-
fromAnnette Schlegl
–
conclude
–
The Offenbach district is divided into two parts in the federal election: five municipalities belong to constituency 187 Odenwald, eight belong to constituency 185 Offenbach. Portrait of the constituencies.
One district, but two different ballot papers: The Offenbach district will again have a special position in the 2021 federal election because it is divided. Eight municipalities belong to the constituency 185 Offenbach with the independent city Offenbach, five municipalities belong to the constituency 187 Odenwald. The respective citizens choose different politicians.
The towns and communities to the east of Rodgau, Rödermark, Hainburg, Seligenstadt and Mainhausen were added to constituency 187 many years ago. In addition to these five eastern district municipalities, the former district of Dieburg with the municipalities of Babenhausen, Fischbachtal, Groß-Bieberau, Groß-Umstadt, Groß-Zimmer, Dieburg, Otzberg, Reinheim and Schaafheim as well as the entire Odenwald district are included. Mühlheim am Main, Obertshausen, Heusenstamm, Dietzenbach, Dreieich, Neu-Isenburg, Langen and Egelsbach, on the other hand, belong together with the city of Offenbach to constituency 185.
The two constituencies could hardly be more different. The constituency 185 is a growth region, the municipalities are prospering, are located in the suburb of Frankfurt. Neu-Isenburg, in particular, is a rich city and regularly makes headlines as a trade tax croesus. Only Dietzenbach falls outside the grid of the economically strong municipalities: the city, which like the city of Offenbach, has a high proportion of foreigners, has been in a financially precarious situation for years.
The constituency 185 is densely populated, 1521 inhabitants per square kilometer were counted as of December 31, 2019. In the meantime, this number has probably been corrected upwards. More and more new housing estates are emerging in the cities, it is constantly being densified, and more and more young families are discovering the advantages of the municipalities in constituency 185 for themselves.
graphic
© Federal Returning Office
–
The proximity to Frankfurt and the airport, the very good transport connections and the reasonably affordable rents mean that many people move from expensive Frankfurt to the nine constituencies. The A5, A3 and A661 motorways and well-developed federal highways ensure that you can get to the Main metropolis quickly. With the exception of Egelsbach, all cities are also accessible by S-Bahn, usually with several stations. The Regional Tangent West (RTW) is to connect Neu-Isenburg, Dreieich and Langen with Frankfurt Airport from 2026. Cycle superhighways are planned and some are already under construction. The first high-speed cycle path through the Rhine-Main area from Darmstadt to Frankfurt, which leads via Egelsbach, Langen, Dreieich and Neu-Isenburg, should be ready by 2023.
How much the adjacent constituency 187 with its 340 electoral districts diverges from it! It is only sparsely populated, with just 290 inhabitants: five times fewer people live here per square kilometer than in constituency 185. And this, although it is much larger in terms of area: It covers 1115 square kilometers, whereas constituency 185 “only” 241 square kilometers. The largest city in the Offenbach district is actually there: Rodgau will grow to 50,000 inhabitants in the coming years thanks to a huge new building area.
Not only is the north-south extension of the constituency 187 huge with 85 kilometers between the Main and Neckar, but also the north-south divide. The north has a much greater steering power than the agricultural south. In the north are the five municipalities of the Offenbach district with increased immigration, in the south the city of Oberzent with the third largest area after Frankfurt and Wiesbaden, but with only 10,200 inhabitants. The city has only existed since January 1, 2018, it is an amalgamation of the towns of Beerfelden, Hesseneck, Rothenberg and Sensbachtal. The merger took place out of necessity: More and more jobs were lost there, and the population continued to decline.
graphic
© Federal Returning Office
–
Such problems are alien to the citizens of the Offenbach district. You are part of the international and pulsating Rhine-Main metropolitan region and live in the third strongest economic district in Hesse. According to a study by the Economic and Social Science Institute (WSI) of the trade union Hans Böckler Foundation, every inhabitant has a calculated household income of 23,449 euros – slightly above the national level of 22,900 euros.
The population of the Offenbach district has been growing steadily since 2013. The population of 338,000 has meanwhile grown to 357,000 district citizens, and the forecasts indicate further growth in the coming years. The expansion of broadband is progressing rapidly, around 96 percent of households are already supplied with at least 100 megabits per second. The future atlas 2019 sees the Offenbach district as a “place with high future opportunities”; nationwide, it ranks 37th out of 401 districts and urban districts.
However, this privilege also brings with it problems: it is necessary to successfully integrate numerous foreign citizens, the infrastructure must keep pace with the influx, apartments must be built, schools enlarged and stocked, daycare places created for young families. The city of Langen is currently experiencing painfully just how quickly the childcare situation can lag behind the population development: There are currently around 500 childcare places short.
The building land reserves are shrinking in circles, in Neu-Isenburg a new urban quarter is currently being built on the last larger contiguous area. Real estate and land prices in the Offenbach district have more than doubled in the past ten years, although the housing stock in 2018 was eight percent higher than in 2000, according to a study by the State of Hesse.
The popularity of the Offenbach district is all the more surprising as the district is severely affected by aircraft noise. Mainly the municipalities in the west and in the middle of the district area are below the noise carpet – above all the city of Neu-Isenburg in the direct vicinity of the airport.
Politically, the grand coalition has had the say in the district council since 2004 – even if its overwhelming power fell sharply in the previous local elections. The CDU has been the strongest force in the district assembly for years, but the SPD had to surrender its second place to the Greens in March, who won 22 percent of all valid votes.
The Christian Democrats have been dominant in both constituency 185 and 187 in the federal election for years, followed by the SPD. In both constituencies, the Greens performed poorly in 2017: They were overtaken by the FDP and AfD in the second votes.
Five MPs represented the Offenbach district in the current legislative period in Berlin: Patricia Lips (CDU), Björn Simon (CDU), Jens Zimmermann (SPD), Wolfgang Strengmann-Kuhn (Greens) and Christine Buchholz (left).
Patricia Lips has the best chance of winning constituency 187 in the election on September 26th. The Rödermärkerin is the political professional among the candidates: she has been a member of the Bundestag since 2002 and has always won the constituency directly since 2005. The social democrat Zimmermann has now passed his second legislative period in Berlin. He is in seventh place on the SPD state list, which probably means entry into the Bundestag – even if he misses the direct mandate.
A CDU member could also land at the top again in constituency 185: Björn Simon won the direct mandate in 2017 with 36.4 percent of the first votes and is running again. The social democrat Tuna Firat did not make it to Berlin in the election despite 24.9 percent, wants to know again. Strengmann-Kuhn is running again after he entered the Bundestag four years ago, more than clearly beaten on the state list. Buchholz, who has been a member of the Bundestag since 2009, is also aiming for another term of office.
–
Related posts:
