Fulda is an electoral constituency (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

. It elects one member via

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 173. It is located in eastern

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

, comprising the

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

district and the southeastern part of the

Vogelsbergkreis The Vogelsbergkreis is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Schwalm-Eder, Hersfeld-Rotenburg, Fulda, Main-Kinzig, Wetteraukreis, Gießen and Marburg-Biedenkopf. History The district was created in ...

district. Fulda was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2005, it has been represented by Michael Brand of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Geography

Fulda is located in eastern

. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Fulda district, as well as the Vogelsbergkreis district excluding the municipalities of

Alsfeld Alsfeld () is a town in the center of Hesse, in Germany. Located about north of Frankfurt, Alsfeld is part of the densely populated Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, with nearby Lauterbach, Hesse, Lauterbach (about ...

Antrifttal Antrifttal is a municipality in the Vogelsbergkreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Antrifttal lies, as its name suggests, in the valley (''Tal'') of a brook called the Antrift, a tributary to the Schwalm, between the Vogelsberg in the sou ...

Feldatal Feldatal is a municipality in the Vogelsbergkreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location The community lies 285 to 598 m above sea level on the north slope of the Vogelsberg mountains. Through the community flows the river Felda, which empties int ...

Gemünden (Felda) Gemünden () is a municipality in the Vogelsbergkreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Gemünden lies on the rivers Felda and Ohm, flowing from the Vogelsberg Mountains in the region of Upper Hessen (''Oberhessen'') amongst Homberg Grünbe ...

Homberg (Ohm) Homberg (Ohm) () is a town in the Vogelsbergkreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location The officially recognized climatic spa of Homberg lies from 203 to 350 m above sea level in the valley of the Ohm (river), Ohm, a tributary to the Lahn, some ...

Kirtorf Kirtorf () is a town in the northern Vogelsbergkreis in Hesse, Germany. Through the town runs the ''Deutsche Märchenstraße'', or German Fairytale Road, a touristic route joining many of the places commonly associated with the Brothers Grimm's tal ...

Mücke Mücke is a municipality in the Vogelsbergkreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Mücke lies from 200 to 350 m above sea level in the northwest foothills of the Vogelsberg Mountains on the upper reaches of the river Ohm, a tributary to the ...

, and

Romrod Romrod () is a small town in the Vogelsbergkreis in central Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Through the town flows the river Antrift. Neighbouring communities Romrod borders in the north on the town of Alsfeld, in the east on the community ...

History

Fulda was created in 1949. In the 1949 election, it was Hesse constituency 9 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1976 elections, it was number 134. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 132. In 2002 and 2005, it was number 176. In the 2009 election, it was number 175. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 174. From the 2025 election, it has been number 173. Originally, the constituency comprised the independent city of

and the districts of Landkreis Fulda, Lauterbach, and Schlüchtern. In the 1976 election, it comprised the district of Fulda excluding the municipalities of

Burghaun Burghaun is a municipality in the district of Fulda in the state of Hessen in Germany. Burghaun itself is a small town with about 3,800 residents. Following the administrative reorganization of Germany in 1972 when smaller communities were group ...

Eiterfeld Eiterfeld is a municipality in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated in the north of the district, 25 km north of Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the ...

Hünfeld Hünfeld () is a town in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 16 km northeast of Fulda. In 2000, the town hosted the 40th Hessentag state festival. Hünfeld has a population of close to 16,000. Infrastructure Transpor ...

Nüsttal Nüsttal is a municipality in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the ...

, and

Rasdorf Rasdorf is a municipality in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. Geography Rasdorf is situated within the ''Kuppenrhön''-part of the Rhön hills, at the border of Hesse and Thuringia. Neighbouring communities Rasdorf borders in the no ...

; the municipalities of

Bad Soden-Salmünster Bad Soden-Salmünster () is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Kinzig (Main), Kinzig, between Fulda and Hanau. It has a population of around 13,000. Geography Location The municipality is located o ...

Birstein Birstein is a municipality on the northeastern edge of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis in Hesse, Germany with approximately 6,600 inhabitants. It was the home of the former principality of Isenburg-Birstein. Geography Location The town lies at the souther ...

Brachttal Brachttal is a municipality in the Main-Kinzig district, in Frankfurt Rhine-Main in Hesse, Germany. Districts The Bracht, a tributary of the Kinzig, flows through the ''Tal'' (valley) so the municipality got the name ''Brachttal.'' Brachttal ...

Schlüchtern Schlüchtern () is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hessen, Germany. It is located on the river Kinzig (Main), Kinzig, approximately 30 km southwest of Fulda. Schlüchtern has a population close to 16,000. Location Schlüchtern is locat ...

Sinntal Sinntal (, ) is a municipality in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It has a population of around 8,800. Geography Location Sinntal is located around 30 km south of Fulda in the Main-Kinzig district of Hesse. The municipal terri ...

, Steinau,

Wächtersbach The town of Wächtersbach () is part of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. In 1982, the town hosted the 22nd ''Hessentag'' state festival. Location Wächtersbach lies between the Spessart and the Vogelsberg Mountains in the middle Kinzig ...

, Züntersbach, and the

Gutsbezirk Spessart Gutsbezirk Spessart is a rugged unincorporated area in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis in southeast Hesse, Germany. It represents a separate district (name: Spessart, Gmk. No. 61032). References

Main-Kinzig-Kreis Unincorporated areas of Germany { ...

area from the

Main-Kinzig-Kreis Main-Kinzig-Kreis is a Kreis (district) in the east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Wetteraukreis, Vogelsbergkreis, Fulda, Bad Kissingen, Main-Spessart, Aschaffenburg, Offenbach and the district-free cities of Offenbach and Frankf ...

district; and the municipalities of Freiensteinau, Grebenhain, Herbstein, Lauterbach, Lautertal, Schlitz, Schotten, Ulrichstein, and Wartenberg from the Vogelsbergkreis district. In the 2002 election, it acquired borders very similar to its current configuration, but including the municipalities of

, and

Steinau an der Straße Steinau an der Straße (, ) is a town of around 10,000 inhabitants in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Kinzig (Main), Kinzig, southwest of Fulda. The name ''Steinau'' refers to stones in the river; ''an der ...

from Main-Kinzig-Kreis district, and the municipality of Schwalmtal from Vogelsbergkreis district. It acquired its current borders in the 2013 election.

Members

Due to Fulda area being strongly Catholic, the constituency is considered a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) safe seat and has been held continuously by the party since its creation. It was first represented by

Anton Sabel Anton Sabel (15 October 1902 – 5 January 1983) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and former member of the German Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germ ...

from 1949 to 1957, followed by Hermann Götz from 1957 to 1976.

Alfred Dregger Alfred Dregger (10 December 1920 – 29 June 2002) was a German politician and a leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Dregger was born in Münster. After graduating from a school in Werl, he entered the German Wehrmacht in 19 ...

then served from 1976 to 1998, when he was succeeded by Martin Hohmann. Hohmann was expelled from the CDU group in 2003 for

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

comments, and served as an independent for the rest of his term. Michael Brand was elected in 2005, and re-elected in 2009, 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Election results

2025 election

2021 election

2017 election

2013 election

2009 election

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulda (electoral district) Federal electoral districts in Hesse 1949 establishments in West Germany Constituencies established in 1949 Fulda (district) Vogelsbergkreis