Essen II

Essen II 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 118. It is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the northeastern part of the city of Essen.^[1]

118 Essen II
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Essen II in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	246,600 (2019)
Electorate	156,298 (2017)
Major settlements	Essen (partial)
Area	67.7 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	SPD
Member	Ingo Vogel
Elected	2025

Essen II was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. From 2013 to 2025, it has been represented by Dirk Heidenblut of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).^[2] Since 2025 it is been represented by Ingo Vogel of the SPD.

Geography

Essen II is located in the Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the Stadtbezirke I (Stadtmitte/Frillendorf), V (Altenessen/Karnap/Vogelheim), VI (Zollverein), and VII (Steele/Kray) from the independent city of Essen.^[1]

History

Essen II was created in 1949. In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 31 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 90. From 1965 through 1976, it was number 88. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 89. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 120. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 119. From the 2025 election, it has been number 118.

Originally, the constituency comprised the northeastern parts of the city of Essen. From 1980 through 1998, it comprised Stadtbezirke V (Altenessen/Karnap/Vogelheim), VI (Zollverein), and VII (Steele/Kray). It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	31	Essen II	Essen city (only northeastern parts)
1953	90
1957
1961
1965	88
1969
1972
1976
1980	89		Essen city (only V (Altenessen/Karnap/Vogelheim), VI (Zollverein), and VII (Steele/Kray) Stadtbezirke)
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	120		Essen city (only I (Stadtmitte/Frillendorf), V (Altenessen/Karnap/Vogelheim), VI (Zollverein), and VII (Steele/Kray) Stadtbezirke)
2005
2009
2013	119
2017
2021
2025	118

Members

The constituency has been held continuously by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 1949. It was first represented by Karl Bergmann from 1949 to 1972, followed by Peter Reuschenbach from 1972 to 1994. Rolf Hempelmann served from 1994 to 2013. Dirk Heidenblut was elected in 2013, and re-elected in 2017 and 2021. Ingo Vogel was elected in 2025

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Karl Bergmann	SPD	38.9
	1953			47.5
	1957			52.5
	1961			53.0
	1965			59.6
	1969			62.3
	1972	Peter Reuschenbach	SPD	69.7
	1976			66.3
	1980			66.6
	1983			63.4
	1987			63.9
	1990			57.6
	1994	Rolf Hempelmann	SPD	60.8
	1998			65.3
	2002			50.9
	2005			58.4
	2009			46.1
	2013	Dirk Heidenblut	SPD	48.3
	2017			37.3
	2021			37.8
	2025	Ingo Vogel	SPD	30.3

Election results

2025 election

Federal election (2025): Essen II[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	%	±%
	SPD	Ingo Vogel		34,227	30.3	7.5	26,237	23.2	10.7
	CDU	Florian Fuchs		27,842	24.7	1.9	25,277	22.3	2.2
	AfD	Guido Reil		26,058	23.1	11.5	24,911	22.0	10.9
	Greens	Elke Zeeb		9,316	8.2	3.9	10,174	9.0	4.4
	Left	Eliseo Maugeri		10,655	9.4	5.3	12,072	10.7	6.3
	BSW						6,290	5.6
	FDP	Marcus Fischer		2,683	2.4	4.3	3,360	3.0	6.2
	Tierschutzpartei						1,871	1.7	0.2
	FW	Martin Stachowiak		1,681	1.5	0.3	529	0.5	0.1
	PARTEI					2.3	817	0.7	0.6
	Volt						700	0.6	0.3
	MLPD	Gabi Fechtner		461	0.4	0.2	158	0.1	0.0
	Team Todenhöfer						329	0.3	1.4
	PdF						181	0.2	0.1
	dieBasis					1.1	161	0.1	0.7
	BD						137	0.1
	MERA25						66	0.1
	Values						43	0.0
	Pirates								0.3
	Gesundheitsforschung								0.1
	Humanists								0.1
	Bündnis C								0.1
	ÖDP								0.1
	SGP							0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,243			846
Total valid votes				112,923			113,320
Turnout				114,166	75.0	7.5
	SPD hold		Majority	6,385	5.6

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Essen II[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	Y Dirk Heidenblut		39,410	37.8	0.5	35,363	33.9	2.1
	CDU	Florian Fuchs		23,735	22.8	3.8	21,039	20.2	3.3
	Greens	Christine Müller-Hechfellner		12,647	12.1	6.8	13,971	13.4	7.2
	AfD	Andrea Poußet		12,015	11.5	4.2	11,521	11.0	3.9
	FDP	Martin Hollinger		6,976	6.7	0.1	9,531	9.1	0.6
	Left	Jules El-Khatib		4,325	4.2	3.7	4,525	4.3	4.4
	Tierschutzpartei						1,924	1.8	0.8
	Team Todenhöfer						1,718	1.6
	PARTEI	Christian Gröll		2,414	2.3		1,421	1.4	0.2
	FW	Wilfried Adamy		1,202	1.2		639	0.6	0.4
	dieBasis	Frank Solga		1,108	1.1		840	0.8
	Pirates						349	0.3	0.2
	Volt						300	0.3
	LIEBE						190	0.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						155	0.1	0.0
	MLPD	Gabi Fechtner		197	0.2	0.0	142	0.1	0.0
	NPD						132	0.1	0.2
	LfK						122	0.1
	Humanists						95	0.1	0.0
	DKP	Siw Mammitzsch		169	0.2	0.0	94	0.1	0.0
	V-Partei3						74	0.1	0.0
	Bündnis C						64	0.1
	du.						60	0.1
	ÖDP						57	0.1	0.0
	PdF						35	0.0
	LKR						32	0.0
	SGP						16	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,274			1,063
Total valid votes				104,198			104,409
Turnout				105,472	67.5	0.1
	SPD hold		Majority	15,675	15.0	4.3

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Essen II[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	%	±%
	SPD	Y Dirk Heidenblut		40,601	37.3	11.0	34,727	31.8	9.9
	CDU	Jutta Eckenbach		28,912	26.6	4.5	25,606	23.4	5.0
	AfD	Guido Thorsten Reil		17,153	15.8		16,339	15.0	10.7
	Left	Daniel Kerekes		8,555	7.9	0.6	9,524	8.7	0.6
	FDP	Thomas Spilker		7,207	6.6	5.0	10,583	9.7	6.3
	Greens	Gönül Eglence		5,846	5.4	0.3	6,746	6.2	0.9
	PARTEI						1,224	1.1	0.4
	Tierschutzpartei						1,088	1.0
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						935	0.9
	Pirates						576	0.5	2.0
	NPD						378	0.3	1.5
	FW						239	0.2	0.0
	MLPD	Horst Dotten		257	0.2	0.0	186	0.2	0.0
	DiB						172	0.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						133	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						132	0.1	0.1
	DM						128	0.1
	V-Partei³						122	0.1
	BGE						114	0.1
	ÖDP						90	0.1	0.0
	DKP	Peter Köster		223	0.2		88	0.1
	Die Humanisten						77	0.1
	SGP						8	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,615			1,154
Total valid votes				108,754			109,215
Turnout				110,369	67.6	2.9
	SPD hold		Majority	11,689	10.7	6.5

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Essen II[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	%	±%
	SPD	Dirk Heidenblut		51,677	48.3	2.2	44,684	41.7	2.6
	CDU	Jutta Eckenbach		33,243	31.1	3.9	30,540	28.5	5.0
	Left	Janina Herff		7,752	7.2	3.2	8,716	8.1	3.5
	Greens	Elke Zeeb		5,382	5.0	1.9	7,616	7.1	1.8
	AfD						4,556	4.2
	Pirates	Wilfried Adamy		3,048	2.8		2,733	2.5	0.8
	NPD			2,884	2.7	0.6	2,014	1.9	0.4
	FDP	Günther van Wasen		1,721	1.6	4.9	3,627	3.4	6.9
	PARTEI			734	0.7		723	0.7
	PRO						385	0.4
	REP						370	0.3	0.6
	BIG						231	0.2
	FW						212	0.2
	Volksabstimmung						191	0.2	0.1
	MLPD			240	0.2	0.0	168	0.2	0.0
	Nichtwahler						153	0.1
	ÖDP						88	0.1	0.0
	Party of Reason						92	0.1
	BüSo			304	0.3	0.3	81	0.1	0.1
	RRP						51	0.0	0.1
	Die Rechte						28	0.0
	PSG						21	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,614			1,319
Total valid votes				106,985			107,280
Turnout				108,599	64.7	1.7
	SPD hold		Majority	18,434	17.2	1.7

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Essen II[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	%	±%
	SPD	Y Rolf Hempelmann		49,023	46.1	12.3	41,637	39.0	12.5
	CDU	Jutta Eckenbach		28,968	27.2	0.2	25,067	23.5	0.4
	Left	Hans-Jürgen Zierus		11,065	10.4	4.3	12,431	11.7	4.2
	Greens	Ute Hegener		7,352	6.9	3.5	9,495	8.9	1.9
	FDP	Marcus Fischer		6,967	6.5	3.6	10,947	10.3	4.0
	Pirates						1,852	1.7
	NPD	Volker Braun		2,218	2.1	0.6	1,619	1.5	0.4
	REP						979	0.9	0.2
	Tierschutzpartei						874	0.8	0.2
	FAMILIE						565	0.5	0.1
	RENTNER						407	0.4
	RRP						171	0.2
	BüSo	Katarzyna Kruczkowski		583	0.5		154	0.1	0.1
	MLPD	Horst Dotten		240	0.2	0.0	141	0.1	0.0
	Volksabstimmung						118	0.1	0.0
	Centre						74	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						65	0.1
	DVU						62	0.1
	PSG						31	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,581			1,308
Total valid votes				106,416			106,689
Turnout				107,997	63.0	9.7
	SPD hold		Majority	20,055	18.9	12.1