Weiden (electoral district)

234 Weiden
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Weiden in 2025
State	Bavaria
Population	209,200 (2019)
Electorate	165,807 (2021)
Major settlements	Weiden in der Oberpfalz Tirschenreuth Vohenstrauß
Area	2,582.5 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CSU
Member	Albert Rupprecht
Elected	2005, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021

Weiden 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 234. It is located in northeastern Bavaria, comprising the city of Weiden in der Oberpfalz and the districts of Neustadt an der Waldnaab and Tirschenreuth.^[1]

Weiden was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2005, it has been represented by Albert Rupprecht of the Christian Social Union (CSU).^[2]

Weiden is located in northeastern Bavaria. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the independent city of Weiden in der Oberpfalz and the districts of Neustadt an der Waldnaab and Tirschenreuth.^[1]

Weiden was created in 1949, then known as Tirschenreuth. It acquired its current name in the 1976 election. In the 1949 election, it was Bavaria constituency 23 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1961 elections, it was number 218. In the 1965 through 1998 elections, it was number 221. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 236. In the 2009 through 2021 elections, it was number 235. From the 2025 election, it has been number 234.

Originally, the constituency comprised the independent city of Weiden in der Oberpfalz and the districts of Tirschenreuth, Neustadt an der Waldnaab, and Kemnath. In the 1965 through 1972 elections, also contained the district of Eschenbach. It acquired its current borders in the 1976 election.

The constituency has been held continuously by the Christian Social Union (CSU) since its creation. It was first represented by Hans Bodensteiner from 1949 to 1953. He was elected for the CSU, but defected to co-found the All-German People's Party (GVP) in November 1952. followed by Hugo Geiger from 1953 to 1961. Franz Weigl [de] served from 1961 to 1972. Max Kunz [de] was then representative from 1972 to 1990. Simon Wittmann [de] served two terms from 1990 to 1998, followed by Georg Girisch [de] from 1998 to 2005. Albert Rupprecht was elected in 2005, and re-elected in 2009, 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Federal election (2021): Weiden[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	Y Albert Rupprecht		50,575	38.5	7.8	46,451	35.4	7.7
	SPD	Uli Grötsch		29,573	22.5	0.2	29,461	22.4	3.4
	AfD	Manfred Schiller		13,523	10.3		14,898	11.3	2.1
	Independent	Konrad Dippel		9,358	7.1
	FW	Tobias Groß		9,306	7.1	1.4	12,067	9.2	5.3
	Greens	Anneliese Droste		6,633	5.0	1.5	9,170	7.0	2.0
	FDP	Silke Klotz		6,303	4.8	0.7	9,601	7.3	0.8
	Left	Christian Weidner		2,315	1.8	2.7	2,830	2.2	2.6
	dieBasis	Dietmar Assel		1,458	1.1		1,574	1.2
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,249	1.0	0.2
	ÖDP	Christian Wallmeyer		860	0.7	0.6	612	0.5	0.3
	BP	Roland Bayer		771	0.6	1.8	719	0.5	0.5
	Independent	Helmut Bauer		749	0.6
	Unabhängige						696	0.5
	PARTEI						651	0.5	0.0
	Pirates						345	0.3	0.0
	Team Todenhöfer						192	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						151	0.1	0.0
	Volt						148	0.1
	NPD						128	0.1	0.3
	V-Partei3						94	0.1	0.1
	Humanists						87	0.1
	Bündnis C						70	0.1
	du.						65	0.0
	The III. Path						64	0.0
	LKR						14	0.0
	DKP						13	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						6	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				823			891
Total valid votes				131,424			131,356
Turnout				132,247	79.8	2.3
	CSU hold		Majority	21,002	16.0	8.0

Federal election (2017): Weiden[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 Albert Rupprecht		59,285	46.2	8.9	55,691	43.1	9.7
	SPD	Uli Grötsch		28,614	22.3	0.3	24,631	19.0	3.5
	AfD						17,411	13.5	9.9
	Independent	Konrad Dippel		11,906	9.3
	FW	Karl Meier		7,295	5.7	2.2	5,061	3.9	0.3
	Left	Christian Weidner		5,677	4.4	1.8	6,204	4.8	1.4
	FDP	Martin Hofmann		5,269	4.1	2.6	8,479	6.6	3.2
	Greens	Gisela Helgath		4,553	3.6	0.3	6,426	5.0	0.7
	BP	Petra Ringelmann		3,103	2.4		1,293	1.0	0.1
	Human Environment Animal Protection						966	0.7	0.1
	ÖDP	Karlheinz Binner		1,613	1.3	0.0	960	0.7	0.2
	Independent	Karl Schmid		876	0.7
	PARTEI						580	0.4
	NPD						494	0.4	1.2
	Pirates						352	0.3	1.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						196	0.2
	V-Partei³						192	0.1
	DM						143	0.1
	BGE						113	0.1
	DiB						97	0.1
	MLPD						22	0.0	0.0
	DKP						17	0.0
	BüSo						14	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,323			1,172
Total valid votes				128,191			129,342
Turnout				130,514	77.5	7.7
	CSU hold		Majority	30,671	23.9	9.3

Federal election (2013): Weiden[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 Albert Rupprecht		64,930	55.1	10.2	62,126	52.8	8.4
	SPD	Uli Grötsch		25,881	22.0	2.1	26,484	22.5	2.4
	Independent	Konrad Willibald Dippel		5,181	4.4
	Greens	Johann Mayer		4,531	3.8	1.1	5,072	4.3	2.3
	FW	Karl Meier		4,165	3.5		4,259	3.6
	Left	Klaus Schmitsdorf		3,117	2.6	2.7	3,982	3.4	4.1
	AfD	Hans-Peter Schaller		2,855	2.4		4,243	3.6
	NPD	Patrick Hermann Schröder		1,895	1.6	0.8	1,909	1.6	0.9
	Pirates	Floyd Ralf Kretschmar		1,806	1.5		1,758	1.5	0.3
	FDP	Heinz-Dieter Pauly		1,735	1.5	5.6	3,953	3.4	8.4
	ÖDP	Karlheinz Helmut Binner		1,489	1.3	0.0	1,098	0.9	0.4
	BP						1,071	0.9	0.0
	Human Environment Animal Protection						772	0.7	0.1
	REP						289	0.2	0.3
	DIE FRAUEN						254	0.2
	Independent	Karl-Justus Human		204	0.2
	Party of Reason						162	0.1
	PRO						109	0.1
	DIE VIOLETTEN						105	0.1	0.1
	RRP						27	0.0	0.5
	BüSo						19	0.0	0.1
	MLPD						18	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,114			1,193
Total valid votes				117,789			117,710
Turnout				118,903	69.8	2.3
	CSU hold		Majority	39,049	33.1	8.1

Federal election (2009): Weiden[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 Albert Rupprecht		54,891	44.9	3.5	54,009	44.4	6.3
	SPD	Werner Schieder [de]		24,261	19.9	7.7	24,467	20.1	10.0
	Independent	Konrad Dippel		17,196	14.1
	FDP	Norbert Ziegler		8,664	7.1	4.3	14,272	11.7	5.3
	Left	Sandro Hammer		6,567	5.4	2.7	9,093	7.5	3.9
	Greens	Johann Mayer		6,031	4.9	2.6	8,060	6.6	2.7
	NPD	Karsten Panzer		2,994	2.5	0.7	3,071	2.5	0.5
	Pirates						2,207	1.8
	ÖDP	Rita Wiesend		1,563	1.3		1,565	1.3
	FAMILIE						1,132	0.9	0.2
	BP						1,054	0.9	0.0
	Human Environment Animal Protection						872	0.7
	REP						693	0.6	0.2
	RRP						642	0.5
	CM						222	0.2
	DIE VIOLETTEN						176	0.1
	PBC						108	0.1	0.1
	DVU						59	0.0
	BüSo						33	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						21	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,859			2,270
Total valid votes				122,167			121,756
Turnout				124,026	72.1	5.8
	CSU hold		Majority	30,630	25.0	4.2