Bergstraße (electoral district)

Bergstraße (English: Mountain Road) 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 187. It is located in southern Hesse, comprising the district of Bergstraße.^[1]

187 Bergstraße
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Bergstraße in 2025
State	Hesse
Population	270,300 (2019)
Electorate	197,782 (2021)
Major settlements	Bensheim Viernheim Lampertheim
Area	719.5 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CDU
Member	Michael Meister
Elected	2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021

Bergstraße was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2005, it has been represented by Michael Meister of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).^[2]

Geography

Bergstraße is located in southern Hesse. As of the 2021 federal election, it is coterminous with the district of Bergstraße.^[1]

History

Bergstraße was created in 1949. In the 1949 election, it was Hesse constituency 22 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1976, it was number 147. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 145. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 189. In the 2009 through 2021 elections, it was number 188. From the 2025 election, it has been number 187.

Originally, the constituency was coterminous with the district of Bergstraße. In the 1965 through 1972 elections, it also contained the municipality of Rothenberg from the Erbach district. Since the 1976 election, it has again been coterminous with the Bergstraße district.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	22	Bergstraße	Bergstraße district
1953	147
1957
1961
1965			Bergstraße Erbach district (only Rothenberg municipality)
1969
1972
1976			Bergstraße
1980	145
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	189
2005
2009	188
2013
2017
2021
2025	187

Members

The constituency was first represented by Heinrich von Brentano of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1949 to 1965, followed by Carl Otto Lenz of the CDU until 1969. Wolfgang Schwabe won it for the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1969 and served until 1976, when former member Lenz regained it for the CDU. Klaus Kübler won it back to the SPD in 1980, but Lenz was once again elected in 1983. Fellow CDU member Franz-Hermann Kappes then served from 1987 to 1994, followed by Michael Meister until 1998. Christine Lambrecht of the SPD won the constituency in 1998 and was representative until 2005. Former member Meister was elected again in 2005, and re-elected in 2009, 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Heinrich von Brentano	CDU	35.3
	1953			44.9
	1957			50.6
	1961			45.1
	1965	Carl Otto Lenz	CDU	46.9
	1969	Wolfgang Schwabe	SPD	46.0
	1972			51.6
	1976	Carl Otto Lenz	CDU	48.5
	1980	Klaus Kübler	SPD	47.3
	1983	Carl Otto Lenz	CDU	51.1
	1987	Franz-Hermann Kappes	CDU	47.8
	1990			46.5
	1994	Michael Meister	CDU	46.7
	1998	Christine Lambrecht	SPD	45.4
	2002			45.3
	2005	Michael Meister	CDU	44.4
	2009			44.4
	2013			48.3
	2017			38.9
	2021			30.5

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Bergstraße[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	%	±%
	CDU	Y Michael Meister		46,125	30.5	8.4	37,064	24.5	8.7
	SPD	Sven Wingerter		41,124	27.2	0.3	41,124	27.2	4.8
	Greens	Moritz Müller		20,955	13.9	6.2	21,457	14.2	5.3
	FDP	Till Mansmann		16,175	10.7	3.1	20,432	13.5	1.7
	AfD	Thomas Fetsch		14,351	9.5	3.0	14,377	9.5	3.4
	Left	Sascha Bahl		4,149	2.7	2.8	4,629	3.1	3.6
	Tierschutzpartei						3,029	2.0	0.8
	FW	Kerstin Buchner		4,287	2.8		2,723	1.8	1.0
	dieBasis	Ina Rodewald		2,748	1.8		2,465	1.6
	PARTEI						1,221	0.8	0.0
	Unabhängige	Gabriele Ermen		953	0.6
	Pirates						617	0.4	0.0
	Team Todenhöfer						533	0.4
	Volt						491	0.3
	Independent	Heike Grammbitter		385	0.3
	Gesundheitsforschung						258	0.2
	NPD						237	0.2	0.2
	Bündnis C						176	0.1
	ÖDP						151	0.1	0.1
	Humanists						153	0.1
	V-Partei3						145	0.1	0.0
	Bündnis 21						63	0.0
	LKR						47	0.0
	DKP						33	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						18	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,926			1,733
Total valid votes				151,250			151,443
Turnout				153,176	77.4	1.2
	CDU hold		Majority	5,001	3.3	8.7

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Bergstraße[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	%	±%
	CDU	Y Michael Meister		59,781	38.9	9.4	51,088	33.2	9.3
	SPD	Christine Lambrecht		41,408	26.9	4.8	34,435	22.3	5.2
	AfD	Rolf Kahnt		19,153	12.5	8.2	19,923	12.9	7.3
	Greens	Moritz Müller		11,747	7.6	2.0	13,595	8.8	0.2
	FDP	Till Mansmann		11,711	7.6	5.7	18,196	11.8	6.3
	Left	Sascha Bahl		8,511	5.5	1.6	10,197	6.6	1.8
	Tierschutzpartei						1,793	1.2
	PARTEI						1,261	0.8	0.4
	FW						1,227	0.8	0.3
	Independent	Sebastian Bucher		904	0.6
	Pirates						688	0.4	1.6
	NPD						545	0.4	0.7
	Independent	Martin Polivka		524	0.3
	DM						298	0.2
	ÖDP						254	0.2
	BGE						243	0.2
	V-Partei³						219	0.1
	MLPD						57	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						48	0.0	0.0
	DKP						27	0.0
Informal votes				2,343			1,988
Total valid votes				153,739			154,094
Turnout				156,082	78.7	4.4
	CDU hold		Majority	18,373	12.0	4.5

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Bergstraße[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	%	±%
	CDU	Y Michael Meister		70,131	48.3	3.9	61,337	42.4	7.9
	SPD	Christine Lambrecht		46,099	31.8	0.8	39,838	27.6	3.0
	Greens	Uwe Pfenning		8,222	5.7	2.1	12,520	8.7	2.1
	AfD	Tim Wiemer		6,129	4.2		8,134	5.6
	Left	Bruno Schwarz		5,730	3.9	2.4	7,025	4.9	2.6
	FDP	Till Mansmann		2,795	1.9	7.0	7,975	5.5	11.8
	Pirates	Arne Pfeilsticker		2,779	1.9		2,951	2.0	0.1
	NPD	Jens Schäfer		1,635	1.1	0.5	1,589	1.1	0.0
	FW	Volker Gallandi		1,609	1.1		1,602	1.1
	PARTEI						628	0.4
	REP						617	0.4	0.6
	PRO						182	0.1
	BüSo						67	0.0	0.1
	SGP						62	0.0
	MLPD						32	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				3,252			3,822
Total valid votes				145,129			144,559
Turnout				148,381	74.3	0.0
	CDU hold		Majority	24,032	16.5	3.0

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Bergstraße[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	%	±%
	CDU	Y Michael Meister		64,472	44.4	0.0	50,275	34.5	2.0
	SPD	Christine Lambrecht		44,903	30.9	10.9	35,748	24.6	10.8
	FDP	Benjamin Kramer		12,966	8.9	5.1	25,219	17.3	6.2
	Greens	Christian Gerber		11,296	7.8	3.9	15,683	10.8	2.1
	Left	Harry Siegert		9,171	6.3	3.0	10,891	7.5	3.2
	Pirates						2,782	1.9
	Tierschutzpartei						1,618	1.1	0.2
	NPD	Edna Windecker		2,365	1.6	0.0	1,607	1.1	0.2
	REP						1,458	1.0	0.1
	BüSo						165	0.1	0.0
	DVU						113	0.1
	MLPD						41	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				3,135			2,708
Total valid votes				145,173			145,600
Turnout				148,308	74.3	5.1
	CDU hold		Majority	19,569	13.5	10.9

References

1. "Constituency Bergstraße". Federal Returning Officer.
2. "Results for Bergstraße". Federal Returning Officer.
3. Results for Bergstraße
4. Results for Bergstraße
5. Results for Bergstraße
6. Results for Bergstraße