Reutlingen (electoral district)

289 Reutlingen
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Reutlingen in 2025
State	Baden-Württemberg
Population	287,000 (2019)
Electorate	199,189 (2021)
Major settlements	Reutlingen Metzingen Pfullingen
Area	1,092.5 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CDU
Member	Michael Donth
Elected	2013, 2017, 2021

Reutlingen 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 289. It is located in central Baden-Württemberg, comprising the Reutlingen district.

Reutlingen was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2013, it has been represented by Michael Donth of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Geography

Reutlingen is located in central Baden-Württemberg. As of the 2021 federal election, it is coterminous with the Reutlingen district.

History

Reutlingen was created in 1949. In the 1949 election, it was Württemberg-Hohenzollern constituency 1 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1961 elections, it was number 190. In the 1965 through 1976 elections, it was number 194. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it was number 193. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 290. Since the 2009 election, it has been number 289.

Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Reutlingen and Tübingen. In the 1965 through 1976 elections, it comprised the Tübingen district and the municipalities of Reutlingen, Eningen unter Achalm, Sonnenbühl, Gomaringen, Engstingen, Lichtenstein, Metzingen, Pfullingen, Riederich, and Wannweil from the Reutlingen district. Since the 1980 election, it has been coterminous with the Reutlingen district.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	1	Reutlingen	Reutlingen district Tübingen district
1953	190
1957
1961
1965	194		Reutlingen district (only Reutlingen, Eningen unter Achalm, Sonnenbühl, Gomaringen, Engstingen, Lichtenstein, Metzingen, Pfullingen, Riederich, and Wannweil municipalities) Tübingen district
1969
1972
1976
1980	193		Reutlingen district
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	290
2005
2009	289
2013
2017
2021
2025

Members

The constituency has been held by Christian Democratic Union (CDU) during all but one Bundestag term since its creation. It was first represented by Oskar Kalbfell of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 1949 to 1953. Gustav-Adolf Gedat won it for the CDU in 1953 and served until 1965, followed by Heiner Geißler for one term. Anton Pfeifer was representative from 1969 to 2002, a total of nine consecutive terms. Ernst-Reinhard Beck then served from 2002 to 2013. Michael Donth was elected in 2013, and re-elected in 2017 and 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Oskar Kalbfell	SPD	33.3
	1953	Gustav-Adolf Gedat	CDU	51.8
	1957			47.1
	1961			37.3
	1965	Heiner Geißler	CDU	46.9
	1969	Anton Pfeifer	CDU	47.9
	1972			50.1
	1976			52.6
	1980			51.7
	1983			58.3
	1987			51.1
	1990			42.9
	1994			47.9
	1998			42.0
	2002	Ernst-Reinhard Beck	CDU	45.2
	2005			49.1
	2009			42.7
	2013	Michael Donth	CDU	51.9
	2017			40.8
	2021			32.5

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Reutlingen
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 Donth		49,631	32.5	8.2	39,504	25.9	8.6
	SPD	Ulrich Bausch		27,236	17.9	2.8	31,535	20.7	5.7
	Greens	Beate Müller-Gemmeke		25,399	16.7	2.3	24,197	15.9	2.0
	FDP	Pascal Kober		20,411	13.4	3.4	25,288	16.6	2.8
	AfD	Hansjörg Schrade		15,356	10.1	1.9	15,652	10.3	2.7
	Left	Jessica Tatti		6,169	4.0	2.2	5,081	3.3	2.8
	FW	Eberhard Sigloch		3,139	2.1		2,434	1.6	1.0
	dieBasis	Sofia El Mestary		2,747	1.8		2,442	1.6
	Tierschutzpartei						1,700	1.1	0.4
	PARTEI	Andreas Schwarz		2,211	1.5	0.5	1,239	0.8	0.1
	Team Todenhöfer						689	0.5
	Pirates						552	0.4	0.0
	Volt						451	0.3
	Bündnis C						445	0.3
	ÖDP						329	0.2	0.1
	Bürgerbewegung						205	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						180	0.1
	Humanists						176	0.1
	NPD						151	0.1	0.1
	DiB						105	0.1	0.1
	MLPD	Elke Weidner		178	0.1	0.0	79	0.1	0.0
	Bündnis 21						71	0.0
	LKR						49	0.0
	DKP						21	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,343			1,245
Total valid votes				152,477			152,575
Turnout				153,820	77.2	1.6
	CDU hold		Majority	22,395	14.6	11.0

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Reutlingen
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 Donth		63,494	40.8	11.1	53,873	34.5	11.7
	SPD	Rebecca Hummel		23,397	15.0	5.1	23,321	14.9	4.3
	Greens	Beate Müller-Gemmeke		22,309	14.3	1.9	21,695	13.9	3.0
	AfD	Wolfram Hirt		18,702	12.0	7.7	20,171	12.9	7.4
	FDP	Pascal Kober		15,533	10.0	6.1	21,425	13.7	6.7
	Left	Jessica Tatti		9,711	6.2	2.2	9,543	6.1	1.3
	PARTEI	Lennart Obenauer		1,539	1.0		1,141	0.7
	Tierschutzpartei						1,047	0.7	0.0
	Independent	Ralf Matheis		874	0.6
	FW						856	0.5	0.0
	Pirates						639	0.4	1.8
	ÖDP						459	0.3	0.0
	NPD						362	0.2	0.8
	Tierschutzallianz						318	0.2
	BGE						216	0.1
	DiB						209	0.1
	DM						206	0.1
	V-Partei³						190	0.1
	Menschliche Welt						164	0.1
	MLPD	Michael Weidner		244	0.2	0.0	154	0.1	0.0
	DIE RECHTE						45	0.0
	DKP						25	0.0
Informal votes				1,839			1,583
Total valid votes				155,803			156,059
Turnout				157,642	78.8	3.5
	CDU hold		Majority	40,097	25.8	5.9

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Reutlingen
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	Michael Donth		76,870	51.9	9.2	68,394	46.2	12.4
	SPD	Rebecca Hummel		29,859	20.2	1.9	28,558	19.3	1.3
	Greens	Beate Müller-Gemmeke		18,399	12.4	1.5	16,195	10.9	4.0
	AfD	Tim Carstens		6,435	4.3		8,245	5.6
	Left	Günter Herbig		5,966	4.0	1.9	7,089	4.8	2.2
	FDP	Pascal Kober		5,665	3.8	9.0	10,441	7.1	13.0
	Pirates						3,267	2.2	0.3
	NPD	Axel Heinzmann		1,764	1.2	0.6	1,517	1.0	0.2
	Tierschutzpartei						962	0.6	0.1
	FW	Erich Marquardt		1,119	0.8		875	0.6
	Independent	Ralf Matheis		964	0.7
	REP						543	0.4	0.5
	ÖDP	Matthias Dietrich		794	0.5		505	0.3	0.1
	RENTNER						346	0.2
	Volksabstimmung						324	0.2	0.1
	PBC						314	0.2	0.2
	MLPD	Michael Weidner		296	0.2	0.1	139	0.1	0.0
	Party of Reason						110	0.1
	PRO						104	0.1
	BIG						71	0.0
	BüSo						23	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,883			1,992
Total valid votes				148,131			148,022
Turnout				150,014	75.3	1.9
	CDU hold		Majority	47,011	31.7	11.0

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Reutlingen
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 Ernst-Reinhard Beck		60,753	42.7	6.5	48,400	33.8	4.6
	SPD	Sebastian Weigle		31,395	22.0	10.4	25,770	18.0	11.6
	Greens	Beate Müller-Gemmeke		19,871	14.0	6.2	21,392	14.9	4.3
	FDP	Pascal Kober		18,203	12.8	7.4	28,740	20.1	6.3
	Left	Stefan Straub		8,452	5.9	2.7	10,060	7.0	3.5
	Pirates						2,793	1.9
	NPD	Axel Heinzmann		2,491	1.7	0.1	1,820	1.3	0.2
	REP						1,283	0.9	0.3
	Tierschutzpartei						854	0.6
	PBC						585	0.4	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						466	0.3
	ÖDP						406	0.3
	DIE VIOLETTEN						264	0.2
	MLPD	Michael Weidner		491	0.3	0.0	190	0.1	0.0
	Independent	Ralf Matheis		436	0.3
	Independent	Giuliano Gagliardi		351	0.2
	DVU						96	0.1
	ADM						81	0.1
	BüSo						75	0.1	0.0
Informal votes				3,394			2,562
Total valid votes				142,443			143,275
Turnout				145,837	73.5	6.4
	CDU hold		Majority	29,358	20.7	3.9