfD	Günter Koch		13,152	7.4	1.6	14,360	8.1	1.8
	FDP	Roze Özmen		9,845	5.6	0.2	21,877	12.4	1.0
	Left	Martina Schu		5,532	3.1	2.1	5,858	3.3	3.4
	PARTEI	Rosanna Martens		3,459	2.0		1,925	1.1	0.4
	dieBasis	Anna Löper		2,298	1.3		2,195	1.2
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,863	1.1	0.5
	FW	Günter Arlt		1,443	0.8		1,137	0.6	0.4
	Pirates						600	0.3	0.1
	Team Todenhöfer						523	0.3
	Volt						495	0.3
	Bündnis C						310	0.2
	LIEBE						220	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						191	0.1	0.0
	LfK						160	0.1
	Humanists						148	0.1	0.0
	NPD						135	0.1	0.1
	ÖDP						134	0.1	0.0
	V-Partei3						108	0.1	0.1
	du.						79	0.0
	PdF						62	0.0
	LKR						37	0.0
	MLPD						28	0.0	0.0
	DKP						26	0.0	0.0
	SGP						22	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,540			1,395
Total valid votes				176,837			176,982
Turnout				178,377	77.0	2.0
	CDU hold		Majority	51,156	28.9	5.0

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Paderborn – Gütersloh 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	%	±%
	CDU	Y Carsten Linnemann		99,004	53.3	5.8	75,628	40.7	10.6
	SPD	Burkhard Blienert		36,983	19.9	3.3	35,055	18.9	4.5
	AfD	Andreas Kemper		16,891	9.1	7.1	18,484	9.9	6.3
	Greens	Hartmut Oster		11,116	6.0	0.6	13,612	7.3	0.2
	FDP	Nicola Claudia Hagemeister		10,228	5.5	3.6	24,976	13.4	8.4
	Left	Siegfried Nowak		9,554	5.1	1.1	12,292	6.6	1.4
	PARTEI						1,266	0.7	0.4
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,084	0.6
	Pirates	Sabine Martiny		1,821	1.0	1.2	814	0.4	1.7
	FW						488	0.3	0.0
	DM						309	0.2
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						301	0.2
	NPD						294	0.2	0.6
	ÖDP						223	0.1	0.0
	V-Partei³						212	0.1
	DiB						191	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						172	0.1	0.1
	BGE						162	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						162	0.1
	Die Humanisten						110	0.1
	MLPD						39	0.0	0.0
	SGP						13	0.0	0.0
	DKP						10	0.0
Informal votes				1,882			1,582
Total valid votes				185,597			185,897
Turnout				187,479	75.2	3.9
	CDU hold		Majority	62,021	33.4	2.5

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Paderborn – Gütersloh 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	%	±%
	CDU	Y Carsten Linnemann		102,867	59.1	7.0	89,394	51.3	8.3
	SPD	Burkhard Blienert		40,429	23.2	2.1	40,630	23.3	2.8
	Greens	Kerstin Haarmann		11,254	6.5	0.6	12,445	7.1	1.4
	Left	Siegfried Nowak		6,969	4.0	1.5	9,065	5.2	0.9
	Pirates	Sabine Martiny		3,800	2.2		3,682	2.1	0.1
	AfD	Ramón Hansmeyer		3,521	2.0		6,296	3.6
	FDP	Heinz Heineke		3,296	1.9	7.1	8,774	5.0	11.9
	NPD	Martin Wibbeke		1,442	0.8	0.2	1,383	0.8	0.0
	FW						500	0.3
	Independent	Hans Josef Tegethof		468	0.3
	PARTEI						438	0.3
	ÖDP						293	0.2	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						257	0.1	0.1
	PRO						248	0.1
	Nichtwahler						187	0.1
	REP						132	0.1	0.1
	Party of Reason						126	0.1
	BIG						119	0.1
	RRP						76	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						31	0.0	0.0
	PSG						31	0.0	0.0
	Die Rechte						24	0.0
	MLPD						17	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,103			2,001
Total valid votes				174,046			174,148
Turnout				176,149	71.3	0.4
	CDU hold		Majority	62,438	35.9	9.1

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Paderborn
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	%	±%
	CDU	Carsten Linnemann		88,754	52.1	2.8	73,354	43.0	6.9
	SPD	Ute Berg		43,120	25.3	6.0	34,925	20.5	7.1
	FDP	Wolfgang Klare		15,282	9.0	4.6	28,805	16.9	6.8
	Greens	Stefan Schwan		12,001	7.0	3.1	14,619	8.6	2.9
	Left	Udo Strüker		9,436	5.5	2.3	10,380	6.1	2.4
	Pirates						3,478	2.0
	FAMILIE						1,111	0.7	0.2
	NPD	Eduard Plischka		1,757	1.0	0.1	1,340	0.8	0.0
	Human Environment Animal Protection						810	0.5	0.1
	RENTNER						467	0.3
	REP						377	0.2	0.0
	ÖDP						184	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						149	0.1	0.0
	RRP						145	0.1
	DVU						116	0.1
	Centre						113	0.1	0.0
	PSG						28	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						26	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						24	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,208			2,107
Total valid votes				170,350			170,451
Turnout				172,558	70.9	7.9
	CDU hold		Majority	45,634	26.8	3.3