Cottbus – Spree-Neiße

Cottbus – Spree-Neiße 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 64. It is located in southeastern Brandenburg, comprising the independent city of Cottbus and the district of Spree-Neiße.^[1]

64 Cottbus – Spree-Neiße
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Cottbus – Spree-Neiße in 2025
State	Brandenburg
Population	213,400 (2019)
Electorate	171,267 (2021)
Major settlements	Cottbus Spremberg
Area	1,822.6 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1990
Party	AfD
Member	Lars Schieske
Elected	2025

Cottbus – Spree-Neiße was created for the inaugural 1990 federal election after German reunification. From 2021 to 2025, it has been represented by Maja Wallstein of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).^[2] Since 2025 it is been represented by Lars Schieske of the AfD.

Geography

Cottbus – Spree-Neiße is located in eastern Brandenburg. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the independent city of Cottbus and the district of Spree-Neiße.^[1]

History

Cottbus – Spree-Neiße was created after German reunification in 1990, then known as Cottbus – Guben – Forst. It acquired its current name in the 2002 election. In the 1990 through 1998 elections, it was constituency 280 in the numbering system. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 64. In the 2009 election, it was number 65. Since the 2013 election, it has been number 64.

Originally, the constituency comprised the independent city of Cottbus and the districts of Guben and Forst. It acquired its current configuration and borders in the 2002 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1990	280	Cottbus – Guben – Forst	Cottbus city Guben district Forst district
1994
1998
2002	64	Cottbus – Spree-Neiße	Cottbus city Spree-Neiße district
2005
2009	65
2013	64
2017
2021
2025

Members

The constituency was first represented by Michael Wonneberger of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1990 to 1994. Werner Labsch of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was elected in 1994 and served until 2002, followed by Wilfried Schreck from 2002 to 2005 and Steffen Reiche from 2005 to 2009. Wolfgang Nešković of The Left won the constituency in 2009. After leaving the party and becoming an independent in 2012, he was defeated seeking re-election in 2013. Klaus-Peter Schulze of the CDU was elected in 2013. Maja Wallstein regained the constituency for the SPD in 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1990	Michael Wonneberger	CDU	40.2
	1994	Werner Labsch	SPD	41.5
	1998			43.5
	2002	Wilfried Schreck	SPD	43.4
	2005	Steffen Reiche	SPD	37.6
	2009	Wolfgang Nešković[a]	LINKE	30.0
			Ind.
	2013	Klaus-Peter Schulze	CDU	36.0
	2017			28.4
	2021	Maja Wallstein	SPD	27.6
	2025	Lars Schieske	AfD	42.0

Election results

2025 election

Federal election (2025): Cottbus – Spree-Neiße[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	%	±%
	AfD	Lars Schieske		54,981	42.0	16.3	51,313	39.1	14.8
	SPD	N Maja Wallstein		30,548	23.3	4.3	18,348	14.0	14.6
	CDU	Michael Rabes		22,712	17.3	0.7	20,932	15.9	2.1
	BSW						15,050	11.5	New
	Left	Christian Görke		12,819	9.8	1.0	12,144	9.2	1.6
	Greens						5,275	4.0	1.5
	FDP	Robert Kellner		3,559	2.7	6.3	4,249	3.2	7.5
	FW	Carsten Kepsch		2,882	2.2	0.5	1,614	1.2	1.0
	PARTEI	Robert Hanschke		2,257	1.7	0.6	1,235	0.9	0.3
	Volt	Florian Thiemann		1,150	0.9	New	742	0.6	0.3
	BD						408	0.3	New
	MLPD						92	0.1	0.0
Informal votes				1,470			976
Total valid votes				130,908			131,402
Turnout				132,378	79.8	4.8
	AfD gain from SPD		Majority	24,433	18.7	N/A

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Cottbus – Spree-Neiße[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	Maja Wallstein		34,882	27.6	10.6	36,098	28.5	13.4
	AfD	Daniel Münschke		32,530	25.7	0.5	30,729	24.3	2.6
	CDU	Markus Niggemann		21,072	16.7	11.7	17,502	13.8	10.3
	FDP	Laura Schieritz		11,400	9.0	3.3	13,603	10.7	3.1
	Left	Christian Görke		11,156	8.8	6.9	9,670	7.6	8.9
	Greens	Heide Schinowsky		4,662	3.7	0.4	6,939	5.5	2.3
	FW	Andreas Richter		3,375	2.7		2,818	2.2	1.4
	Tierschutzpartei						2,516	2.0	0.1
	PARTEI	Michael Matschke		2,943	2.3	0.1	1,593	1.3	0.2
	dieBasis	Lysann Kobbe		2,779	2.2		2,212	1.7
	Unabhängige	Ingo Weidelt		1,140	0.9		899	0.7
	NPD						423	0.3	0.8
	Pirates						392	0.3
	Volt						347	0.3
	Team Todenhöfer						276	0.2
	DKP	Gisela Vierrath		424	0.3	0.1	218	0.2	0.1
	Humanists						128	0.1
	ÖDP						123	0.1	0.1
	MLPD						79	0.1	0.0
Informal votes				1,960			1,768
Total valid votes				126,363			126,555
Turnout				128,323	74.9	1.0
	SPD gain from CDU		Majority	2,352	1.9

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Cottbus – Spree-Neiße[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	%	±%
	CDU	Y Klaus-Peter Schulze		36,855	28.4	7.5	31,366	24.1	11.6
	AfD	Marianne Spring-Räumschüssel		32,776	25.3		34,905	26.8	19.9
	SPD	Ulrich Freese		22,019	17.0	7.0	19,729	15.2	6.5
	Left	Birgit Kaufhold		20,359	15.7	4.3	21,456	16.5	6.1
	FDP	Jeff Staudacher		7,426	5.7	3.7	9,941	7.6	5.2
	Greens	Wolfgang Renner		4,319	3.3	0.7	4,093	3.1	0.4
	PARTEI	Torsten Mack		3,212	2.5	1.7	1,898	1.5
	Tierschutzpartei						2,401	1.8
	Independent	Helmut Fleischhauer		2,256	1.7
	NPD						1,437	1.1	2.0
	FW						1,106	0.9	0.2
	BGE						584	0.4
	DKP	Gisela Vierrath		501	0.4	0.2	296	0.2
	DM						488	0.4
	ÖDP						204	0.2
	MLPD						124	0.1	0.0
Informal votes				2,390			2,085
Total valid votes				129,723			130,028
Turnout				132,113	73.9	6.7
	CDU hold		Majority	4,079	3.1	8.9

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Cottbus – Spree-Neiße[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	%	±%
	CDU	Klaus-Peter Schulze		44,301	35.9	11.9	44,230	35.8	11.4
	SPD	Ulrich Freese		29,510	23.9	3.9	26,863	21.7	2.4
	Left	Birgit Wöllert		24,681	20.0	10.0	27,965	22.6	6.7
	Independent	N Wolfgang Nešković		9,999	8.1
	AfD						8,555	6.9
	NPD	Ronny Zasowk		4,929	4.0	0.1	3,897	3.2	0.1
	Greens	Wolfgang Renner		3,278	2.7	1.9	4,382	3.5	1.3
	Pirates	Sascha Kahle		2,889	2.3		2,615	2.1	0.8
	FDP	Martin Neumann		2,498	2.0	6.7	2,984	2.4	6.6
	FW						1,355	1.1
	PARTEI						901	0.7
	PRO						525	0.4
	DKP	Sebastian Zachow-Vierrath		245	0.2
	REP						204	0.2	0.1
	MLPD						138	0.1	0.0
Informal votes				2,689			2,207
Total valid votes				123,231			123,713
Turnout				125,920	67.3	2.0
	CDU gain from Left		Majority	14,791	12.0

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Cottbus – Spree-Neiße[7]
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	%	±%
	Left	Wolfgang Nešković		37,224	30.0	2.8	36,561	29.3	1.8
	SPD	N Steffen Reiche		34,529	27.9	9.8	29,999	24.1	11.8
	CDU	Mario Laurischk		29,829	24.1	2.1	30,360	24.4	4.4
	FDP	Martin Neumann		10,878	8.8	3.2	11,230	9.0	2.1
	Greens	Matthias Fobo		5,650	4.6	1.8	6,093	4.9	0.6
	NPD	Ronny Zasowk		4,806	3.9	0.4	3,765	3.0	0.4
	Pirates						3,636	2.9
	DVU						1,169	0.9
	FWD						1,055	0.8
	REP						344	0.3
	BüSo						258	0.2
	MLPD						179	0.1	0.1
Informal votes				4,218			3,530
Total valid votes				123,961			124,649
Turnout				128,179	65.3	8.1
	Left gain from SPD		Majority	2,695	2.1

Notes

1. Nešković was elected for The Left, but left the party in December 2012.