202 Bitburg
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Bitburg in 2017
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
Population	217,800 (2019)
Electorate	163,493 (2021)
Major settlements	Wittlich Bitburg Daun
Area	3,102.3 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CDU
Member	Patrick Schnieder
Elected	2009, 2013, 2017, 2021

Bitburg 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 202. It is located in northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate, comprising the Bitburg-Prüm district, Vulkaneifel district, and the northern part of the Bernkastel-Wittlich district.^[1]

Bitburg was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2009, it has been represented by Patrick Schnieder of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).^[2]

Geography

Bitburg is located in northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Bitburg-Prüm and Vulkaneifel districts as well as, from the Bernkastel-Wittlich district, the municipality of Wittlich, the Verbandsgemeinde of Wittlich-Land, and the municipalities of Bausendorf, Bengel, Diefenbach, Flußbach, Hontheim, Kinderbeuern, Kinheim, Kröv, Reil, and Willwerscheid from the Traben-Trarbach Verbandsgemeinde.^[1]

History

Bitburg was created in 1949, then known as Prüm. It acquired its current name in the 1965 election. In the 1949 election, it was Rhineland-Palatinate constituency 6 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1976 elections, it was number 153. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it was number 151. In the 2002 election, it was number 205. In the 2005 election, it was number 204. In the 2009 and 2013 elections, it was number 203. Since the 2017 election, it has been number 202.

Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Bitburg, Prüm, Daun, and Wittlich. It acquired its current borders in the 1965 election, although when the former Verbandsgemeinde of Kröv-Bausendorf was merged into the Traben-Trarbach Verbandsgemeinde in 2014, only its area remained in the constituency.

Members

The constituency has been held continuously by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since its creation. It was first represented by Matthias Joseph Mehs from 1949 to 1953, followed by Hans Richarts from 1953 to 1972. Alois Mertes then served from 1972 to 1987. Peter Rauen was representative from 1987 to 2009. Patrick Schnieder was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Bitburg[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	%	±%
	CDU	Y Patrick Schnieder		46,340	37.8	13.4	37,086	30.1	14.3
	SPD	Lena Werner		33,632	27.4	1.7	34,343	27.9	6.1
	FW	Petra Fischer		10,566	8.6	6.3	8,460	6.9	5.6
	FDP	Ralf Berlingen		9,011	7.4	0.4	13,997	11.4	1.1
	Greens	Dorothea Hafner		8,512	6.9		11,411	9.3	3.1
	AfD	Beate Härig-Dickersbach		7,947	6.5	0.6	8,794	7.1	0.9
	Left	Manuel Eppers		2,875	2.3	3.1	3,265	2.7	3.3
	Tierschutzpartei						1,473	1.2
	PARTEI	Markus Riebschläger		1,619	1.3		1,038	0.8	0.1
	dieBasis	Christoph Lutz		1,436	1.2		1,434	1.2
	Volt						409	0.3
	Pirates						364	0.3	0.0
	ÖDP	Clemens Ruhl		659	0.5	0.6	356	0.3	0.1
	Team Todenhöfer						234	0.2
	NPD						107	0.1	0.1
	Humanists						80	0.1
	DiB						77	0.1
	V-Partei3						70	0.1	0.1
	LKR						44	0.0
	MLPD						12	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,852			1,395
Total Valid votes				122,597			123,054
Turnout				124,449	76.1	1.0
	CDU hold		Majority	12,708	10.4	15.1

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Bitburg[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	%	±%
	CDU	Y Patrick Schnieder		63,719	51.2	4.7	55,591	44.5	7.7
	SPD	Jan Pauls		32,017	25.7	0.7	27,255	21.8	0.5
	AfD	Beate Härig-Dickersbach		8,840	7.1		10,058	8.0	4.4
	FDP	Jürgen Krämer		8,703	7.0	3.7	12,888	10.3	4.2
	Greens						7,710	6.2	0.1
	Left	Katharina Penkert		6,786	5.5	2.1	7,433	5.9	1.6
	FW	Henning Wunderlich		2,927	2.4	0.1	1,627	1.3	0.3
	PARTEI						952	0.8
	ÖDP	Erik Hofmann		1,390	1.1	0.7	477	0.4	0.1
	Pirates						377	0.3	1.5
	V-Partei³						242	0.2
	NPD						232	0.2	0.6
	BGE						182	0.1
	MLPD						24	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,497			1,831
Total Valid votes				124,382			125,048
Turnout				126,879	77.1	5.4
	CDU hold		Majority	31,702	25.5	4.2

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Bitburg[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 Patrick Schnieder		65,252	56.0	9.9	61,192	52.2	11.1
	SPD	Jens Jenssen		30,613	26.3	2.2	26,189	22.3	3.3
	Greens	Alice Endres		5,775	5.0	3.0	7,165	6.1	2.3
	Left	Ali Damar		3,867	3.3	3.6	5,134	4.4	3.8
	FDP	Marco Weber		3,807	3.3	10.6	7,136	6.1	13.0
	AfD						4,264	3.6
	FW	Johannes Mans		2,875	2.5		1,925	1.6
	Pirates	Stefan Trös		2,068	1.8		2,159	1.8	0.4
	NPD	Erich Wilhelm Krames		1,063	0.9	0.2	904	0.8	0.1
	Party of Reason	Rainer Hoffmann		843	0.7		550	0.5
	ÖDP	Heide Weidemann		429	0.4		305	0.3	0.0
	PRO						176	0.2
	REP						135	0.1	0.2
	MLPD						33	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,706			2,031
Total Valid votes				116,592			117,267
Turnout				119,298	71.7	0.5
	CDU hold		Majority	34,639	29.7	7.7

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Bitburg[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	Patrick Schnieder		53,705	46.1	2.9	48,270	41.0	2.9
	SPD	Elke Leonhard		28,042	24.1	12.4	22,419	19.1	11.0
	FDP	Edmund Geisen		16,213	13.9	8.1	22,500	19.1	6.3
	Greens	Ulrike Höfken		9,274	8.0	4.1	9,922	8.4	2.7
	Left	Hanna Bettina Stratmann		8,043	6.9	3.1	9,642	8.2	3.6
	Pirates						1,717	1.5
	FAMILIE						1,237	1.1	0.0
	NPD	Mario Winter		1,295	1.1	0.1	1,021	0.9	0.2
	REP						354	0.3	0.1
	ÖDP						266	0.2
	PBC						149	0.1	0.1
	DVU						92	0.1
	MLPD						22	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				3,429			2,390
Total Valid votes				116,572			117,611
Turnout				120,001	71.3	7.1
	CDU hold		Majority	25,663	22.0	9.5

References