Reichstag elections in the Ruhr area from 1871 to 1912
Constituencies
The constituencies for the Reichstag elections in the German Empire were already determined for the elections to the North German Reichstag in 1867 and did not coincide with today's administrative boundaries . The constituency boundaries established in 1867 were not changed until the end of the Empire, so that due to the population increase in the industrialized constituencies of the Ruhr area, the proportion of those entitled to vote rose sharply.
The central Ruhr area comprised the following constituencies with the administrative units at that time, cities and communities with more than 2000 inhabitants (as of 1900) are indicated:
- Arnsberg 4: Hagen - Schwelm = Hagen, Haspe, Eckesey, Wetter, Boele, Herdecke, Bommern, Breckerfeld, Ende, Vorhalle, Dahl, Delstern, Wengern, Schwelm, Gevelsberg, Langerfeld, Vörde, Mühlinghausen, Haßlinghausen, Niedersprockhövel, Next Breck, Öklinghausen , Gennebreck
In 1910, the constituency comprised the following districts: Hagen district, Hagen district and Schwelm district.
In 1880 the proportion of the urban population in the constituency was 82.2%. The Protestant population was 82.7% in 1880, it fell to 80.3% by 1890, was 75.8% in 1905 and 74.2% in 1910. In all Reichstag elections, the proportion of the Protestant population was over 70%.
| 1871 | 1874 | 1877 | 1878 | 1881 | 1884 | 1887 | 1890 | 1893 | 1898 | 1903 | 1907 | 1912 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eligible voters | 19,856 | 24,719 | 25,026 | 26,067 | 26,323 | 27.193 | 29,365 | 30,628 | 34,406 | 40.502 | 45,719 | 51,080 | 58.214 |
| Voter turnout (in%) | 35.9 | 43.3 | 62.5 | 74.9 | 71.7 | 72.7 | 78.9 | 71.6 | 75.7 | 74.7 | 80.4 | 83.5 | 86.5 |
- Arnsberg 5: Bochum - Gelsenkirchen - Hattingen - Witten = Bochum, Witten, Herne, Langendreer, Weitmar, Hamme, Wiemelhausen, Werne, Baukau, Holstede, Altenbochum, Laer, Riemke, Hordel, Harpen, Horsthausen, Grumme, Stockum, Gerthe, Querenbeurg , Gelsenkirchen, Schalke, Wanne, Eickel, Ückendorf, Bismarck, Wattenscheid, Bulmke, Röhlinghausen, Holsterhausen, Hüllen, Heßler, Höntrop, Gümigfeld, Westenfeld, Eppendorf, Dahlhausen, Hattingen, Linden, Heven, Stiepel, Freisenbruch, Horst, Königsteele, Altendorf , Welper, Westherbede
The proportion of the urban population was 84.4% in 1880. The proportion of the Protestant population, which had been 53.5% in 1880, remained stable until 1900 (53.4%) and fell to 51.2% by 1910. During all Reichstag elections, the constituency had a Protestant majority.
- Arnsberg 6: Dortmund - Hörde = Dortmund, Lütgendortmund, Eving, Kastrop, Marken, Lünen, Dorstfeld, Brackel, Asseln, Huckarde, Kirchlinde, Mengede, Rauxel, Giesenberg-Sodingen, Oberkastrop, Wickede, Öspel, Altenderne-Oberbecker, Habinghorst, Kirchderne , Liundenhorst, Hörde, Schwerte, Kirchhörde, Annen-Wulfen, Aplerbeck, Berghofen, Holzwickede, Sölde, Schüren, Hacheney, Barop, Rüdinghausen, Menglinghausen, Eichlinghofen, Lücklemberg, Westhofen
The proportion of the urban population increased from 1880 = 77.8% to 1900 = 89.4%. In the Middle Ages and early modern times, the area belonged to the imperial city of Dortmund and the County of Mark , both of which were Protestant territories. In 1880 the proportion of the Protestant population was 62.4%, this proportion fell to 55.7% by 1900, and in 1910 the proportion was 53.3%. In all elections, the constituency had a clear majority of voters of Protestant denomination.
- Düsseldorf 5: Essen - Werden = Essen, Altendorf, Borbeck, Altenessen, Rotthausen, Katernberg, Rüttenscheid, Steele, Werden, Kray, Kupferdreh, Stoppenberg, Rellinghausen, Schonnebeck, Kettwig, Zweihonnschaften, Siebenhonnschaften, Karnap, Überruhr, Heisingen, Huttrop, Byfang
The proportion of the urban population was 82.9% in 1900. The population of the constituency was predominantly Catholic, as the area had belonged to the Reichsstift Essen and Reichsstift Werden since the Middle Ages . In the course of industrialization, the proportion of the Catholic population fell slightly, 1880 = 69.5%, 1900 = 60.7%, 1910 = 58.6%. The constituency of Essen had a clear majority of those eligible to vote who were Catholic in all elections.
- Düsseldorf 6: Duisburg - Mülheim an der Ruhr - Ruhrort - Oberhausen = Duisburg, Oberhausen, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Alstaden, Styrum, Dümpten, Heißen, Broich, Speldorf, Saarn, Holthausen, Meiderich, Hamborn, Beeck, Sterkrade, Ruhrort, Hiesfeld , Buschhausen, Dinslaken, Walsum, Spellen, Holten
Despite the more rural areas in the north of the constituency, the constituency had developed a relatively high degree of urbanity early on; in 1880 the proportion of the urban population was 91.6% and rose to 97.6% by 1900. The constituency was mixed denominational with a slight Protestant majority: 1880 = 55.7%, 1890 = 53.0%. Due to immigration, the ratio changed: 1900 = 48.1% Protestants to 50.7% Catholics. In the following years the proportion of Catholics increased further from 1905 = 53.1% to 1910 = 54.5%.
Member of the Reichstag
Abbreviations of the parties: F = German Progressive Party , FrVp = Free People's Party , NL = National Liberal Party , LB = Group Loewe-Berger , RP = German Reich Party , SPD = Social Democrats , Z = Center Party
Remarks
- ^ Fritz Specht, Paul Schwabe: The Reichstag elections from 1867 to 1903. Statistics of the Reichstag elections together with the programs of the parties and a list of the elected representatives. 2nd Edition. Verlag Carl Heymann, Berlin 1904, pp. 142-144, pp. 166f.
literature
- Fritz Specht, Paul Schwabe: The Reichstag elections from 1867 to 1907. Statistics of the Reichstag elections together with the programs of the parties and a list of the elected representatives . 2nd edition supplemented by an appendix. Addendum. The Reichstag election of 1907 (12th legislative period). Carl Heymann Publishing House, Berlin 1908.
- A. Phillips (Ed.): The Reichstag elections from 1867 to 1883. Statistics of the elections for the constituent and North German Reichstag, for the customs parliament, as well as for the first five legislative periods of the German Reichstag. Louis Gerschel publishing house, Berlin 1883.
- Imperial Statistical Office (Ed.): On the statistics of the elections for the second legislative period of the German Reichstag. In: Quarterly books on statistics of the German Reich for the year 1874 (= Statistics of the German Reich. Volume 8). Book II, Publishing House of the Royal Statistical Bureau, Berlin 1875, pp. 73–111. (Note: This also includes the results of the Reichstag election in 1871 in Overview II on pages 102 to 110)
- Imperial Statistical Office (Ed.): Statistics of the Reichstag elections of 1907. Verlag von Puttkammer & Mühlbrecht, Berlin 1907. (Special publication on the quarterly issues on statistics of the German Empire)
- Imperial Statistical Office (Hrsg.): The Reichstag elections of 1912. (= Statistics of the German Reich. Volume 250). Issues 1–3, published by Puttkammer & Mühlbrecht, Berlin 1913.
- Wolfgang Jäger: Mining milieus and parties in the Ruhr area. On the voting behavior of the Catholic miners' milieu until 1933. Beck, Munich 1996.
- Karl Rohe: Denomination, class and local society as determinants of voting behavior. Considerations and problematizations using the example of the historical Ruhr area. In: Lothar Albertin , Werner Link (ed.): Political parties on the way to parliamentary democracy in Germany. Lines of development up to the present. Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1981, pp. 109–126.
- Karl Rohe: The "belated" region. Theses and hypotheses on the development of elections in the Ruhr area before 1914. In: Peter Steinbach (Ed.): Problems of political participation in the modernization process. (= History and Theory of Politics. Volume, Sub-Series A, History 5). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-12-912230-3 , pp. 231-252.
- Carl-Wilhelm Reibel: Handbook of the Reichstag elections 1890-1918. Alliances, results, candidates (= handbooks on the history of parliamentarism and political parties. Volume 15). Half volume 1, Droste, Düsseldorf 2007, ISBN 978-3-7700-5284-4 .