Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis

Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis 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 194. It is located in eastern Thuringia, comprising the districts of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, Saale-Holzland-Kreis, and Saale-Orla-Kreis.^[1]

194 Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis in 2025
State	Thuringia
Population	266,500 (2019)
Electorate	219,437 (2021)
Major settlements	Saalfeld Rudolstadt Pößneck
Area	2,975.3 km2
Current electoral district
Created	2002
Party	AfD
Member	Michael Kaufmann
Elected	2021

Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis was created for the 2002 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Michael Kaufmann of the Alternative for Germany (AfD).^[2]

Geography

Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis is located in eastern Thuringia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the districts of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, Saale-Holzland-Kreis, and Saale-Orla-Kreis.^[1]

History

Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis was created in 2002, then known as Sonneberg – Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Orla-Kreis. It acquired its current name in the 2017 election. In the 2002 election, it was constituency 198 in the numbering system. In the 2005 election, it was number 197. In the 2009 and 2013 elections, it was number 196. In the 2017 and 2021 elections, it was number 195. From the 2025 election, it has been number 194.

Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Sonneberg, Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, and Saale-Orla-Kreis. It acquired its current borders in the 2017 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
2002	198	Sonneberg – Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Orla-Kreis	Sonneberg district Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district Saale-Orla-Kreis district
2005	197
2009	196
2013
2017	195	Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis	Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district Saale-Holzland-Kreis district Saale-Orla-Kreis district
2021
2025	194

Members

The constituency was first represented by Christine Lehder of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 2002 to 2005, followed by Gerhard Botz of the SPD from 2005 to 2009. Carola Stauche of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was representative from 2009 to 2017. Albert Weiler was elected in the 2017 election. The constituency was won by Michael Kaufmann of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	2002	Christine Lehder	SPD	41.6
	2005	Gerhard Botz	SPD	30.2
	2009	Carola Stauche	CDU	31.9
	2013			41.1
	2017	Albert Weiler	CDU	30.9
	2021	Michael Kaufmann	AfD	29.3

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis[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	%	±%
	AfD	Michael Kaufmann		48,177	29.3	2.8	46,381	28.2	2.4
	CDU	N Albert Weiler		34,489	21.0	10.0	27,008	16.4	11.8
	SPD	Cornelius Ilgmann		30,791	18.7	7.1	35,019	21.3	9.2
	Left	Frank Tempel		19,968	12.1	5.0	18,489	11.2	5.3
	FDP	Reginald Hanke		12,343	7.5	1.4	15,428	9.4	1.6
	Greens	Susanne Martin		6,292	3.8	0.4	7,383	4.5	1.5
	FW	Torsten Heilmann		5,143	3.1	0.3	4,079	2.5	0.5
	PARTEI	Gerry Fiedler		3,526	2.1		2,283	1.4	0.1
	dieBasis	Saskia Graupe		2,852	1.7		2,668	1.6
	Human Environment Animal Protection						2,510	1.5
	Pirates						645	0.4	0.0
	NPD						547	0.3	0.9
	Menschliche Welt						493	0.3
	Volt						388	0.2
	Team Todenhöfer						374	0.2
	MLPD	Janine Walter-Rupprecht		462	0.3		338	0.2	0.1
	ÖDP	Michael Gehrmann-Gacasa		451	0.3		293	0.2	0.3
	Humanists						152	0.1
	V-Partei3						145	0.1	0.2
Informal votes				2,037			1,908
Total valid votes				164,494			164,623
Turnout				166,531	75.9	0.8
	AfD gain from CDU		Majority	13,688	8.3

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis[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	Albert Weiler		52,311	30.9	10.3	47,769	28.1	10.1
	AfD	Michael Kaufmann		44,894	26.5	24.7	43,740	25.8	18.6
	Left	Ralf Kalich		28,926	17.1	8.4	28,088	16.5	7.8
	SPD	Alexander Meinhardt-Heib		19,753	11.7	7.1	20,427	12.0	3.2
	FDP	Reginald Hanke[a]		10,323	6.1	3.9	13,209	7.8	5.2
	Greens	Stephanie Erben		5,726	3.4	0.5	5,124	3.0	1.0
	FW	Jens Streubel		5,717	3.4	3.0	3,300	1.9	0.5
	PARTEI						2,494	1.5
	NPD						2,083	1.2	2.4
	Independent	Wilfried Meißner		923	0.5
	Independent	Günter Metzler		779	0.5
	Pirates						736	0.4	1.9
	ÖDP						733	0.4	0.2
	DM						729	0.4
	BGE						654	0.4
	V-Partei³						425	0.3
	MLPD						240	0.1	0.0
Informal votes				2,527			2,128
Total valid votes				169,352			169,751
Turnout				171,879	75.0	5.9
	CDU hold		Majority	7,417	4.4	10.3

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Sonneberg – Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Orla-Kreis[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 Carola Stauche		59,153	41.1	9.3	54,859	37.9	7.5
	Left	Knut Korschewsky		37,908	26.4	4.9	35,819	24.8	6.1
	SPD	Christoph Majewski		28,521	19.8	0.9	23,002	15.9	1.1
	AfD						9,807	6.8
	NPD	Uwe Bäz-Dölle		7,440	5.2	0.7	5,292	3.7	0.4
	Greens	Stephanie Erben		5,674	3.9	0.1	5,442	3.8	0.8
	FDP	Alf-Heinz Borchardt		3,279	2.3	6.3	3,552	2.5	7.3
	Pirates						3,231	2.2	0.0
	FW						2,065	1.4
	Independent	Meißner		1,053	0.7
	ÖDP						895	0.6	0.2
	MLPD			835	0.6	0.2	349	0.2	0.0
	REP						343	0.2	0.2
Informal votes				3,177			2,384
Total valid votes				143,863			144,656
Turnout				147,040	67.3	2.9
	CDU hold		Majority	21,245	14.7	14.0

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Sonneberg – Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Orla-Kreis[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	Carola Stauche		46,726	31.9	5.5	44,770	30.4	5.5
	Left	Norbert Schneider		45,820	31.2	5.3	45,439	30.9	3.1
	SPD	Anette Feike		27,824	19.0	11.2	25,004	17.0	12.4
	FDP	Volker Weber		12,534	8.5	3.6	14,342	9.8	2.3
	NPD	Patrick Trautsch		6,574	4.5	0.3	5,978	4.1	0.5
	Greens	Filip Heinlein		5,684	3.9	1.2	6,654	4.5	0.9
	Pirates						3,340	2.3
	Independent	Arthur Wolfram Krauß		934	0.6
	REP						615	0.4	0.3
	ÖDP						557	0.4
	MLPD	Andreas Eifler		582	0.4	0.1	395	0.3	0.3
Informal votes				2,261			1,845
Total valid votes				146,678			147,094
Turnout				148,939	64.4	11.1
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	906	0.7

Notes

1. Hanke entered the Bundestag on the FDP list after the resignation of Thomas Kemmerich in November 2019.

References

1. "Constituency Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis". Federal Returning Officer.
2. "Results for Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis". Federal Returning Officer.
3. Results for Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis
4. Results for Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis
5. Results for Sonneberg – Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Orla-Kreis
6. Results for Sonneberg – Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Orla-Kreis