Darmstadt (electoral district)

185 Darmstadt
185 Darmstadt
Electoral district; for the Bundestag
	Darmstadt in 2025
State	Hesse
Population	349,900 (2019)
Electorate	240,763 (2021)
Major settlements	Darmstadt; Griesheim; Weiterstadt
Area	449.3 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	SPD
Member	Andreas Larem
Elected	2021

Darmstadt 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 185. It is located in southern Hesse, comprising the city of Darmstadt and surrounding parts of the Darmstadt-Dieburg district.^[1]

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

Geography

Darmstadt is located in southern Hesse. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the independent city of Darmstadt and the municipalities of Alsbach-Hähnlein, Bickenbach, Eppertshausen, Erzhausen, Griesheim, Messel, Modautal, Mühltal, Münster (Hessen), Ober-Ramstadt, Pfungstadt, Roßdorf, Seeheim-Jugenheim, and Weiterstadt from the Darmstadt-Dieburg district.^[1]

History

Darmstadt was created in 1949. In the 1949 election, it was Hesse constituency 20 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1976, it was number 145. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 143. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 187. In the 2009 through 2021 elections, it was number 186. From the 2025 election, it has been number 185.

Originally, the constituency comprised the independent city of Darmstadt and the Landkreis Darmstadt district. In the 1976 through 1998 elections, it acquired a configuration very similar to its current borders, but excluding the municipalities of Eppertshausen and Münster (Hessen) from the Darmstadt-Dieburg district. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	20	Darmstadt	Darmstadt city Landkreis Darmstadt district
1953	145
1957
1961
1965
1969
1972
1976			Darmstadt city Darmstadt-Dieburg district (only Alsbach-Hähnlein, Bickenbach, Erzhausen, Griesheim, Messel, Modautal, Mühltal, Ober-Ramstadt, Pfungstadt, Roßdorf, Seeheim-Jugenheim, and Weiterstadt municipalities)
1980	143
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	187		Darmstadt city Darmstadt-Dieburg district (only Alsbach-Hähnlein, Bickenbach, Eppertshausen, Erzhausen, Griesheim, Messel, Modautal, Mühltal, Münster (Hessen), Ober-Ramstadt, Pfungstadt, Roßdorf, Seeheim-Jugenheim, and Weiterstadt municipalities)
2005	187
2009	186
2013
2017
2021
2025	185

Members

The constituency has been held by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) during all but three Bundestag terms since its creation. It was first represented by Richard Hammer of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) from 1949 to 1953. Ludwig Metzger of the SPD was elected in 1953 and served until 1969. He was succeeded by Günther Metzger from 1969 to 1976, followed by Reinhold Staudt for one term. Helga Timm then represented it from 1980 to 1990. Eike Ebert served a single term from 1990 to 1994. Andreas Storm of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won it in 1994 and served until 1998, when Walter Hoffmann regained it for the SPD. Brigitte Zypries was representative from 2005 to 2017. Astrid Mannes of the CDU was elected in 2017. Andreas Larem of the SPD was elected in 2021.

	Member	Party	%
1949	Richard Hammer	FDP	36.8
1953	Ludwig Metzger	SPD	42.5
1957			43.0
1961			44.6
1965			48.4
1969	Günther Metzger	SPD	54.2
1972	Günther Metzger	SPD	56.4
1976	Reinhold Staudt	SPD	48.4
1980	Helga Timm	SPD	49.2
1983			46.1
1987			42.7
1990	Eike Ebert	SPD	39.3
1994	Andreas Storm	CDU	40.5
1998	Walter Hoffmann	SPD	46.7
2002	Walter Hoffmann	SPD	48.4
2005	Brigitte Zypries	SPD	44.8
2009			35.0
2013			37.3
2017	Astrid Mannes	CDU	30.7
2021	Andreas Larem	SPD	27.4

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Darmstadt^[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	Andreas Larem		51,046	27.4	2.4	49,273	26.3	3.9
	Greens	Daniela Wagner		44,364	23.8	9.6	41,958	22.4	8.1
	CDU	N Astrid Mannes		42,351	22.7	8.0	34,472	18.4	9.0
	FDP	Julia von Buttlar		17,192	9.2	3.0	22,256	11.9	0.9
	AfD	Meysam Ehtemai		11,210	6.0	3.1	12,194	6.5	3.3
	Left	Fırat Turğut-Wenzel		9,332	5.0	3.5	10,764	5.8	4.5
	PARTEI	Mario Pingel		3,680	2.0		1,984	1.1	0.1
	FW	Harald Paul Uhl		3,237	1.7	0.4	2,139	1.1	0.5
	dieBasis	Gerold Hiemenz		3,129	1.7		2,679	1.4
	Human Environment Animal Protection						2,626	1.4	0.4
	Volt						2,583	1.4
	Team Todenhöfer						1,450	0.8
	Pirates						846	0.5	0.3
	Independent	Mitja Stachowiak		644	0.3
	Bündnis C						351	0.2
	ÖDP						302	0.2	0.1
	Humanists						292	0.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						226	0.1
	NPD						165	0.1	0.1
	V-Partei3						165	0.1	0.1
	MLPD	Anna Schupp		269	0.1	0.1	107	0.1	0.0
	DKP						86	0.0	0.0
	Bündnis 21						63	0.0
	LKR						57	0.0
Informal votes				2,462			1,888
Total valid votes				186,454			187,028
Turnout				188,916	78.5	0.9
	SPD gain from CDU		Majority	6,682	3.6

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Darmstadt^[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	Astrid Mannes		58,216	30.7	5.2	52,218	27.4	7.5
	SPD	Christel Sprößler		56,442	29.7	7.5	42,638	22.4	6.1
	Greens	Daniela Wagner		26,939	14.2	2.5	27,317	14.3	0.1
	AfD	Frank Karnbach		17,227	9.1	5.2	18,654	9.8	4.6
	Left	Michael Friedrichs		16,146	8.5	3.3	19,508	10.2	3.5
	FDP	Nicolas Wallhäußer		11,739	6.2	3.7	20,893	11.0	5.9
	PARTEI						2,280	1.2	0.6
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,820	1.0
	Pirates						1,352	0.7	2.4
	FW	Friedrich Herrmann		2,576	1.4		1,192	0.6	0.1
	ÖDP						534	0.3
	BGE						483	0.3
	NPD						450	0.2	0.5
	DM						409	0.2
	V-Partei³						338	0.2
	MLPD	Anna Schupp		490	0.3		186	0.1	0.0
	DKP						64	0.0
	BüSo						39	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,733			2,133
Total valid votes				189,775			190,375
Turnout				192,508	79.3	4.0
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	1,684	1.0

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Darmstadt^[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	%	±%
	SPD	Y Brigitte Zypries		65,820	37.3	2.2	50,416	28.5	3.4
	CDU	Charles M. Huber		63,397	35.9	0.9	61,677	34.9	6.1
	Greens	Daniela Wagner		20,704	11.7	0.4	25,149	14.2	2.9
	Left	Walter Busch-Hübenbecker		9,111	5.2	1.3	11,866	6.7	1.9
	AfD	Stephan Georg Weber		6,789	3.8		9,169	5.2
	Pirates	Björn Semrau		5,033	2.8	0.6	5,508	3.1	0.6
	FDP	Angelika Nake		4,306	2.4	5.4	8,945	5.1	10.2
	NPD	Sascha Arnold		1,437	0.8	0.3	1,354	0.8	0.1
	PARTEI						991	0.6
	FW						933	0.5
	REP						303	0.2	0.3
	PRO						154	0.1
	MLPD						96	0.1	0.0
	SGP						77	0.0
	BüSo						62	0.0	0.1
Informal votes				4,193			4,090
Total valid votes				176,597			176,700
Turnout				180,790	75.3	0.2
	SPD hold		Majority	2,423	1.4	1.4

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Darmstadt^[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	%	±%
	SPD	Y Brigitte Zypries		60,581	35.0	9.8	43,605	25.1	11.4
	CDU	Andreas Storm		60,536	35.0	2.7	49,924	28.8	1.6
	Greens	Daniela Wagner		20,963	12.1	4.0	29,727	17.1	3.0
	FDP	Christoph Hentzen		13,553	7.8	4.2	26,539	15.3	4.5
	Left	Walter Busch-Hübenbecker		11,213	6.5	2.6	14,869	8.6	3.3
	Pirates	Nicole Hornung		3,866	2.2		4,390	2.5
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,650	1.0	0.2
	NPD	Klaus Dietrich		1,860	1.1	0.1	1,501	0.9	0.0
	REP						788	0.5	0.1
	Independent	Adolf Breitmeier		396	0.2
	BüSo						173	0.1	0.0
	DVU						132	0.1
	MLPD						87	0.1	0.1
Informal votes				3,467			3,050
Total valid votes				172,968			173,385
Turnout				176,435	75.5	4.3
	SPD hold		Majority	45	0.03	7.1

References

^ ^a ^b "Constituency Darmstadt". Federal Returning Officer.
^ "Results for Darmstadt". Federal Returning Officer.
^ Results for Darmstadt
^ Results for Darmstadt
^ Results for Darmstadt
^ Results for Darmstadt

[Area-1] "Constituency Darmstadt". Federal Returning Officer.

[2] "Results for Darmstadt". Federal Returning Officer.

[3] Results for Darmstadt

[4] Results for Darmstadt

[5] Results for Darmstadt

[6] Results for Darmstadt

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Electoral districts of Hesse in the German Bundestag
Current	Waldeck Kassel Werra-Meißner – Hersfeld-Rotenburg Schwalm-Eder Marburg Lahn-Dill Gießen Fulda Main-Kinzig – Wetterau II – Schotten Hochtaunus Wetterau I Rheingau-Taunus – Limburg Wiesbaden Hanau Main-Taunus Frankfurt am Main I Frankfurt am Main II Groß-Gerau Offenbach Darmstadt Odenwald Bergstraße
Other states	Baden-Württemberg Bavaria‎ Berlin Brandenburg‎ Bremen Hamburg‎ Lower Saxony Mecklenburg-Vorpommern North Rhine-Westphalia Rhineland-Palatinate‎ Saarland Saxony Saxony-Anhalt‎ Schleswig-Holstein‎ Thuringia‎
See also	List of Bundestag constituencies Elections in Germany