Delimitation of constituencies

The territory of the Federal Republic of Germany is currently subdivided into 299 constituencies. The breakdown of the territory into constituencies for the elections to the 19^th German Bundestag is laid down in the Annex to Article 1 of the Twenty-third Law amending the Federal Elections Act (BWG) of 3 May 2016 (Federal Law Gazette I page 1062) – only available in German. It entered into force on 10 May 2016.

The need to alter the distribution of constituencies among Länder and redraw the boundaries of individual constituencies results, among others, from the provisions of Section 3 (1), first sentence, nos. 2, 3 and 5 of the Federal Elections Act. They stipulate that the number of constituencies in the individual Länder must correspond as far as possible to their share of the population. The population of a constituency should not deviate from the average population of all constituencies by more than 15 per cent in either direction. Where the deviation is greater than 25 per cent, the boundaries must be redrawn. The basis of these calculations is the German population irrespective of their age. The boundaries of municipalities, districts and towns not attached to a municipal district should be adhered to where possible when constituency boundaries are defined.

Compared with the former structure, the legislator has redrawn the boundaries of 34 constituencies for the 2017 Bundestag Election on the basis of the territory as at 29 February 2016. The changes are as follows:

Changes due to population development

32 constituencies have been adjusted on account of the population development in the Länder or constituencies.

Hamburg

18 Hamburg-Mitte and
22 Hamburg-Wandsbek.

Brandenburg

56 Prignitz – Ostprignitz-Ruppin – Havelland I,
57 Uckermark – Barnim I,
58 Oberhavel – Havelland II,
59 Märkisch-Oderland – Barnim II,
60 Brandenburg an der Havel – Potsdam-Mittelmark I – Havelland III – Teltow-Fläming I,
61 Potsdam – Potsdam-Mittelmark II – Teltow-Fläming II and
62 Dahme-Spreewald – Teltow-Fläming III – Oberspreewald-Lausitz I.

Thüringen

As a consequence of its population development, Thüringen has lost one of its nine constituencies. Constituency 194 Gera – Jena – Saale-Holzland-Kreis was dissolved. Then the legislator redefined and renamed six of the remaining eight constituencies in Thüringen:

189 Eichsfeld – Nordhausen – Kyffhäuserkreis,
190 Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis,
191 Jena – Sömmerda – Weimarer Land I,
194 Gera – Greiz – Altenburger Land,
195 Saalfeld-Rudolstadt – Saale-Holzland-Kreis – Saale-Orla-Kreis and
196 Suhl – Schmalkalden-Meiningen – Hildburghausen – Sonneberg.

Rheinland-Pfalz

205 Mainz (previously 206) and
206 Worms (previously 207).

Bayern

Bayern has received another constituency in addition to its 45 constituencies on account of its population development. Then the boundaries of the following constituencies in that region were redefined:

214 Freising (previously 215),
215 Fürstenfeldbruck (previously 216),
221 München-Land (previously 222),
223 Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen – Miesbach (previously 224),
224 Starnberg – Landsberg am Lech (new constituency) and
226 Weilheim.

Additionally, the boundaries of the following constituencies in Bayern were adjusted:

216 Ingolstadt (previously 217),
227 Deggendorf,
228 Landshut,
229 Passau,
230 Rottal-Inn,
238 Coburg and
239 Hof.

Baden-Württemberg

260 Böblingen and
265 Ludwigsburg.

Changes due to municipal boundary changes

The boundaries of two constituencies were adjusted slightly to account for earlier changes of the municipal territory (compare Section 3 (1), first sentence, number 5 of the Federal Elections Act):

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

12 Schwerin – Ludwigslust-Parchim I – Nordwestmecklenburg I and
13 Ludwigslust-Parchim II – Nordwestmecklenburg II – Landkreis Rostock I.

Redescription of constituencies

Constituencies have consecutive numbers. As the number of constituencies was reduced by one in Thüringen and increased by one in Bayern, the constituency numbers of many constituencies had to change.

Accordingly, the 299 constituencies are distributed among the 16 Länder as follows:

Land	Constituency number	Number of constituencies
Schleswig-Holstein	1 to 11	11
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	12 to 17	6
Hamburg	18 to 23	6
Niedersachsen	24 to 53	30
Bremen	54 and 55	2
Brandenburg	56 to 65	10
Sachsen-Anhalt	66 to 74	9
Berlin	75 to 86	12
Nordrhein-Westfalen	87 to 150	64
Sachsen	151 to 166	16
Hessen	167 to 188	22
Thüringen	189 to 196	8
Rheinland-Pfalz	197 to 211	15
Bayern	212 to 257	46
Baden-Württemberg	258 to 295	38
Saarland	296 to 299	4

Map of constituencies for the elections to the 19^th German Bundestag

The multi-coloured “Map of constituencies for the elections to the 19^th German Bundestag” presents the delimitation of constituencies which will be valid at the next Bundestag election. It shows the numbers and boundaries of all constituencies and their composition of administrative districts and towns not attached to an administrative district and, separately, the delimitation of constituencies of those large cities which are subdivided into several constituencies.