Karlsruhe-Land (electoral district)

272 Karlsruhe-Land
Former electoral district for the Bundestag
Karlsruhe-Land in 2025
State	Baden-Württemberg
Population	287,100 (2019)
Electorate	209,147 (2021)
Major settlements	Ettlingen Bretten Stutensee
Area	718.4 km2
Former electoral district
Created	1949 1980 (re-established)
Abolished	1965
Party	CDU
Member	Nicolas Zippelius
Elected	2021

Karlsruhe-Land 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 272. It is located in northwestern Baden-Württemberg, comprising the central and southern parts of the Landkreis Karlsruhe district.

Karlsruhe-Land was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. It was abolished in 1965 and re-established in the 1980 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Nicolas Zippelius of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Geography

Karlsruhe-Land is located in northwestern Baden-Württemberg. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the Landkreis Karlsruhe district excluding the municipalities of Bad Schönborn, Bruchsal, Forst, Hambrücken, Karlsdorf-Neuthard, Kronau, Oberhausen-Rheinhausen, Östringen, Philippsburg, Ubstadt-Weiher, and Waghäusel.

History

Karlsruhe-Land was created in 1949. In the 1949 election, it was Württemberg-Baden Landesbezirk Baden constituency 4 in the number system. In the 1953 through 1961 elections, it was number 178. Originally, it comprised the independent city of Pforzheim, the Landkreis Pforzheim district, and the Landkreis Karlsruhe district excluding the municipalities of Bretten, Oberderdingen, and Walzbachtal.

Karlsruhe-Land was abolished in the 1965 election. Its area was divided between the new constituencies of Pforzheim – Karlsruhe-Land I and Bruchsal – Karlsruhe-Land II.

Karlsruhe-Land was re-established in the 1980 election. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it was constituency 176. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 273. Since the 2009 election, it has been number 272. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it comprised the Landkreis Karlsruhe district excluding the municipalities of Ettlingen, Malsch, Oberderdingen, and Rheinstetten. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	4	Karlsruhe-Land	Pforzheim city Landkreis Pforzheim district Landkreis Karlsruhe district (excluding Bretten, Oberderdingen, and Walzbachtal municipalities)
1953	178
1957
1961
1965	Abolished
1969
1972
1976
1980	176	Karlsruhe-Land	Landkreis Karlsruhe district (excluding Ettlingen, Malsch, Oberderdingen, and Rheinstetten municipalities)
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	273		Landkreis Karlsruhe district (excluding Bad Schönborn, Bruchsal, Forst, Hambrücken, Karlsdorf-Neuthard, Kronau, Oberhausen-Rheinhausen, Östringen, Philippsburg, Ubstadt-Weiher, and Waghäusel municipalities)
2005
2009	272
2013
2017
2021
2025

Members

The constituency has been held continuously by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) throughout both its incarnations. It was first represented by Gottfried Leonhard from 1949 until its abolition in 1965. After its re-establishment, it was represented by Klaus Bühler from 1980 to 2002. Axel Fischer was representative from 2002 to 2021. He was succeeded by Nicolas Zippelius in 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Gottfried Leonhard	CDU	34.5
	1953			52.9
	1957			53.8
	1961			45.1
Abolished (1965–1980)
	1980	Klaus Bühler	CDU	54.5
	1983			51.4
	1987			58.4
	1990			54.7
	1994			53.2
	1998			46.7
	2002	Axel Fischer	CDU	47.0
	2005			48.3
	2009			45.2
	2013			53.3
	2017			40.5
	2021	Nicolas Zippelius	CDU	30.4

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Karlsruhe-Land
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	Nicolas Zippelius		50,581	30.4	10.0	42,831	25.7	9.7
	SPD	Patrick Diebold		37,948	22.8	3.1	38,474	23.1	6.0
	Greens	Sebastian Grässer		27,755	16.7	5.3	26,969	16.2	3.9
	FDP	Hans-Günther Lohr		19,066	11.5	2.4	24,660	14.8	2.0
	AfD	René Rotzinger		14,963	9.0	2.7	15,869	9.5	3.0
	FW	Steffen Schmid		4,358	2.6	1.0	3,001	1.8	0.9
	Left	Jörg Rupp		4,040	2.4	2.1	4,483	2.7	2.8
	dieBasis	Ralf Baßler		3,505	2.1		2,991	1.8
	Tierschutzpartei						2,287	1.4	0.5
	PARTEI	David Braitmaier		2,437	1.5	0.1	1,478	0.9	0.0
	Team Todenhöfer						569	0.3
	Bündnis C						548	0.3
	Volt						532	0.3
	Pirates						525	0.3	0.1
	ÖDP	Georg Austermann		562	0.3		330	0.2	0.0
	Independent	Heidemarie Mund		548	0.3
	Humanists	Niklas Goerke		496	0.3		245	0.1
	Bürgerbewegung						198	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						197	0.1
	NPD						143	0.1	0.1
	DiB						128	0.1	0.1
	Bündnis 21						69	0.0
	LKR						60	0.0
	MLPD						26	0.0	0.0
	DKP						20	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,687			1,313
Total valid votes				166,259			166,633
Turnout				167,946	80.3	0.2
	CDU hold		Majority	12,633	7.6	13.1

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Karlsruhe-Land
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 Axel Fischer		67,396	40.4	12.9	59,137	35.4	11.3
	SPD	Patrick Diebold		32,886	19.7	6.2	28,591	17.1	4.0
	AfD	Alexander Arpaschi		19,512	11.7		20,887	12.5	6.5
	Greens	Pascal Haggenmüller		19,076	11.4	3.6	20,489	12.3	2.7
	FDP	Christian Jung		15,138	9.1	6.2	21,441	12.8	6.8
	Left	Klaus Huska		7,627	4.6	0.8	9,119	5.5	1.4
	Tierschutzpartei						1,479	0.9	0.1
	FW	Heinz Schammert		2,657	1.6	0.0	1,475	0.9	0.1
	PARTEI	Lars Hannemann		2,261	1.4		1,420	0.8
	Pirates						660	0.4	2.0
	Tierschutzallianz						429	0.3
	NPD						309	0.2	0.6
	ÖDP						297	0.2	0.0
	BGE						275	0.2
	DiB						261	0.2
	DM						244	0.1
	Menschliche Welt						207	0.1
	V-Partei³						185	0.1
	DIE RECHTE	Christian Worch		187	0.1		120	0.1
	MLPD						67	0.0	0.0
	DKP						34	0.0
Informal votes				2,061			1,675
Total valid votes				166,740			167,126
Turnout				168,801	70.5	4.2
	CDU hold		Majority	34,510	20.7	6.7

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Karlsruhe-Land
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 Axel Fischer		83,848	53.3	8.1	73,805	46.7	10.6
	SPD	Vanessa Rieß		40,735	25.9	0.3	33,416	21.1	0.8
	Greens	Danyal Bayaz		12,298	7.8	2.3	15,175	9.6	2.2
	Left	Heinz-Peter Schwertges		5,896	3.7	1.9	6,461	4.1	2.4
	FDP	Patrick Meinhardt		4,490	2.9	8.7	9,553	6.0	13.1
	AfD						9,473	6.0
	Pirates	Christian Alkemper		4,374	2.8		3,761	2.4	0.2
	FW	Henning Gaus		2,537	1.6		1,205	0.8
	NPD	Karl Däschner		1,853	1.2	0.3	1,301	0.8	0.2
	Tierschutzpartei						1,278	0.8	0.1
	REP	Ursula Holzwarth		1,224	0.8		730	0.5	0.3
	PBC						491	0.3	0.3
	RENTNER						386	0.2
	ÖDP						346	0.2	0.0
	Volksabstimmung						258	0.2	0.1
	PRO						196	0.1
	Party of Reason						151	0.1
	BIG						62	0.0
	MLPD						41	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						16	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,737			1,887
Total valid votes				157,255			158,105
Turnout				159,992	76.3	1.7
	CDU hold		Majority	43,113	27.4	7.8

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Karlsruhe-Land
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 Axel Fischer		68,951	45.2	3.1	55,285	36.1	4.6
	SPD	Ingo Juchler		39,021	25.6	10.0	31,160	20.3	10.3
	FDP	Patrick Meinhardt		17,668	11.6	6.6	29,292	19.1	7.1
	Greens	Jörg Rupp		15,506	10.2	4.3	18,066	11.8	2.6
	Left	Thurid Feldmann		8,569	5.6	2.9	9,935	6.5	3.0
	Pirates						3,307	2.2
	NPD	Nico Schiemann		2,310	1.5	0.0	1,567	1.0	0.0
	REP						1,228	0.8	0.0
	Tierschutzpartei						1,107	0.7
	PBC						896	0.6	0.1
	Independent	Paul Zundel		506	0.3
	Volksabstimmung						406	0.3
	ÖDP						390	0.3
	DIE VIOLETTEN						263	0.2
	DVU						95	0.1
	BüSo						71	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						67	0.0	0.0
	ADM						48	0.0
Informal votes				2,991			2,339
Total valid votes				152,531			153,183
Turnout				155,522	74.5	6.3
	CDU hold		Majority	29,930	19.6	6.9