Wesel I is an electoral constituency (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

. It elects one member via

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 112. It is located in the

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

region of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, comprising most of the district of

Wesel Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel (district), Wesel district. Geography Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine. Division of the city Suburbs of Wesel i ...

. Wesel I was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. From 2021 to 2025, it has been represented by Rainer Keller of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD). Since 2025 it is been represented by

Sascha van Beek Sascha van Beek (born 16 June 1983) is a German politician who was elected as a member of the Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. ...

Geography

Wesel I is located in the Ruhr region of

. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Wesel district excluding the municipalities of

Dinslaken Dinslaken () is a town in the Wesel (district), district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is known for its harness racing track, its now closed Coal mining, coal mine in Dinslaken-Lohberg, Lohberg and its wealthy neighborhoods ''Hi ...

Moers Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German List of cities and towns in Germany, city on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel (distric ...

, and

Neukirchen-Vluyn Neukirchen-Vluyn () is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 5 km west of Moers, and 15 km north of Krefeld. Mayors Mayors since 1836: * 1836–1875 Gustav Haarbeck * 1875–1 ...

History

Wesel I was created in 1949, then known as ''Rees – Dinslaken''. From 1965 through 1976, it was named ''Dinslaken''. It acquired its current name in the 1980 election. In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 27 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 86. From 1965 through 1976, it was number 84. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 82. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 114. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 113. From the 2025 election, it has been number 112. Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Rees and Dinslaken. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it comprised the municipalities of Dinslaken,

Hamminkeln Hamminkeln () is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Issel, approximately 10 kilometers north of Wesel and 15 km south of Bocholt. It is twinned with Sedgefield, United Kingdom ...

Hünxe Hünxe () is a municipality in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is part of the Rhine-Waal euroregion Geography Hünxe is located approximately 10 km east of Wesel and 9 km north of Dinslaken. The neighbouri ...

Schermbeck Schermbeck is a municipality in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Schermbeck is situated near the river Lippe, approximately 20 km east of Wesel, and 8 km north-west of Dorsten. Its maximum dilatatio ...

Voerde Voerde () is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approximately south-east of Wesel, and 20 km north of Duisburg. City structure According to art. 1(3) of the ...

, and

Xanten Xanten (, Low Rhenish: ''Santen'') is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the district of Wesel. Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park, one of the largest archaeological open air museums in the ...

from the district of Wesel. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Members

The constituency was first represented by Franz Etzel of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1949 to 1953. He was succeeded by

Heinrich Lübke Karl Heinrich Lübke (; 14 October 1894 – 6 April 1972) was a German politician, who served as president of West Germany from 1959 to 1969. He suffered from deteriorating health towards the end of his career and is known for a series of emba ...

until 1961,

Arnold Verhoeven Arnold may refer to: People * Arnold (given name), a masculine given name * Arnold (surname), a German and English surname Places Australia * Arnold, Victoria, a small town in the Australian state of Victoria Canada * Arnold, Nova Scotia U ...

until 1965, and Konrad Kraske until 1969. Udo Hein of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was elected in 1969 and served a single term; Uwe Jens of the SPD retained the constituency in 1972 and served until 2002. Fellow SPD member

Hans-Ulrich Krüger Hans-Ulrich or Hans Ulrich is a German masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: *Hans Ulrich Aschenborn (born 1947), animal painter in Southern Africa * Hans-Ulrich Back (1896–1976), German general in the Wehrmacht during World ...

served from then until 2009, when Sabine Weiss of the CDU was elected representative. Rainer Keller was elected for the SPD in 2021. Sascha van Beek was elected for the CDU in 2025.

Election results

2025 election

2021 election

2017 election

2013 election

2009 election

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wesel I Federal electoral districts in North Rhine-Westphalia 1949 establishments in West Germany Constituencies established in 1949 Wesel (district)