Osterholz: results of the 2026 local elections and the 2025 federal election
In the federal election on 23 February 2025, CDU led in Osterholz with 28.2% of the second votes, followed by SPD with 23.0%. Below, the results of all 11 municipalities.
- Population
- 113,340 · 174 per km²
- Largest sector
- Health and social work 21%
- Turnout
- 85.3% · Lower Saxony 83.4% · Germany 82.5%
- Voters
- 77,055 of 90,366 eligible voters
- Compared with Lower Saxony
- CDU +0.1 · SPD +0.0 · AfD −0.5 · Grüne +1.1
- CDU range across municipalities
- 20.0% to 32.4%
2026 local elections in Osterholz
On 13 September 2026, the district council was newly elected, along with the district administrator. Official final result, as of 02.10.2026 10:56. All districts: Lower Saxony local elections 2026.
- Largest group: district council
- CDU 26.7% · 12 of 46 seats
- District administrator, run-off
- Kim Fürwentsches (GRÜNE), 58.0%
- Turnout
- 66.1%
- Joint municipalities (Samtgemeinden)
- 1 with their own council
Turnout 66.1% · 93,306 eligible voters · 46 seats · Official final result · 171 of 171 results
Source: Landkreis Osterholz, Local elections 2026, official results presentation (votemanager) (file), final result, retrieved 31 Oct 2026, official work, § 5 UrhG. Electoral authority status: 02.10.2026 10:56. Electoral authority's result portal: https://votemanager.kdo.de/20260913/03356000/praesentation/ Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.
District administrator election
Decided in the run-off on 27 September 2026: Kim Fürwentsches (GRÜNE) with 58.0%.
Run-off 27 September 2026
- Fürwentsches, GRÜNE58.0%
- Harjes, SPD42.0%
Turnout 39.2% · 93,250 eligible voters · Official final result · 155 of 155 results
First round 13 September 2026
- Fürwentsches, GRÜNE28.5%
- Harjes, SPD26.8%
- Dr. Albrecht, CDU20.8%
- Tietjen, WEGBEREITER12.0%
- Buer, Einzelwahlvorschlag6.8%
- Birmele, Die Linke5.2%
Turnout 66.1% · 93,306 eligible voters · Official final result · 171 of 171 results
District council election by municipality and Samtgemeinde
| Area | Turnout | CDU | SPD | GRÜNE | AfD | Die Linke | Bürgerfraktion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemeinde Grasberg | 67.4% | 48.5% | 8.8% | 18.8% | 12.5% | 4.1% | 0.4% |
| Gemeinde Lilienthal | 67.0% | 28.6% | 16.0% | 27.3% | 10.3% | 7.7% | 0.6% |
| Stadt Osterholz-Scharmbeck | 64.1% | 21.2% | 28.5% | 12.8% | 17.2% | 6.6% | 7.7% |
| Gemeinde Ritterhude | 65.1% | 20.8% | 34.1% | 16.6% | 14.7% | 5.7% | 5.2% |
| Gemeinde Schwanewede | 66.3% | 28.2% | 30.1% | 11.6% | 21.2% | 4.5% | 1.6% |
| Gemeinde Worpswede | 69.3% | 34.0% | 13.6% | 15.5% | 11.5% | 7.6% | 0.4% |
| Samtgemeinde Hambergen | 66.7% | 20.1% | 44.1% | 7.5% | 17.4% | 5.4% | 1.7% |
Joint municipalities (Samtgemeinden) are administrative unions of several municipalities; their member municipalities also have their own councils. Shares in percent of valid votes, others not listed individually.
Samtgemeinde councils in Osterholz
- Samtgemeinde HambergenCouncil: SPD 52.1%, 26 seats · mayoral election: Brauns 73.2%Samtgemeinde result portal
Second votes in Osterholz
Deviation from the state result in points.
Where do these figures come from?
Official results of the 2025 federal election from the Federal Returning Officer's district file, second votes per district.
What does the comparison show?
The lighter bar is the state result of the same election, so you can see where the area differs from its state. Differences are in percentage points.
Source: Federal Returning Officer, 2025 federal election, results by independent city and district (file), final result, retrieved 7 Sep 2026, Data licence Germany, attribution 2.0. Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.
2024 European election in Osterholz
In the European election on 9 June 2024, CDU came first in Osterholz with 30.7% of the vote; in Lower Saxony CDU got 31.4%. The bars show the European election shares, the small figures the gap to the 2025 federal election in the same area.
In the 2024 European election, CDU was the strongest party in Osterholz with 30.7%, +2.5 points compared with the 2025 federal election. Turnout was 65.2% (2025 federal election: 85.3%).
Why do the European and federal elections differ?
The European election has no electoral threshold, so small parties such as Volt, Die PARTEI or the animal-welfare party win more votes. Turnout is much lower, and the political mood shifted between June 2024 and February 2025. The single European-election vote is compared with the second vote of the federal election in the same area; parties that count as Others in 2025 get no difference.
Where do these figures come from?
Official final result of the 2024 European election from the Federal Returning Officer (kerg2.csv), votes per district and independent city.
| Party | Votes 2024 | European election 2024 | Federal election 2025 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDU | 18,404 | 30.7% | 28.2% | +2.5 |
| SPD | 12,108 | 20.2% | 23.0% | -2.8 |
| Grüne | 7,710 | 12.8% | 12.6% | +0.2 |
| AfD | 7,499 | 12.5% | 17.3% | -4.8 |
| FDP | 3,080 | 5.1% | 3.9% | +1.2 |
| BSW | 2,974 | 5.0% | 4.0% | +1.0 |
| Linke | 1,413 | 2.4% | 7.4% | -5.0 |
| Volt | 1,297 | 2.2% | 0.7% | +1.5 |
| Die PARTEI | 990 | 1.6% | – | – |
| Tierschutzpartei | 922 | 1.5% | – | – |
| Freie Wähler | 536 | 0.9% | 0.5% | +0.4 |
| ÖDP | 195 | 0.3% | – | – |
| Others | 2,903 | 4.8% | – | – |
Die PARTEI, Tierschutzpartei, ÖDP: counted as Others in the 2025 federal election, so no difference is shown.
Source: Federal Returning Officer, 2024 European election, results by state and district (kerg2.csv) (file), final result, retrieved 28 Sep 2026, Data licence Germany, attribution 2.0. Berlin East and Berlin West are aggregated from the boroughs as in the 2025 federal election. Comparison values: second votes of the 2025 federal election in the same area. Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.
Osterholz in figures
Key facts about the place from official statistics and Wikidata, so the election result can be put in context. The figures describe, they do not explain.
- Population
- 113,340 (as of 2025-12-31)
- Area
- 652.7 km²
- Population density
- 174 inhabitants per km²
- Under 19
- 18.1%
- 67 and older
- 21.6%
- Foreign nationals (2022 census)
- 6.0%
- Employees subject to social insurance (place of work)
- 29,022 (as of 2025-12-31)
- Largest sectors
- Health and social work 21% · Trade and vehicle repair 19% · Manufacturing 14%
- Commuter balance
- -17,811 (more out-commuters than in-commuters)
- Unemployment rate
- 3.8% (as of 2026-09)
- Starke Bäcker
- 350 employees (2019)
- Volksbank Schwanewede
- 16 employees
- District seat
- Osterholz-Scharmbeck
- Municipalities
- 11
- Elevation
- 3 m
- First mention or foundation
- 1932
- Twin towns
- 1
- Website
- www.landkreis-osterholz.de
- Wikipedia
- Osterholz (Wikipedia)
Osterholz has 113,340 inhabitants. The largest sector is Health and social work with 21% of employees. The largest company headquartered in Osterholz is Starke Bäcker with 350 employees. The unemployment rate is 3.8%.
Where do the profile figures come from?
Population, area and coordinates from the Federal Statistical Office's municipality register, employees, sectors and unemployment from the Federal Employment Agency, age structure from the 2022 census, coat of arms, website and companies from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons. All sources are openly licensed and linked below the list.
Does the profile explain the election result?
No. It describes the place so readers can put figures in context. Whether sector, age or density relate to voting can only be tested across many places, not from a single result.
Sources: Wikidata (CC0 1.0) · Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis), Gemeindeverzeichnis GV-ISys (Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung – Version 2.0) · Statistik der Bundesagentur für Arbeit (© Statistik der Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Nutzung mit Quellenangabe) · Zensus 2022, Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder, Regionaltabelle Demografie (Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung – Version 2.0)
Strongest party by municipality in Osterholz
Tap to open the municipality result. Labels appear on the largest municipalities by area; all values are in the table below.
Strongest party: CDU in 8 municipalities, SPD in 2 municipalities and AfD in 1 municipality of 11. Highest share: CDU with 32.4% in Grasberg.
What does the map show?
Each municipality is coloured by the party with the highest second-vote share at the 2025 federal election; the intensity follows the share. Postal votes counted at the level of a joint administration are shown on the administration's page. Click a municipality for its full result.
All municipalities in Osterholz
Sorted by number of voters. Range across the district: CDU 20 to 32.4%, SPD 19.4 to 27.4%, AfD 11.6 to 26%, Grüne 6.2 to 17.5%, Linke 6.1 to 8.2%, BSW 3 to 5.9%, FDP 2.6 to 4.8%.
| Municipality | Voters | Turnout | CDU | SPD | AfD | Grüne | Linke | BSW | FDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osterholz-Scharmbeck | 19,382 | 83.4% | 26.1 | 24.4 | 19.3 | 11.1 | 8.1 | 4.3 | 3.2 |
| Lilienthal | 13,607 | 86.7% | 29.3 | 22.8 | 11.6 | 17.5 | 7.5 | 3.5 | 4.4 |
| Schwanewede | 13,605 | 86.2% | 30.4 | 21.4 | 20.9 | 10.0 | 6.1 | 3.8 | 4.0 |
| Ritterhude | 9,957 | 85.8% | 28.1 | 22.7 | 16.8 | 12.3 | 7.6 | 4.5 | 4.4 |
| Worpswede | 6,859 | 86.4% | 28.3 | 22.3 | 13.4 | 16.3 | 8.2 | 3.5 | 4.8 |
| Grasberg | 5,412 | 87.0% | 32.4 | 19.4 | 16.4 | 12.8 | 6.8 | 4.2 | 4.0 |
| Hambergen | 2,858 | 61.2% | 23.5 | 27.4 | 21.6 | 8.0 | 7.8 | 4.2 | 3.3 |
| Briefwahl SG Hambergen | 2,025 | – | 28.0 | 28.0 | 12.1 | 12.0 | 6.3 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Vollersode | 1,619 | 66.2% | 26.1 | 23.9 | 26.0 | 6.2 | 6.3 | 4.8 | 3.3 |
| Holste | 786 | 62.9% | 22.0 | 21.4 | 25.1 | 9.9 | 7.0 | 5.9 | 2.8 |
| Axstedt | 579 | 64.3% | 20.0 | 25.0 | 21.5 | 14.9 | 8.2 | 3.8 | 2.6 |
| Lübberstedt | 366 | 61.5% | 28.5 | 25.2 | 18.1 | 11.0 | 6.6 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
Source: Federal Returning Officer, 2025 federal election, results by polling district (file), final result, retrieved 7 Sep 2026, Data licence Germany, attribution 2.0. Municipal results are the sum of a municipality's polling districts including the postal-vote districts assigned to it. Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.