173 Gießen
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Gießen in 2013
State	Hesse
Population	293,600 (2019)
Electorate	217,514 (2021)
Major settlements	Giessen Pohlheim Alsfeld
Area	1,343.3 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	SPD
Member	Felix Döring
Elected	2021

Gießen 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 173. It is located in central Hesse, comprising the Gießen district and the northwestern part of the Vogelsbergkreis district.^[1]

Gießen was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Felix Döring of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).^[2]

Geography

Gießen is located in central Hesse. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Gießen district excluding the municipalities of Biebertal and Wettenberg, as well as the municipalities of Alsfeld, Antrifttal, Feldatal, Gemünden (Felda), Homberg (Ohm), Kirtorf, Mücke, and Romrod from the Vogelsbergkreis district.^[1]

History

Gießen was created in 1949. In the 1949 election, it was Hesse constituency 8 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1976 elections, it was number 133. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 131. In 2002 and 2005, it was number 175. In the 2009 election, it was number 174. Since 2013, it has been number 173.

Originally, the constituency comprised the independent city of Gießen and the districts of Landkreis Gießen and Alsfeld. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it comprised the entirety of Gießen district as well as the municipalities of Alsfeld, Antrifttal, Feldatal, Gemünden (Felda), Grebenau, Homberg (Ohm), Kirtorf, Mücke, Romrod, Schwalmtal from the Vogelbergskreis district. In the 2002 election, it acquired borders very similar to its current configuration, but including the municipalities of Grebenau, Schotten, and Schwalmtal from Vogelsbergkreis district. It acquired its current borders in the 2013 election.

Members

The constituency was first represented by Ludwig Schneider of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) from 1949 to 1957. Hans Merten of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was elected in 1957 and served until 1969. He was succeeded by fellow SPD member Erwin Horn. Adolf Roth of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was elected in 1983, but former member Horn regained the constituency in 1987 and served a further three terms. He was succeeded by fellow SPD member Rüdiger Veit in 1998, who served until 2009. Helge Braun of the CDU was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. Felix Döring regained the constituency for the SPD in 2021.

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Gießen[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	%	±%
	SPD	Felix Döring		48,514	30.4	2.2	44,046	27.6	3.7
	CDU	N Helge Braun		47,283	29.6	5.5	36,201	22.7	7.5
	Greens	Behzad Borhani		21,249	13.3	5.0	26,109	16.3	6.7
	AfD	Uwe Schulz		14,496	9.1	2.5	14,836	9.3	3.1
	FDP	Dennis Pucher		12,109	7.6	0.1	17,106	10.7	0.4
	Left	Ali Al-Dailami		6,339	4.0	2.3	8,028	5.0	3.4
	FW	Diego Semmler		4,595	2.9	0.9	3,697	2.3	1.0
	Tierschutzpartei						2,301	1.4	0.5
	PARTEI	Darwin Walter		3,003	1.9		1,818	1.1	0.1
	dieBasis	Stephan Krüdener		1,954	1.2		1,892	1.2
	Volt						898	0.6
	Team Todenhöfer						632	0.4
	Pirates						555	0.3	0.1
	Bündnis C						251	0.2
	ÖDP						251	0.2	0.1
	NPD						235	0.1	0.3
	Gesundheitsforschung						216	0.1
	Humanists						211	0.1
	V-Partei3						177	0.1	0.1
	DKP	Henning Mächerle		233	0.1	0.0	117	0.1	0.0
	Bündnis 21						50	0.0
	LKR						41	0.0
	MLPD						34	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,144			2,217
Total Valid votes				159,775			159,702
Turnout				161,919	74.4	2.1
	SPD gain from CDU		Majority	1,231	0.8

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Gießen[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 Helge Braun		57,610	35.1	9.3	49,518	30.1	8.5
	SPD	Matthias Körner		46,216	28.2	7.3	39,252	23.9	5.8
	AfD	Uwe Schulz		18,918	11.5		20,358	12.4	7.5
	Greens	Eva Goldbach		13,619	8.3	1.0	15,898	9.7	0.0
	FDP	Hermann Otto Solms		12,641	7.7	4.7	16,926	10.3	5.4
	Left	Ali Abass Al-Dailami		10,346	6.3	1.2	13,798	8.4	1.9
	FW	Diego Semmler		3,190	1.9		2,170	1.3	0.0
	PARTEI						1,967	1.2	0.7
	Tierschutzpartei						1,572	1.0
	NPD	Thassilo Hantusch		603	0.4	1.3	751	0.5	0.8
	Pirates						654	0.4	1.7
	ÖDP						384	0.2
	Independent	Peter Klis		376	0.2
	BGE						271	0.2
	V-Partei³						268	0.2
	DM						254	0.2
	MLPD	Wanja Lange		405	0.2		109	0.1	0.0
	DKP	Henning Mächerle		234	0.1		119	0.1
	BüSo						44	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,463			2,308
Total Valid votes				164,158			164,313
Turnout				166,621	76.5	3.7
	CDU hold		Majority	11,394	6.9	2.0

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Gießen[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 Helge Braun		67,587	44.4	7.7	59,062	38.7	7.6
	SPD	Rüdiger Veit		54,028	35.5	1.2	45,299	29.7	2.4
	Greens	Tom Koenigs		11,186	7.3	1.5	14,759	9.7	2.1
	AfD						7,444	4.9
	Left	Ali Abass Al-Dailami		7,802	5.1	1.8	9,928	6.5	2.5
	FDP	Hermann Otto Solms		4,543	3.0	8.0	7,553	4.9	10.8
	Pirates	Sascha Endlicher		3,949	2.6		3,268	2.1	0.3
	FW						1,982	1.3
	NPD	Volker Sachs		2,483	1.6	0.2	1,977	1.3	0.2
	PARTEI						759	0.5
	Independent	Peter Klis		724	0.5
	REP						273	0.2	0.2
	PRO						183	0.1
	BüSo						93	0.1	0.1
	PSG						84	0.1
	MLPD						59	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				4,350			3,929
Total Valid votes				152,302			152,723
Turnout				156,652	72.8	0.1
	CDU hold		Majority	13,559	8.9	6.4

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Gießen[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	Helge Braun		59,441	36.7	1.1	50,276	31.0	1.0
	SPD	N Rüdiger Veit		55,331	34.2	9.1	44,222	27.3	9.1
	FDP	Hermann Otto Solms		17,928	11.1	3.9	25,687	15.8	3.5
	Greens	Tom Koenigs		14,140	8.7	3.5	18,853	11.6	1.6
	Left	Jonas Ahlgrimm		11,399	7.0	2.3	14,605	9.0	3.2
	Pirates						3,962	2.4
	NPD	Volker Sachs		2,328	1.4	0.2	1,853	1.1	0.2
	Tierschutzpartei						1,528	0.9	0.2
	Independent	Peter Klis		1,253	0.8
	REP						701	0.4	0.4
	BüSo						193	0.1	0.0
	DVU						158	0.1
	MLPD						46	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				3,848			3,584
Total Valid votes				161,820			162,084
Turnout				165,668	72.5	4.8
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	4,110	2.5

References