East Hanover (electoral district)

15 East Hanover Osthannover
Former electoral constituency for the Reichstag
Location within the Weimar Republic
State	Prussia
Province	Hanover
Electorate	566,486 (1919) 736,265 (1933)
Major settlements	Harburg-Wilhelmsburg, Wesermünde, Lüneburg, Celle
Former constituency
Created	1920
Abolished	1938

East Hanover was one of the 35 electoral districts (German: Wahlkreise) used to elect members to the Reichstag during the Weimar Republic. It sent members to the Reichstag in eight democratic elections between 1920 and 1933. It existed nominally in the show elections to the Nazi Reichstag until 1938.

It was located in northwestern Germany and comprised the contemporary Regierungsbezirke of Lüneburg and Stade from the Prussian province of Hanover. It was constituency 15 in the numbering scheme.[1]

Electoral system

The constituency was created for the 1920 election, following the redrawing of districts in the Hanover/Hamburg region.[2] Under the proportional representation electoral system of the Weimar Republic, voters cast a vote for party lists. Parties were awarded a seat for every 60,000 votes in a constituency. Excess votes were aggregated at two higher levels of seat distribution: an intermediate level combining multiple constituencies, where extra seats were awarded to parties' constituency lists, and a national level where seats were awarded to national lists of each party or alliance.[3][4]

Results (1919–1933)

Vote share

Party		1919[a]	1920	1924 I	1924 II	1928	1930	1932 I	1932 II	1933
	KPD		0.5	7.9	4.4	5.8	7.5	8.2	10.4	7.5
	USPD	3.8	10.8		0.3
	SPD	38.5	27.3	21.3	28.1	32.8	28.1	24.5	23.4	19.7
	DDP	14.5	6.1	3.8	4.1	3.7	3.6	1.0	0.7	0.6
	Centre	9.6	1.1	1.1	1.3	1.3	1.3	1.4	1.3	1.3
	DHP	21.8	34.3	30.2	24.5	19.1	15.0	4.6	6.3	4.2
	DVP	7.6	13.1	9.0	11.4	9.6	5.9	1.3	1.9	1.2
	DLV					6.4	3.5	0.1
	DNVP	4.1	6.9	15.4	20.8	10.5	8.0	8.4	12.1	11.3
	Nazi			8.6	4.4	2.6	20.6	49.5	42.9	54.3
Other		0.0		2.7	0.5	8.3	6.4	1.0	0.9	0.0
Turnout		88.8	82.5	80.3	79.3	76.8	81.4	84.3	82.1	89.5
Source: Wahlen in Deutschland

Deputies

Election	Distribution	Seats
1920		7
May 1924		6
Dec 1924		6
1928		8
1930		6
Jul 1932		10
Nov 1932		9
1933		9
Source: Wahlen in Deutschland

References

1. "Voters and Elections in the Weimar Republic from 1920 to 1933". GESIS. 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
2. "Law on the Elections to the Constituent German National Assembly (Reich Election Law) of 30 November 1918". Documentarchiv.de (in German). 3 January 2004. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
3. "Reichstag Electoral System". Wahlrecht.de (in German). 25 February 2006. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
4. "Reich Election Law of 27 April 1920". Documentarchiv.de (in German). 3 January 2004. Retrieved 13 November 2024.

External links

• "The German Reich - Overall". gonschior.de (in German). Retrieved 12 November 2024.
• "Explanation of the Electoral System". Wahlen in Deutschland (in German). 12 September 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2024.

Notes

1. Notional results on 1920 boundaries.