Berlin Lichtenberg (electoral district)
Encyclopedia
Berlin Lichtenberg is one of the 299 single member constituencies
used for the German parliament, the Bundestag
. Located in East Berlin
, the constituency was created for the 2002 election and all elections to date have been won by The Left Party or their predecessors, the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). Although the constituency has proved to be a safe seat for The Left, its creation proved controversial as it combined two of their best areas in Berlin into one constituency, resulting in the reduction of their number of seats from four to two and consequently costing them a further 15 national list MPs as they had failed to meet the qualifying threshold of winning three constituencies.
of Lichtenberg
. This borough, a merger of the former boroughs of Lichtenberg and Hohenschönhausen
, was created by the 2001 administrative reform.
Historically the two boroughs had been in different constituencies. Hohenschönhausen had been associated with Pankow
in constituency number 258, Berlin Pankow – Hohenschönhausen – Weissensee II, which was used for the 1990 election, and constituency 261 Berlin Hohenschönhausen – Pankow – Weissensee which was used for the 1994 and 1998 elections. Lichtenberg had been divided between the constituencies of Berlin Friedrichshain – Treptow – Lichtenberg I and Berlin Köpenick – Lichtenberg II for the 1990 election. It was then united in the Berlin Friedrichshain - Lichtenberg constituency for the 1994 and 1998 elections.
The boundary changes which took effect for the 2002 election combined the Hohenschönhausen and Lichtenberg areas while the redrawn Pankow constituency
gained the western section of Prenzlauer Berg from the abolished Berlin Mitte - Prenzlauer Berg constituency. Friedrichshain was combined with Kreuzberg, part of the former West Berlin
where the PDS had historically been weak. These boundary changes proved significant as the PDS had won the Pankow constituency by just 3,293 votes in 1998 and out of the 23 Berlin boroughs then in existence, Hohenschönhausen had produced their fourth highest vote share, 41.4% against the SPD vote of 31.5%. In contrast, in the newly added Prenzlauer Berg section, SPD had led PDS in the Prenzlauer Berg borough as a whole by 38.2% to 34.0%1998 Berlin election results, Endgültiges Ergebnis, in Grafiken, Grafik 8 Controversy arose as figures published by the head of the German Statistics office suggested that the PDS would have won two seats in Berlin in 2002 under the redrawn boundaries instead of the four that they had actually won.
All elections to date have been won by Gesine Lötzsch, the candidate of the Left Party or former PDS, with the SPD in second place.
. Voters have two votes, one for a constituency MP and one for a regional list to elect representatives for the whole of Berlin city. Elections for the Lichtenberg constituency take place using the First past the post system.
Out of a total electorate of 204,762, the total number of votes cast was 132,796 (64.9%) of which 2,383 votes were invalid.
Source:
Out of a total electorate of 200,917, the total number of votes cast was 149,098 (74.2%) of which 2,533 votes were invalid.
First votes for other parties were: BüSo 1434 (1.0%)
Out of a total electorate of 199,297, the total number of votes cast was 145,915 (73.2%) of which 2,106 votes were invalid.
Electoral district
An electoral district is a distinct territorial subdivision for holding a separate election for one or more seats in a legislative body...
used for the German parliament, the Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
. Located in East Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, the constituency was created for the 2002 election and all elections to date have been won by The Left Party or their predecessors, the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). Although the constituency has proved to be a safe seat for The Left, its creation proved controversial as it combined two of their best areas in Berlin into one constituency, resulting in the reduction of their number of seats from four to two and consequently costing them a further 15 national list MPs as they had failed to meet the qualifying threshold of winning three constituencies.
History and boundaries
The constituency, numbered constituency 87 by the German electoral authorities, contains the whole of the Berlin boroughBoroughs and localities of Berlin
Berlin is both a city and one of Germany’s federal states. It is made up of twelve boroughs , each with its own borough government, though all boroughs are subject to Berlin’s city and state government.-History:Each borough is made up of several officially recognized localities...
of Lichtenberg
Lichtenberg
Lichtenberg is the eleventh borough of Berlin, Germany. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it absorbed the former borough of Hohenschönhausen.-Overview:...
. This borough, a merger of the former boroughs of Lichtenberg and Hohenschönhausen
Hohenschönhausen
Hohenschönhausen was a borough of Berlin, that existed from 1985 until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. It was composed by the localities of Alt-Hohenschönhausen , Neu-Hohenschönhausen, Malchow, Wartenberg and Falkenberg.-Overview:...
, was created by the 2001 administrative reform.
Historically the two boroughs had been in different constituencies. Hohenschönhausen had been associated with Pankow
Pankow
Pankow is the third borough of Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee; the resulting borough retained the name Pankow.- Overview :...
in constituency number 258, Berlin Pankow – Hohenschönhausen – Weissensee II, which was used for the 1990 election, and constituency 261 Berlin Hohenschönhausen – Pankow – Weissensee which was used for the 1994 and 1998 elections. Lichtenberg had been divided between the constituencies of Berlin Friedrichshain – Treptow – Lichtenberg I and Berlin Köpenick – Lichtenberg II for the 1990 election. It was then united in the Berlin Friedrichshain - Lichtenberg constituency for the 1994 and 1998 elections.
The boundary changes which took effect for the 2002 election combined the Hohenschönhausen and Lichtenberg areas while the redrawn Pankow constituency
Berlin Pankow (electoral district)
thumb|right|300px|Location of constituency in BerlinBerlin Pankow is one of the 299 single member constituencies used for the German parliament, the Bundestag. Located in north-east Berlin the constituency was created in its current form for the 2002 election...
gained the western section of Prenzlauer Berg from the abolished Berlin Mitte - Prenzlauer Berg constituency. Friedrichshain was combined with Kreuzberg, part of the former West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
where the PDS had historically been weak. These boundary changes proved significant as the PDS had won the Pankow constituency by just 3,293 votes in 1998 and out of the 23 Berlin boroughs then in existence, Hohenschönhausen had produced their fourth highest vote share, 41.4% against the SPD vote of 31.5%. In contrast, in the newly added Prenzlauer Berg section, SPD had led PDS in the Prenzlauer Berg borough as a whole by 38.2% to 34.0%1998 Berlin election results, Endgültiges Ergebnis, in Grafiken, Grafik 8 Controversy arose as figures published by the head of the German Statistics office suggested that the PDS would have won two seats in Berlin in 2002 under the redrawn boundaries instead of the four that they had actually won.
All elections to date have been won by Gesine Lötzsch, the candidate of the Left Party or former PDS, with the SPD in second place.
Profile
The number of residents with German citizenship was 91.9%, a figure above the Berlin average of 86.6% and the fourth highest figure for any Berlin constituency. 31.3% of residents had qualifications which met the requirements for University entry.Electoral system
Elections in Germany take place using the Additional Member SystemAdditional Member System
The Additional Member System is the term used in the United Kingdom for the mixed member proportional representation voting system used in Scotland, Wales and the London Assembly....
. Voters have two votes, one for a constituency MP and one for a regional list to elect representatives for the whole of Berlin city. Elections for the Lichtenberg constituency take place using the First past the post system.
2009 election
| Party | Constituency results | List results | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % share | +/- | Votes | % share | +/- | ||
| The Left The Left (Germany) The Left , also commonly referred to as the Left Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The Left is the most left-wing party of the five represented in the Bundestag.... |
Gesine Lötzsch Gesine Lötzsch Gesine Lötzsch [geˈsinə løːtʃ] is a German politician of the left-wing party Die Linke. She was elected president of Die Linke in 2010 .... |
61,905 | 47.5 | +4.6 | 53,861 | 41.2 | 5.7 | |
| Social Democratic Party of Germany Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
23,992 | 18.4 | -13.7 | 22,591 | 17.3 | -17.1 | ||
| Christian Democratic Union Christian Democratic Union (Germany) The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum... |
22,555 | 17.3 | +3.6 | 21,345 | 16.3 | +3.7 | ||
| Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir... |
9,627 | 7.4 | +3.0 | 11,478 | 8.8 | +2.4 | ||
| Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... |
5,044 | 3.9 | +1.1 | 8,673 | 6.6 | 1.9 | ||
| National Democratic Party of Germany National Democratic Party of Germany The National Democratic Party of Germany – The People's Union , is a far right German nationalist party. It was founded in 1964 a successor to the German Reich Party . Party statements self-identify as Germany's "only significant patriotic force"... |
4,468 | 3.4 | +0.2 | 3,608 | 2.8 | 0.0 | ||
| Others | 2,822 | 2.2 | N/A | |||||
Out of a total electorate of 204,762, the total number of votes cast was 132,796 (64.9%) of which 2,383 votes were invalid.
Source:
2005 election
| Party | Constituency results | List results | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % share | +/- | Votes | % share | +/- | ||
| The Left Party.PDS | Gesine Lötzsch Gesine Lötzsch Gesine Lötzsch [geˈsinə løːtʃ] is a German politician of the left-wing party Die Linke. She was elected president of Die Linke in 2010 .... |
62,824 | 42.9 | +3.2 | 52,217 | 35.5 | +6.2 | |
| Social Democratic Party of Germany Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
Andreas Kohler | 47,112 | 32.1 | -0.4 | 50,555 | 34.4 | -4.3 | |
| Christian Democratic Union Christian Democratic Union (Germany) The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum... |
Roland Violence | 20,138 | 13.7 | -3.2 | 18,548 | 12.6 | -3.5 | |
| Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir... |
Claudia Hämmerling | 6,373 | 4.3 | +0.3 | 9,345 | 6.4 | +1.0 | |
| Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... |
Holger Schwabe | 4,002 | 2.7 | -1.0 | 6,909 | 4.7 | +0.5 | |
| National Democratic Party of Germany National Democratic Party of Germany The National Democratic Party of Germany – The People's Union , is a far right German nationalist party. It was founded in 1964 a successor to the German Reich Party . Party statements self-identify as Germany's "only significant patriotic force"... |
Claus Schade | 4,682 | 3.2 | +0.6 | 4,042 | 2.8 | +1.3 | |
| Others | 1,434 | 1.0 | N/A | |||||
Out of a total electorate of 200,917, the total number of votes cast was 149,098 (74.2%) of which 2,533 votes were invalid.
First votes for other parties were: BüSo 1434 (1.0%)
2002 election
| Party | Constituency results | List results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % share | Votes | % share | ||
| The Left Party.PDS | Gesine Lötzsch Gesine Lötzsch Gesine Lötzsch [geˈsinə løːtʃ] is a German politician of the left-wing party Die Linke. She was elected president of Die Linke in 2010 .... |
56,981 | 39.6 | |||
| Social Democratic Party of Germany Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
Andreas Kohler | 46,780 | 32.5 | |||
| Christian Democratic Union Christian Democratic Union (Germany) The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum... |
Georg Eickhoff | 24,330 | 16.9 | |||
| Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir... |
Claudia Hämmerling | 5,857 | 4.1 | |||
| Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... |
Stefan Grinding | 5,388 | 3.7 | |||
| National Democratic Party of Germany National Democratic Party of Germany The National Democratic Party of Germany – The People's Union , is a far right German nationalist party. It was founded in 1964 a successor to the German Reich Party . Party statements self-identify as Germany's "only significant patriotic force"... |
Albrecht Reither | 3,787 | 2.6 | |||
| Others | 686 | 0.5 | ||||
Out of a total electorate of 199,297, the total number of votes cast was 145,915 (73.2%) of which 2,106 votes were invalid.