Donau-Ries (electoral district)

Donau-Ries 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 253. It is located in western Bavaria, comprising the Dillingen district, Donau-Ries district, and the northern part of the Aichach-Friedberg district.^[1]

253 Donau-Ries
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Donau-Ries in 2025
State	Bavaria
Population	259,100 (2019)
Electorate	195,774 (2021)
Major settlements	Nördlingen Donauwörth Dillingen an der Donau
Area	2,332.2 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CSU
Member	Ulrich Lange
Elected	2009, 2013, 2017, 2021

Donau-Ries was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2009, it has been represented by Ulrich Lange of the Christian Social Union (CSU).^[2]

Geography

Donau-Ries is located in western Bavaria. As of the 2025 federal election, it comprises the districts of Dillingen and Donau-Ries as well as the municipality of Inchenhofen and the Verwaltungsgemeinschaften of Aindling, Kühbach, and Pöttmes from the Aichach-Friedberg district.^[1]

History

Donau-Ries was created in 1949, then known as Donauwörth. It acquired its current name in the 1976 election. In the 1949 election, it was Bavaria constituency 44 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1961 elections, it was number 239. In the 1965 through 1998 elections, it was number 240. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 255. In the 2009 through 2021 elections, it was number 254. From the 2025 election, it has been number 253.

Originally, the constituency comprised the independent cities of Neuburg an der Donau and Nördlingen and the districts of Donauwörth, Landkreis Neuburg an der Donau, and Landkreis Nördlingen. In the 1965 through 1972 elections, it also contained the independent city of Dillingen an der Donau and the Landkreis Dillingen district. In the 1976 through 1994 elections, it comprised the districts of Donau-Ries and Dillingen. In the 1998 election, it acquired the municipality of Inchenhofen and the Verwaltungsgemeinschaften of Kühbach and Pöttmes from the Aichach-Friedberg district. In the 2005 election, it further acquired the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Aindling. In the 2021 election, it acquired the municipality of Altenmünster from Landkreis Augsburg, which was reversed ahead of the 2025 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	44	Donauwörth	Neuburg an der Donau city Nördlingen city Donauwörth district Landkreis Neuburg an der Donau district Landkreis Nördlingen district
1953	239
1957
1961
1965	240		Neuburg an der Donau city Nördlingen city Dillingen an der Donau city Donauwörth district Landkreis Neuburg an der Donau district Landkreis Nördlingen district Landkreis Dillingen district
1969
1972
1976		Donau-Ries	Donau-Ries district Dillingen district
1980
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998			Donau-Ries district Dillingen district Aichach-Friedberg district (only Inchenhofen municipality and Kühbach and Pöttmes Verwaltungsgemeinschaften)
2002	255
2005			Donau-Ries district Dillingen district Aichach-Friedberg district (only Inchenhofen municipality and Aindling, Kühbach, and Pöttmes Verwaltungsgemeinschaften)
2009	254
2013
2017
2021			Donau-Ries district Dillingen district Aichach-Friedberg district (only Inchenhofen municipality and Aindling, Kühbach, and Pöttmes Verwaltungsgemeinschaften) Landkreis Augsburg district (only Altenmünster municipality)
2025	253		Donau-Ries district Dillingen district Aichach-Friedberg district (only Inchenhofen municipality and Aindling, Kühbach, and Pöttmes Verwaltungsgemeinschaften)

Members

The constituency has been held continuously by the Christian Social Union (CSU) since its creation. It was first represented by Martin Loibl [de] from 1949 to 1953, followed by Philipp Meyer from 1953 to his death in 1962. Karl Heinz Lemmrich [de] was representative from 1965 to 1990, a total of seven consecutive terms. Hans Raidel [de] then served from 1990 to 2009. Ulrich Lange was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Martin Loibl [de]	CSU	36.2
	1953	Philipp Meyer	CSU	59.1
	1957			69.2
	1961			64.8
	1965	Karl Heinz Lemmrich [de]	CSU	68.3
	1969			67.3
	1972			65.4
	1976			68.0
	1980			65.7
	1983			67.8
	1987			61.2
	1990	Hans Raidel [de]	CSU	55.0
	1994			60.6
	1998			57.2
	2002			64.7
	2005			60.7
	2009	Ulrich Lange	CSU	52.6
	2013			60.6
	2017			47.0
	2021			41.1

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Donau-Ries[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	%	±%
	CSU	Y Ulrich Lange		64,045	41.1	6.0	54,929	35.2	8.2
	SPD	Christoph Schmid		29,872	19.2	1.2	25,784	16.5	2.7
	AfD	Edeltraud Schwarz		15,723	10.1	2.7	17,135	11.0	3.7
	FW	Ulrich Reiner		14,834	9.5	4.3	14,973	9.6	6.1
	Greens	Stefan Norder-Freiherr von Hauch		11,076	7.1	0.7	14,911	9.5	2.6
	FDP	Marcus Schürdt		9,915	6.4	1.4	15,593	10.0	0.9
	dieBasis	Dagmar Riesner		3,895	2.5		3,432	2.2
	Left	Manfred Seel		3,048	2.0	2.2	2,855	1.8	2.7
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,488	1.0	0.2
	PARTEI						891	0.6	0.1
	ÖDP	Dieter Feldmeier		1,420	0.9	0.4	868	0.6	0.2
	BP						648	0.4	0.3
	Pirates						627	0.4	0.1
	V-Partei3	Kristin Burger		966	0.6		254	0.2	0.0
	Unabhängige	Harald Gerke		836	0.5		496	0.3
	Team Todenhöfer						262	0.2
	Volt						206	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						184	0.1	0.0
	NPD						176	0.1	0.3
	Bündnis C						121	0.1
	LKR	Erich Zühlke		294	0.2		106	0.1
	The III. Path						94	0.1
	Humanists						78	0.0
	du.						70	0.0
	DKP						20	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						14	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,109			818
Total valid votes				155,924			156,215
Turnout				157,033	80.2	2.7
	CSU hold		Majority	34,173	21.9	7.1

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Donau-Ries[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	%	±%
	CSU	Y Ulrich Lange		68,770	47.0	13.7	63,638	43.3	12.2
	SPD	Christoph Schmid		26,562	18.1	0.5	20,289	13.8	2.8
	AfD	Rafael Hauptmann		18,799	12.8		21,585	14.7	10.5
	Greens	Albert Riedelsheimer		9,436	6.4	0.1	10,102	6.9	0.9
	FW	Stephan Stieglauer		7,379	5.0	0.9	5,093	3.5	0.4
	FDP	Walter Lohner		7,321	5.0	2.6	13,440	9.2	4.7
	Left	Manfred Seel		6,198	4.2	0.2	6,687	4.6	1.3
	ÖDP	Johannes Thum		1,991	1.4	0.9	1,062	0.7	0.3
	BP						1,060	0.7	0.2
	PARTEI						640	0.4
	NPD						632	0.4	0.7
	Pirates						499	0.3	1.2
	V-Partei³						233	0.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						198	0.1
	DM						191	0.1
	DiB						130	0.1
	BGE						123	0.1
	MLPD						26	0.0	0.0
	DKP						20	0.0
	BüSo						13	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,369			1,000
Total valid votes				146,456			146,825
Turnout				147,825	77.5	8.5
	CSU hold		Majority	42,208	28.9	14.0

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Donau-Ries[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	%	±%
	CSU	Y Ulrich Lange		78,524	60.6	8.1	72,065	55.5	6.6
	SPD	Gabriele Fograscher		22,858	17.7	1.7	21,616	16.7	2.8
	Greens	Bettina Merkl-Zierer		8,153	6.3	1.3	7,773	6.0	1.7
	Left	Manfred Seel		5,797	4.5	1.6	4,260	3.3	2.5
	FW	Florian Riehl		5,371	4.1		3,964	3.1
	FDP	Heinz-Peter Liehr		3,170	2.4	9.2	5,824	4.5	10.1
	AfD						5,433	4.2
	Pirates						1,938	1.5	0.1
	ÖDP	Andreas Becker		2,899	2.2	0.7	1,312	1.0	0.0
	NPD	Alexander Feyen		2,342	1.8	0.1	1,503	1.2	0.3
	BP						1,144	0.9	0.2
	REP						999	0.8	0.5
	Human Environment Animal Protection						877	0.7	0.1
	DIE FRAUEN						462	0.4
	DIE VIOLETTEN						214	0.2	0.2
	Party of Reason						134	0.1
	RRP			381	0.3		121	0.1	0.5
	PRO						81	0.1
	MLPD						26	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						12	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,560			1,297
Total valid votes				129,495			129,758
Turnout				131,055	69.0	1.7
	CSU hold		Majority	55,666	42.9	6.2

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Donau-Ries[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	%	±%
	CSU	Ulrich Lange		69,102	52.6	8.1	64,647	48.9	8.0
	SPD	Gabriele Fograscher		20,901	15.9	6.8	18,290	13.8	8.2
	FDP	Uwe Pranghofer		15,337	11.7	5.5	19,314	14.6	6.3
	Greens	Albert Riedelsheimer		9,962	7.6	1.9	10,139	7.7	2.5
	Left	Manfred Seel		8,025	6.1	3.4	7,605	5.8	3.0
	Pirates						2,170	1.6
	NPD	Alexander Feyen		2,549	1.9	0.2	1,919	1.5	0.1
	REP						1,725	1.3	0.2
	BP	Heinz Link		2,385	1.8		1,432	1.1	0.7
	ÖDP	Walter Price		1,982	1.5		1,367	1.0
	FAMILIE						1,077	0.8	0.2
	RRP						751	0.6
	Human Environment Animal Protection						703	0.5
	DIE VIOLETTEN	Liane Thorwart		888	0.7		495	0.4
	Independent	Siegfried Lemmermeier		297	0.2
	CM						182	0.1
	PBC						172	0.1	0.1
	DVU						63	0.0
	BüSo						41	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						30	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,191			1,497
Total valid votes				131,428			132,122
Turnout				133,619	70.7	7.8
	CSU hold		Majority	48,201	36.7	1.3

References

1. "Constituency Donau-Ries". Federal Returning Officer.
2. "Results for Donau-Ries". Federal Returning Officer.
3. Results for Donau-Ries
4. Results for Donau-Ries
5. Results for Donau-Ries
6. Results for Donau-Ries