256 Oberallgäu
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Oberallgäu in 2017
State	Bavaria
Population	307,100 (2019)
Electorate	228,803 (2021)
Major settlements	Kempten Lindau Sonthofen
Area	1,914.6 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CSU
Member	Mechthilde Wittmann
Elected	2021

Oberallgäu 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 256. It is located in southwestern Bavaria, comprising the city of Kempten and the districts of Lindau and Oberallgäu.^[1]

Oberallgäu was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Mechthilde Wittmann of the Christian Social Union (CSU).^[2]

Geography

Oberallgäu is located in southwestern Bavaria. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the independent city of Kempten and the districts of Lindau and Oberallgäu.^[1]

History

Oberallgäu was created in 1949, then known as Kempten. It acquired its current name in the 1976 election. In the 1949 election, it was Bavaria constituency 46 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1961 elections, it was number 241. In the 1965 through 1972 elections, it was number 243. In the 1976 through 1998 elections, it was number 242. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 257. Since the 2009 election, it has been number 256.

Originally, the constituency comprised the independent cities of Kempten and Lindau and the districts of Landkreis Kempten, Landkreis Lindau, and Sonthofen. In the 1965 through 1972 elections, it also contained the district of Füssen. It acquired its current borders in the 1976 election.

Members

Like most constituencies in rural Bavaria, it is an CSU safe seat, the party holding the seat continuously since its creation. It was first represented by Karl von Spreti from 1949 to 1957, followed by Georg Krug from 1957 to 1969 and Wolfgang Pohle from 1969 to 1972. Ignaz Kiechle was representative from 1972 to 1994. Gerd Müller was elected in 1994 and served until 2021. He was succeeded by Mechthilde Wittmann in 2021.

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Oberallgäu[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	%	±%
	CSU	Mechthilde Wittmann		53,566	29.7	20.7	55,017	30.4	11.1
	SPD	Martin Holderied		28,401	15.8	3.5	29,910	16.5	4.2
	Greens	Pius Bandte		27,817	15.4	6.2	27,393	15.2	3.9
	FDP	Stephan Thomae		23,604	13.1	6.1	20,953	11.6	0.8
	FW	Annette Hauser-Felberbaum		16,181	9.0	4.5	14,970	8.3	5.3
	AfD	Rainer Rothfuß		14,473	8.0	1.6	14,350	7.9	2.6
	dieBasis	Dietrich Busacker		5,508	3.1		5,209	2.9
	Left	Engelbert Blessing		4,911	2.7	2.0	5,043	2.8	3.0
	Tierschutzpartei						1,959	1.1	0.2
	PARTEI	Tommy Schwellinger		2,269	1.3		1,371	0.8	0.2
	ÖDP	Franz Natterer-Babych		2,233	1.2	0.0	1,253	0.7	0.2
	BP						519	0.3	0.4
	Pirates						515	0.3	0.0
	Team Todenhöfer						476	0.3
	Volt						357	0.2
	V-Partei3	Marcel Frey		731	0.4		306	0.2	0.0
	Independent	Alfred Dorn		444	0.2
	Unabhängige						285	0.2
	Bündnis C						186	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						184	0.1	0.0
	Humanists						136	0.1
	du.						104	0.1
	NPD						94	0.1	0.2
	The III. Path						76	0.0
	DKP						30	0.0	0.0
	LKR						30	0.0
	MLPD						15	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,617			1,014
Total Valid votes				180,138			180,741
Turnout				181,755	79.4	1.6
	CSU hold		Majority	25,165	13.9	24.2

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Oberallgäu[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	%	±%
	CSU	Y Gerd Müller		88,357	50.4	10.2	72,855	41.5	10.8
	SPD	Katharina Schrader		21,451	12.2	5.1	21,725	12.4	3.6
	AfD	Peter Felser		16,825	9.6		18,529	10.6	6.2
	Greens	Erna-Kathrein Groll		16,162	9.2	0.8	19,792	11.3	2.0
	FDP	Stephan Thomae		12,262	7.0	3.4	18,935	10.8	5.1
	Left	Franz Xaver Merk		8,264	4.7	1.1	10,130	5.8	2.2
	FW	Hugo Wirthensohn		7,805	4.5		5,156	2.9	0.4
	ÖDP	Lucia Fischer		2,233	1.3	1.4	1,607	0.9	0.4
	BP	Josef Kirchmann		1,838	1.0		1,289	0.7	0.1
	PARTEI						929	0.5
	Pirates						577	0.3	1.2
	BGE						559	0.3
	DM						431	0.2
	NPD						365	0.2	0.3
	V-Partei³						326	0.2
	DiB						229	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						211	0.1
	MLPD						40	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						28	0.0	0.0
	DKP						18	0.0
Informal votes				1,240			1,092
Total Valid votes				175,197			175,345
Turnout				176,437	77.9	8.5
	CSU hold		Majority	66,906	38.2	5.2

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Oberallgäu[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	%	±%
	CSU	Y Gerd Müller		93,494	60.7	7.6	80,902	52.3	7.5
	SPD	Katharina Schrader		26,722	17.3	5.2	24,776	16.0	3.1
	Greens	Michael Schropp		13,011	8.4	4.4	14,329	9.3	2.0
	Left	Stefan Albanesi		5,530	3.6	1.4	5,574	3.6	1.9
	FDP	Stephan Thomae		5,501	3.6	7.6	8,749	5.7	10.9
	AfD						6,695	4.3
	FW						3,918	2.5
	ÖDP	Wilhelm Vachenauer		4,127	2.7	0.7	2,089	1.4	0.1
	Pirates	Ralph Osterkamp		3,072	2.0		2,431	1.6	0.1
	Tierschutzpartei						1,201	0.8	0.1
	REP	Ludwig Streitle		2,236	1.5	0.1	1,052	0.7	0.5
	BP						976	0.6	0.3
	NPD						861	0.6	0.2
	DIE FRAUEN						290	0.2
	DIE VIOLETTEN						230	0.1	0.1
	RRP	Maximilian Schönberger		411	0.3		161	0.1	0.5
	Party of Reason						153	0.1
	PRO						99	0.1
	MLPD						35	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						30	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,531			1,084
Total Valid votes				154,104			154,551
Turnout				155,635	69.4	2.3
	CSU hold		Majority	66,772	43.4	3.2

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Oberallgäu[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	%	±%
	CSU	Y Gerd Müller		83,181	53.0	8.5	70,559	44.9	8.1
	Greens	Thomas Hartmann		20,093	12.8	4.4	17,753	11.3	3.1
	SPD	Reinhard Strehlke		19,107	12.2	8.3	20,392	13.0	8.0
	FDP	Stephan Thomae		17,464	11.1	5.8	26,018	16.5	5.7
	Left	Stefan Albanesi		7,842	5.0	2.2	8,735	5.6	2.6
	Pirates						2,635	1.7
	ÖDP	Wilhelm Vachenauer		3,150	2.0		2,299	1.5
	BP	Josef Kirchmann		2,606	1.7		1,507	1.0	0.5
	REP	Konrad Huber		2,092	1.3		1,800	1.1	0.1
	NPD	Alexander Kreidemann		1,314	0.8	0.5	1,202	0.8	0.1
	FAMILIE						1,200	0.8	0.1
	Tierschutzpartei						1,039	0.7
	RRP						983	0.6
	CM						357	0.2
	DIE VIOLETTEN						353	0.2
	PBC						242	0.2	0.1
	DVU						71	0.0
	BüSo						53	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						41	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,008			1,618
Total Valid votes				156,849			157,239
Turnout				158,857	71.7	6.5
	CSU hold		Majority	63,088	40.2	0.8

References