Ahrweiler (electoral district)

197 Ahrweiler
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Ahrweiler in 2025
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
Population	250,200 (2019)
Electorate	195,109 (2021)
Major settlements	Andernach Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler Mayen
Area	1,337.3 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CDU
Member	Mechthild Heil
Elected	2009, 2013, 2017, 2021

Ahrweiler 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 197. It is located in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, comprising the Ahrweiler district and the western part of the Mayen-Koblenz district.

Ahrweiler was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2009, it has been represented by Mechthild Heil of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Geography

Ahrweiler is located in northern Rhineland-Palatinate. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the district of Ahrweiler as well as the municipalities of Andernach and Mayen and the Verbandsgemeinden of Maifeld, Mendig, Pellenz, and Vordereifel from the district of Mayen-Koblenz.

History

Ahrweiler was created in 1949. In the 1949 election, it was Rhineland-Palatinate constituency 2 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1976 elections, it was number 149. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it was number 147. In the 2002 election, it was number 201. In the 2005 election, it was number 200. In the 2009 and 2013 elections, it was number 199. In the 2017 and 2021 elections, it was number 198. From the 2025 election, it has been number 197.

Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Ahrweiler and Mayen. It acquired its current borders in the 1972 election, although the Verbandsgemeinden of Pellenz and Vordereifel were known as Andernach-Land and Mayen-Land, respectively, until 2002.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	2	Ahrweiler	Ahrweiler district Mayen district
1953	149
1957
1961
1965
1969
1972			Ahrweiler district Mayen-Koblenz district (only Andernach and Mayen municipalities and Maifeld, Mendig, Pellenz, and Vordereifel Verbandsgemeinden)
1976
1980	147
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	201
2005	200
2009	199
2013
2017	198
2021
2025	197

Members

The constituency has been held continuously by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since its creation. It was first represented by Johann Junglas from 1949 to 1953, followed by Otto Lenz until 1957. Johann Peter Josten served from 1957 to 1980. He was succeeded by Karl Deres, who was representative until 1994. Wilhelm Josef Sebastian served from 1994 to 2009. Mechthild Heil was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Johann Junglas	CDU	67.9
	1953	Otto Lenz	CDU	71.8
	1957	Johann Peter Josten	CDU	73.9
	1961			69.0
	1965			67.4
	1969			62.0
	1972			57.8
	1976			60.0
	1980	Karl Deres	CDU	56.4
	1983			62.8
	1987			57.6
	1990			54.2
	1994	Wilhelm Josef Sebastian	CDU	52.9
	1998			48.3
	2002			48.3
	2005			49.6
	2009	Mechthild Heil	CDU	45.5
	2013			55.5
	2017			42.8
	2021			34.3

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Ahrweiler
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 Mechthild Heil		50,281	34.3	8.5	41,942	28.5	12.1
	SPD	Christoph Schmitt		44,325	30.2	2.9	42,303	28.8	6.0
	Greens	Martin Schmitt		15,553	10.6	4.9	17,685	12.0	5.3
	FDP	Jannick Simon		12,124	8.3	0.4	17,484	11.9	0.3
	AfD	Rüdiger Nothnick		10,823	7.4	1.4	11,322	7.7	1.9
	FW	Stefan Mies		6,942	4.7		4,908	3.3	2.6
	Left	Aziz Aldemir		3,537	2.4	2.1	3,851	2.6	3.1
	Tierschutzpartei						2,021	1.4
	dieBasis	Franz-Gerhard Hoyer		1,878	1.3		1,613	1.1
	PARTEI						1,208	0.8	0.0
	Pirates						673	0.5	0.0
	Team Todenhöfer						609	0.1
	Volt						557	0.4
	ÖDP	Brigitte Doege		686	0.5		331	0.2	0.0
	Independent	Alina Mandel		456	0.3
	NPD						145	0.1	0.2
	V-Partei3						124	0.1	0.2
	Humanists						116	0.1
	DiB						107	0.1
	LKR						62	0.0
	MLPD						26	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,861			1,379
Total valid votes				146,605			147,087
Turnout				148,466	76.1	1.4
	CDU hold		Majority	5,956	4.1	11.4

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Ahrweiler
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 Mechthild Heil		64,006	42.8	12.7	60,937	40.6	8.2
	SPD	Andrea Nahles		40,944	27.4	0.6	34,113	22.7	1.9
	AfD	Kathrin Koch		13,105	8.8		14,437	9.6	4.4
	FDP	Christina Steinhausen		12,981	8.7	6.3	17,397	11.6	6.0
	Greens	Martin Schmitt		8,616	5.8	0.2	10,059	6.7	0.1
	Left	Marion Morassi		6,790	4.5	0.1	8,519	5.7	1.0
	Independent	Siegfried Verdonk		1,885	1.3
	PARTEI						1,297	0.9
	FW						1,134	0.8	0.1
	Pirates	Axel Ritter		1,268	0.8	2.2	623	0.4	1.7
	NPD						415	0.3	0.5
	V-Partei³						387	0.3
	ÖDP						367	0.2	0.1
	BGE						267	0.2
	MLPD						37	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,992			1,598
Total valid votes				149,595			149,989
Turnout				151,587	77.5	4.4
	CDU hold		Majority	23,062	15.4	12.1

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Ahrweiler
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 Mechthild Heil		77,379	55.5	10.0	68,680	48.8	8.9
	SPD	Andrea Nahles		39,071	28.0	3.1	34,660	24.6	3.5
	Greens	Klaus Meurer		7,813	5.6	1.8	9,287	6.6	1.9
	AfD						7,328	5.2
	Left	Marion Morassi		6,221	4.5	1.6	6,569	4.7	2.7
	Pirates	Gernot Reipen		4,255	3.1		2,920	2.1	0.5
	FDP	Michael Salzmann		3,313	2.4	12.6	7,897	5.6	13.3
	NPD						1,067	0.8	0.1
	FW						929	0.7
	ÖDP	Rainer Hilgert		1,439	1.0		555	0.4	0.1
	PRO						261	0.2
	Party of Reason						261	0.2
	REP						212	0.2	0.1
	MLPD						34	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				3,103			1,934
Total valid votes				139,491			140,660
Turnout				142,594	73.1	1.9
	CDU hold		Majority	38,308	27.5	6.9

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Ahrweiler
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	Mechthild Heil		62,145	45.5	4.1	54,737	39.9	3.2
	SPD	Andrea Nahles		33,987	24.9	11.1	28,973	21.1	10.7
	FDP	Christina Theresa Steinheuer		20,470	15.0	9.2	25,933	18.9	6.7
	Greens	Frank Bliss		10,094	7.4	3.5	11,622	8.5	2.5
	Left	Gert Winkelmeier		8,310	6.1	2.3	10,171	7.4	2.9
	Pirates						2,204	1.6
	NPD	Hans-Robert Klug		1,527	1.1	0.1	1,192	0.9	0.0
	FAMILIE						1,123	0.8	0.0
	REP						409	0.3	0.1
	ÖDP						397	0.3
	PBC						288	0.2	0.1
	DVU						79	0.1
	MLPD						31	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,813			2,187
Total valid votes				136,533			137,159
Turnout				139,346	71.2	7.5
	CDU hold		Majority	28,158	20.6	7.0