Chemnitz (electoral district)

Chemnitz 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 161. It is located in western Saxony, comprising the city of Chemnitz.^[1]

161 Chemnitz
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Chemnitz in 2025
State	Saxony
Population	246,300 (2019)
Electorate	188,691 (2021)
Major settlements	Chemnitz
Area	221.1 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1990
Party	AfD
Member	Alexander Gauland
Elected	2025

Chemnitz was created for the inaugural 1990 federal election after German reunification. Since 2025, it has been represented by Alexander Gauland of the Alternative for Germany (AfD).^[2]

Geography

Chemnitz is located in western Saxony. As of the 2021 federal election, it is coterminous with the independent city of Chemnitz.^[1]

History

Chemnitz was created after German reunification in 1990, then known as Chemnitz I. It acquired its current name in the 2002 election. In the 1990 through 1998 elections, it was constituency 323 in the numbering system. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 164. In the 2009 election, it was number 163. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 162. From the 2025 election, it has been number 161.

Originally, the constituency comprised the Stadtbezirke of Mitte-Nord, West, and Süd I from the independent city of Chemnitz. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1990	323	Chemnitz I	Chemnitz city (only Mitte-Nord, West, and Süd I Stadtbezirke)
1994
1998
2002	164	Chemnitz	Chemnitz city
2005
2009	163
2013	162
2017
2021
2025	161

Members

The constituency was first represented by Rudolf Meinl of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1990 to 1998. It was won by Jelena Hoffmann of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1998. She was succeeded by fellow SPD member Detlef Müller in the 2005 election. Frank Heinrich of the CDU was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. Former member Müller regained the constituency for the SPD in 2021. Since 2025, the seat has been held by Alexander Gauland of the AfD.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1990	Rudolf Meinl	CDU	43.1
	1994			43.1
	1998	Jelena Hoffmann	SPD	32.4
	2002			35.0
	2005	Detlef Müller	SPD	28.4
	2009	Frank Heinrich	CDU	34.1
	2013			41.7
	2017			26.6
	2021	Detlef Müller	SPD	25.1
	2025	Alexander Gauland	AfD	32.2

Election results

2025 election

Federal election (2025): Chemnitz[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	%	±%
	AfD	Alexander Gauland		46,418	32.2	10.3	47,095	32.7	11.1
	CDU	Nora Seitz		30,849	21.4	2.9	28,020	19.4	4.6
	SPD	N Detlef Müller		24,106	16.7	8.4	16,006	11.1	12.3
	Left	Marten Richard Henning		14,354	10.0	1.0	17,643	12.2	1.5
	BSW	Christian Schweiger		13,198	9.2	New	15,503	10.7	New
	Greens	Christin Furtenbacher		6,562	4.6	2.6	9,571	6.6	2.4
	FDP	Norma Grube		3,316	2.3	7.7	4,522	3.1	8.2
	Tierschutzpartei						1,816	1.3	0.6
	FW	Sven Galambos		2,066	1.4	New	1,402	1.0	0.5
	PARTEI	Tommy Nguyen		1,510	1.0	1.8	912	0.6	1.0
	Volt	Sebastian Töpper		845	0.6	New	802	0.6	0.3
	BD	Thomas Goebel		555	0.4	New	442	0.3	New
	Humanists	Eric Nils Clausnitzer		365	0.2	New	213	0.1	0.1
	Pirates						206	0.1	0.2
	MLPD						73	0.1
Informal votes				777			695
Total valid votes				144,144			144,226
Turnout				144,921	79.1	4.5
	AfD gain from SPD		Majority	15,572	10.8	N/A

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Chemnitz[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	%	±%
	SPD	Detlef Müller		34,958	25.1	9.7	32,616	23.4	11.5
	AfD	Michael Klonovsky		30,502	21.9	2.1	30,089	21.6	2.7
	CDU	N Frank Heinrich		25,801	18.5	8.0	20,713	14.8	10.0
	Left	Tim Detzner		15,229	10.9	8.5	15,008	10.8	8.4
	FDP	Frank Müller-Rosentritt		13,934	10.0	3.4	15,781	11.3	3.0
	Greens	Karola Köpferl		9,934	7.1	2.9	12,680	9.1	4.4
	Tierschutzpartei						2,620	1.9	0.5
	PARTEI	Paul Vogel		3,997	2.9	0.5	2,280	1.6	0.2
	dieBasis	Normen Lienow		2,492	1.8		2,097	1.5
	FW						1,997	1.4	0.7
	Gesundheitsforschung						609	0.4
	Pirates						440	0.3	0.3
	Bündnis C						378	0.3
	ÖDP	Bert Rohne		679	0.5		359	0.3	0.0
	Volt						346	0.2
	V-Partei3	Thomas Lörinczy		622	0.4		320	0.2	0.0
	Independent	Daniel Richter		518	0.4
	Independent	Jörg Weidemann		362	0.3
	Team Todenhöfer						311	0.2
	Independent	Hans Röhder		301	0.2
	Humanists						296	0.2
	NPD						252	0.2	0.6
	The III. Path						164	0.1
	DKP						133	0.1
	MLPD						90	0.1	0.0
Informal votes				1,371			1,121
Total valid votes				139,329			139,579
Turnout				140,700	74.6	0.6
	SPD gain from CDU		Majority	4,456	3.2

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Chemnitz[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 Frank Heinrich		38,653	26.6	15.1	36,270	24.9	14.1
	AfD	Nico Köhler		34,958	24.0		35,456	24.3	18.3
	Left	Michael Leutert		28,213	19.4	4.5	28,010	19.2	3.9
	SPD	Detlef Müller		22,413	15.4	5.5	17,373	11.9	5.6
	FDP	Frank Müller-Rosentritt		9,535	6.6	4.5	12,184	8.4	5.5
	Greens	Meike Roden		6,157	4.2	0.6	6,818	4.7	0.7
	PARTEI	Paul Thomas Vogel		3,432	2.4	1.2	2,746	1.9
	Tierschutzpartei						2,042	1.4
	NPD						1,149	0.8	1.5
	FW						1,068	0.7	0.1
	Pirates	Toni Rotter		1,403	1.0	1.1	874	0.6	1.9
	BGE						478	0.3
	DiB						407	0.3
	ÖDP						308	0.2
	V-Partei³						277	0.2
	BüSo	Stephan Hochstein		789	0.5		255	0.2	0.0
	MLPD						156	0.1	0.0
Informal votes				1,665			1,347
Total valid votes				145,553			145,871
Turnout				147,218	75.1	7.6
	CDU hold		Majority	3,695	2.6	15.3

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Chemnitz[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	Y Frank Heinrich		55,909	41.7	7.5	52,380	38.9	8.4
	Left	Michael Leutert		31,992	23.8	4.0	31,014	23.1	5.5
	SPD	Detlef Müller		28,101	20.9	0.8	23,558	17.5	0.4
	AfD						8,138	6.0
	Greens	Petra Zais		6,475	4.8	1.2	7,168	5.3	1.8
	NPD	Ines Schreiber		4,661	3.5	0.6	3,135	2.3	0.4
	Pirates	Toni Rotter		2,808	2.1		3,298	2.5
	FDP	Kristian Reinhold		2,724	2.0	7.0	3,865	2.9	9.9
	PARTEI	Tobias Göthert		1,505	1.1
	FW						1,081	0.8
	PRO						537	0.4
	MLPD						184	0.1	0.1
	BüSo						170	0.1	0.5
Informal votes				1,701			1,348
Total valid votes				134,175			134,528
Turnout				135,876	67.5	1.3
	CDU hold		Majority	23,917	17.9	11.7

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Chemnitz[7]
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	Frank Heinrich		45,876	34.1	6.1	41,081	30.5	6.2
	Left	Michael Leutert		37,433	27.9	1.3	38,448	28.6	2.2
	SPD	N Detlef Müller		27,060	20.1	8.3	22,991	17.1	9.6
	FDP	Robin John		12,106	9.0	2.1	17,147	12.7	2.9
	Greens	Petra Zais		8,109	6.0	2.3	9,524	7.1	1.6
	NPD	Jörg Schubert		3,800	2.8	0.1	3,651	2.7	0.5
	BüSo						813	0.6	0.1
	REP						537	0.4	1.3
	MLPD						305	0.2	0.1
Informal votes				1,716			1,603
Total valid votes				134,384			134,497
Turnout				136,100	66.2	9.9
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	8,443	6.2