Gotha – Ilm-Kreis

Gotha – Ilm-Kreis 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 191. It is located in west-central Thuringia, comprising the districts of Gotha and Ilm-Kreis.

191 Gotha – Ilm-Kreis
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Gotha – Ilm-Kreis in 2025
State	Thuringia
Population	241,200 (2019)
Electorate	190,519 (2021)
Major settlements	Gotha Ilmenau Arnstadt
Area	1,741.2 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1990
Party	AfD
Member	Marcus Bühl
Elected	2021

Gotha – Ilm-Kreis was created for the inaugural 1990 federal election after German reunification. Since 2021, it has been represented by Marcus Bühl of the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Geography

Gotha – Ilm-Kreis is located in west-central Thuringia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the districts of Gotha and Ilm-Kreis.

History

Gotha – Ilm-Kreis was created after German reunification in 1990, then known as Gotha – Arnstadt. It acquired its current name in the 2002 election. In the 1990 through 1998 elections, it was constituency 299 in the numbering system. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 193. In the 2009 through 2021 elections, it was number 192. From the 2025 election, it has been number 191.

Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Gotha and Arnstadt. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1990	299	Gotha – Arnstadt	Gotha district Arnstadt district
1994
1998
2002	193	Gotha – Ilm-Kreis	Gotha district Ilm-Kreis district
2005
2009	192
2013
2017
2021
2025	191

Members

The constituency was first represented by Gerhard Päselt of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1990 to 1998. Gerhard Neumann won it for the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1998 and served a single term. He was succeeded by fellow SPD member Petra Heß from 2002 to 2009. Tankred Schipanski of the CDU was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. Marcus Bühl won the constituency for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1990	Gerhard Päselt	CDU	46.7
	1994			43.1
	1998	Gerhard Neumann	SPD	40.1
	2002	Petra Heß	SPD	41.8
	2005			37.2
	2009	Tankred Schipanski	CDU	29.1
	2013			38.3
	2017			29.0
	2021	Marcus Bühl	AfD	26.5

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Gotha – Ilm-Kreis
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	%	±%
	AfD	Marcus Bühl		37,249	26.5	2.6	36,522	26.0	1.9
	SPD	Michael Müller		33,085	23.5	4.9	33,437	23.8	9.8
	CDU	N Tankred Schipanski		25,918	18.4	10.5	21,820	15.5	12.3
	Left	Cornelia Wanderer		15,579	11.1	4.5	15,454	11.0	4.7
	FDP	Martin Mölders		9,494	6.8	0.7	12,126	8.6	0.9
	Greens	Stephan Ostermann		6,498	4.6	1.3	8,100	5.8	2.0
	FW	Sylke Mönch		5,622	4.0	0.4	3,810	2.7	0.9
	PARTEI	Frank-Peter Prüger		2,783	2.0		1,791	1.3	0.5
	dieBasis	Sven-Jarno Bien		2,435	1.7		2,351	1.7
	Human Environment Animal Protection						2,168	1.5
	Graue Panther	André Pfannschmidt		961	0.7
	Pirates						759	0.5	0.0
	THP	Timo Pradel		549	0.4
	Volt						468	0.3
	NPD						437	0.3	0.9
	Menschliche Welt						405	0.3
	Team Todenhöfer						297	0.2
	MLPD	Louisa von Freytag-Löringhoff		411	0.3		235	0.2	0.0
	Humanists						173	0.1
	ÖDP						162	0.1	0.3
	V-Partei3						133	0.1	0.1
Informal votes				1,982			1,918
Total valid votes				140,584			140,648
Turnout				142,566	74.8	0.2
	AfD gain from CDU		Majority	4,164	3.0

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Gotha – Ilm-Kreis
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 Tankred Schipanski		42,221	29.0	8.3	40,576	27.8	10.4
	AfD	Carsten Günther		34,798	23.9	18.1	35,091	24.1	16.6
	SPD	Petra Heß		27,120	18.6	6.3	20,391	14.0	3.1
	Left	Anke Hofmann-Domke		22,674	15.6	4.6	22,920	15.7	6.4
	FDP	Martin Mölders		8,775	6.0	4.7	11,218	7.7	5.3
	FW	Wolfgang Sturm		5,198	3.6	2.1	2,691	1.8	0.3
	Greens	Matthias Schlegel		4,809	3.3	0.3	5,411	3.7	0.9
	PARTEI						2,654	1.8
	NPD						1,824	1.3	1.9
	DM						829	0.6
	Pirates						733	0.5	2.1
	ÖDP						541	0.4	0.2
	BGE						459	0.3
	V-Partei³						347	0.2
	MLPD						193	0.1	0.0
Informal votes				2,470			2,187
Total valid votes				145,595			145,878
Turnout				148,065	74.7	5.9
	CDU hold		Majority	7,423	5.1	7.2

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Gotha – Ilm-Kreis
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 Tankred Schipanski		51,861	37.3	8.2	53,196	38.2	7.5
	SPD	Petra Heß		34,726	25.0	1.9	23,815	17.1	2.5
	Left	Martina Renner		28,015	20.1	5.9	30,758	22.1	5.6
	AfD	Jens Dietrich		8,063	5.8		10,309	7.4
	NPD	Sebastian Reiche		4,689	3.4	0.6	4,416	3.2	0.4
	Greens	Steffen Fuchs		4,117	3.0	2.4	6,414	4.6	0.9
	Pirates	Andreas Kaßbohm		3,656	2.6		3,566	2.6	0.3
	FW	Annette Garcia		2,067	1.5		2.079	1.5
	FDP	Torsten Köhler-Hohlfeld		1,879	1.4	5.9	3,280	2.4	6.6
	ÖDP						734	0.5	0.2
	REP						343	0.2	0.1
	MLPD						182	0.1	0.0
Informal votes				2,388			2,369
Total valid votes				139,073			139,092
Turnout				141,461	68.7	3.5
	CDU hold		Majority	17,135	12.3	10.1

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Gotha – Ilm-Kreis
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	Tankred Schipanski		40,063	29.1	0.0	42,479	30.8	4.3
	SPD	N Petra Heß		37,032	26.9	10.3	27,092	19.6	11.2
	Left	Cornelia Hirsch		35,942	26.1	4.7	38,257	27.7	3.0
	FDP	Anja Kolbe		10,056	7.3	2.6	12,393	9.0	1.4
	Greens	Katrin Göring-Eckardt		7,391	5.4	2.8	7,608	5.5	1.1
	NPD	Sebastian Reiche		5,475	4.0	0.4	4,924	3.6	0.3
	Pirates						3,992	2.9
	Independent	Stephan Beyer		1,176	0.9
	Independent	Silke Möller		672	0.5
	REP						513	0.4	0.3
	ÖDP						499	0.4
	MLPD						191	0.1	0.3
Informal votes				2,112			1,971
Total valid votes				137,807			137,948
Turnout				139,919	65.2	10.6
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	3,031	2.2