Rhein-Erft-Kreis I

Rhein-Erft-Kreis I 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 90. It is located in western North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising most of the Rhein-Erft-Kreis district.

90 Rhein-Erft-Kreis I
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Rhein-Erft-Kreis I in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	340,100 (2019)
Electorate	249,035 (2021)
Major settlements	Kerpen Bergheim Hürth
Area	525.3 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CDU
Member	Georg Kippels
Elected	2013, 2017, 2021

Rhein-Erft-Kreis I was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2013, it has been represented by Georg Kippels of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Geography

Rhein-Erft-Kreis I is located in western North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Rhein-Erft-Kreis district excluding the municipalities of Brühl, Erftstadt, and Wesseling.

History

Rhein-Erft-Kreis I was created in 1949, then known as Köln-Land. In the 1976 through 2009 elections, it was named Erftkreis I. It acquired its current name in the 2013 election. In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 6 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1961 elections, it was number 65. From 1965 through 1976, it was number 58. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 57. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 92. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 91. From the 2025 election, it has been number 90.

Originally, the constituency was coterminous with the district of Landkreis Köln. It acquired its current borders in the 1980 election. The Erftkreis district was renamed Rhein-Erft-Kreis in 2003, but the constituency's borders did not change.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	6	Köln-Land	Landkreis Köln district
1953	65
1957
1961
1965	58
1969
1972
1976		Erftkreis I
1980	57		Erftkreis district (excluding Brühl, Erftstadt, and Wesseling municipalities)
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	92
2005			Rhein-Erft-Kreis district (excluding Brühl, Erftstadt, and Wesseling municipalities)
2009
2013	91	Rhein-Erft-Kreis I
2017
2021
2025	90

Members

The constituency was first represented by Aloys Lenz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1949 to 1969. The Social Democratic Party (SPD)'s candidate Rudi Adams won it in 1969 and served until 1980. He was succeeded by fellow SPD member Klaus Lennartz until 2002. Gabriele Frechen of the SPD then served from 2002 to 2009. Willi Zylajew of the CDU was elected in the 2009 election and served a single term. Georg Kippels was elected in 2013, and re-elected in 2017 and 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Aloys Lenz	CDU	43.0
	1953			53.6
	1957			58.8
	1961			53.6
	1965			51.9
	1969	Rudi Adams	SPD	48.8
	1972			53.2
	1976			46.4
	1980	Klaus Lennartz	SPD	52.1
	1983			48.3
	1987			50.8
	1990			52.1
	1994			51.2
	1998			53.0
	2002	Gabriele Frechen	SPD	48.9
	2005			47.8
	2009	Willi Zylajew	CDU	39.4
	2013	Georg Kippels	CDU	47.3
	2017			39.2
	2021			33.0

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Rhein-Erft-Kreis I
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 Georg Kippels		63,635	33.0	6.2	55,068	28.5	5.1
	SPD	Aaron Spielmanns		58,858	30.5	0.5	54,714	28.3	1.9
	Greens	Rüdiger Warnecke		25,409	13.2	7.7	27,566	14.3	7.7
	FDP	Stefan Westerschulze		17,542	9.1	0.2	24,227	12.5	1.9
	AfD	Eugen Schmidt		13,537	7.0	2.0	13,417	6.9	2.6
	Left	Sirin Seitz		5,889	3.1	1.5	5,682	2.9	3.1
	Tierschutzpartei						2,767	1.4	0.6
	Team Todenhöfer						1,627	0.8
	PARTEI						1,446	0.7	0.1
	Pirates	Kristian Katzmarek		2,860	1.5	0.3	1,237	0.6	0.1
	dieBasis	Patrik Müller		2,218	1.1		1,762	0.9
	FW	Ulrich Wokulat		2,132	1.1		1,439	0.7	0.5
	Volt						708	0.4
	LIEBE	Helene Susojev		873	0.5		471	0.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						215	0.1	0.0
	LfK						183	0.1
	The Homeland						167	0.1	0.1
	Humanists						147	0.1	0.0
	ÖDP						100	0.1	0.0
	V-Partei3						99	0.1	0.0
	du.						93	0.0
	Bündnis C						65	0.0
	PdF						70	0.0
	LKR						52	0.2
	DKP						32	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						27	0.0	0.0
	SGP						20	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,909			1,461
Total valid votes				192,953			193,401
Turnout				194,862	78.2	1.3
	CDU hold		Majority	4,777	2.5	5.5

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Rhein-Erft-Kreis I
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 Georg Kippels		74,207	39.2	8.1	63,664	33.5	8.7
	SPD	Dierk Timm		58,792	31.1	5.0	50,014	26.3	4.5
	FDP	Christian Pohlmann		17,648	9.3	6.3	27,398	14.4	8.7
	AfD	Franz Pesch		17,113	9.0		18,091	9.5	5.8
	Greens	Rüdiger Warnecke		10,354	5.5	0.1	12,526	6.6	0.3
	Left	Zeki Gökhan		8,590	4.5	0.1	11,392	6.0	0.8
	Tierschutzpartei						1,505	0.8
	PARTEI						1,263	0.7	0.3
	Pirates	Marius Hövel		2,306	1.2	2.4	1,032	0.5	1.6
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						609	0.3
	FW						508	0.3	0.2
	The Homeland						426	0.2	0.8
	Independent	Tevfik Çelikkan		329	0.2
	Volksabstimmung						238	0.1	0.1
	DiB						199	0.1
	V-Partei³						181	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						168	0.1
	BGE						158	0.1
	DM						155	0.1
	ÖDP						132	0.1	0.1
	Die Humanisten						131	0.1
	MLPD						45	0.0	0.0
	DKP						17	0.0
	SGP						16	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,166			1,637
Total valid votes				189,339			189,868
Turnout				191,505	76.9	3.1
	CDU hold		Majority	15,415	8.1	3.2

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Rhein-Erft-Kreis I
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	Georg Kippels		83,598	47.3	7.9	75,521	42.3	8.1
	SPD	Dierk Timm		63,676	36.0	0.2	55,089	30.8	3.2
	Greens	Elmar Gillet		9,822	5.6	0.8	12,264	6.9	2.2
	Left	Zeki Gökhan		7,820	4.4	1.9	9,266	5.2	2.2
	Pirates	Alexandra Osburg		6,469	3.7		3,865	2.2	0.7
	FDP	Martin Wortmann		5,390	3.0	7.4	10,235	5.7	10.9
	AfD						6,660	3.7
	The Homeland						1,769	1.0	0.1
	FW						747	0.4
	PRO						700	0.4
	PARTEI						691	0.4
	Volksabstimmung						407	0.2	0.1
	Nichtwahler						313	0.2
	REP						245	0.1	0.1
	Party of Reason						227	0.1
	BIG						225	0.1
	ÖDP						221	0.1	0.1
	RRP						108	0.1	0.0
	Die Rechte						73	0.0
	BüSo						46	0.0	0.0
	PSG						44	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						19	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				6,195			4,235
Total valid votes				176,775			178,735
Turnout				182,970	73.9	0.5
	CDU hold		Majority	19,922	11.3	7.7

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Erftkreis I
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	Willi Zylajew		69,845	39.4	0.1	60,798	34.2	0.6
	SPD	Gabriele Frechen		63,487	35.8	12.0	49,072	27.6	13.3
	FDP	Lars Oliver Effertz		18,620	10.5	5.6	29,495	16.6	5.4
	Left	Wilhelm Dedecke		11,215	6.3	2.6	13,214	7.4	2.8
	Greens	Johannes Bortlisz-Dickhoff		11,195	6.3	3.2	16,136	9.1	2.3
	Pirates						2,688	1.5
	The Homeland	Axel Reitz		2,620	1.5	0.4	1,952	1.1	0.3
	Tierschutzpartei						1,333	0.7	0.1
	RENTNER						933	0.5
	FAMILIE						793	0.4	0.0
	REP						500	0.3	0.0
	Volksabstimmung						236	0.1	0.0
	RRP						195	0.1
	ÖDP						151	0.1
	DVU						98	0.1
	Centre						80	0.1	0.0
	BüSo						42	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						33	0.0	0.0
	PSG						29	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,597			2,259
Total valid votes				177,440			177,778
Turnout				180,037	73.4	6.2
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	6,358	3.6