Rastatt (electoral district)

273 Rastatt
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Rastatt in 2025
State	Baden-Württemberg
Population	286,600 (2019)
Electorate	204,890 (2021)
Major settlements	Baden-Baden Rastatt Gaggenau
Area	878.6 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CDU
Member	Kai Whittaker
Elected	2013, 2017, 2021

Rastatt 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 273. It is located in western Baden-Württemberg, comprising the city of Baden-Baden and the district of Rastatt.

Rastatt was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2013, it has been represented by Kai Whittaker of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Geography

Rastatt is located in western Baden-Württemberg. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the independent city of Baden-Baden and the district of Rastatt.

History

Rastatt was created in 1949. In the 1949 election, it was Baden constituency 7 in the number system. In the 1953 through 1961 elections, it was number 189. In the 1965 through 1976 elections, it was number 193. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it was number 177. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 274. Since the 2009 election, it has been number 273.

Originally, the constituency comprised the independent city of Baden-Baden and the districts of Rastatt and Bühl. In the 1980 through 1994 elections, it comprised the city of Baden-Baden, the Rastatt districts, and the municipalities of Ettlingen, Malsch, and Rheinstetten from the Landkreis Karlsruhe district. In the 1998 election, it lost the Rheinstetten municipality. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	7	Rastatt	Baden-Baden city Rastatt district Bühl district
1953	189
1957
1961
1965	193
1969
1972
1976
1980	177		Baden-Baden city Rastatt district Landkreis Karlsruhe district (only Ettlingen, Malsch, and Rheinstetten municipalities)
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998			Baden-Baden city Rastatt district Landkreis Karlsruhe district (only Ettlingen and Malsch municipalities)
2002	274		Baden-Baden city Rastatt district
2005
2009	273
2013
2017
2021
2025

Members

The constituency has been held continuously by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since its creation. It was first represented by Wendelin Morgenthaler from 1949 to 1957, followed by Ludwig Kroll for one term. Hugo Hauser was representative from 1961 to 1976, followed by Bernhard Friedmann from 1976 to 1990. Peter Götz then served from 1990 to 2013. Kai Whittaker was elected in 2013, and re-elected in 2017 and 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Wendelin Morgenthaler	CDU	59.5
	1953			65.4
	1957	Ludwig Kroll	CDU	64.9
	1961	Hugo Hauser	CDU	57.7
	1965			61.1
	1969			61.0
	1972			58.2
	1976	Bernhard Friedmann	CDU	60.1
	1980			55.5
	1983			61.9
	1987			58.4
	1990	Peter Götz	CDU	53.5
	1994			53.4
	1998			49.3
	2002			51.0
	2005			49.3
	2009			48.0
	2013	Kai Whittaker	CDU	53.5
	2017			44.1
	2021			33.2

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Rastatt
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 Kai Whittaker		50,988	33.2	10.9	41,495	27.0	10.9
	SPD	Gabriele Katzmarek		34,847	22.7	3.7	36,442	23.7	6.7
	Greens	Thomas Gönner		19,962	13.0	2.1	21,926	14.3	2.8
	FDP	Sven Gehrke		17,764	11.6	4.4	21,250	13.8	2.3
	AfD	Verena Bäuerle		16,455	10.7	1.5	16,333	10.6	2.1
	FW	Lara Schindler		4,477	2.9	1.1	3,000	2.0	1.0
	Left	Tudor Costin		4,212	2.7	1.9	4,280	2.8	2.6
	dieBasis	Marion Hofmann		3,557	2.3		3,272	2.1
	Tierschutzpartei						2,026	1.3	0.6
	PARTEI						1,099	0.7	0.1
	Pirates						546	0.4	0.1
	Volt	Robin Gscheidle		772	0.5		492	0.3
	KlimalisteBW	Günther Beikert		486	0.3
	Team Todenhöfer						453	0.3
	ÖDP						199	0.1	0.0
	Gesundheitsforschung						187	0.1
	Bürgerbewegung						170	0.1
	NPD						144	0.1	0.1
	Humanists						132	0.1
	DiB						120	0.1	0.1
	Bündnis C						101	0.1
	Independent	Wolfgang Rapps		75	0.0
	Bündnis 21						56	0.0
	LKR						35	0.0
	MLPD						25	0.0	0.0
	DKP						17	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,736			1,531
Total valid votes				153,595			153,800
Turnout				155,331	75.8	0.3
	CDU hold		Majority	16,141	10.5	14.6

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Rastatt
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 Kai Whittaker		68,259	44.1	9.4	58,798	37.9	11.3
	SPD	Gabriele Katzmarek		29,486	19.0	4.0	26,374	17.0	3.6
	AfD	Joachim Kuhs		18,849	12.2	7.3	19,701	12.7	6.9
	Greens	Manuel Hummel		16,954	10.9	2.5	17,766	11.4	2.4
	FDP	Rolf Pilarski		11,150	7.2	4.1	17,847	11.5	5.7
	Left	Norbert Maßon		7,123	4.6	1.1	8,369	5.4	1.2
	FW	Eduard Meßmer		2,809	1.8		1,496	1.0	0.4
	Tierschutzpartei						1,132	0.7	0.0
	PARTEI						921	0.6
	Pirates						644	0.4	1.6
	Tierschutzallianz						385	0.2
	NPD						313	0.2	0.8
	DM						295	0.2
	ÖDP						266	0.2	0.0
	DiB						208	0.1
	Menschliche Welt						195	0.1
	V-Partei³						178	0.1
	BGE						162	0.1
	DIE RECHTE	Marco Buntenbach		148	0.1		111	0.1
	Independent	Peter Rapps		112	0.1
	MLPD						60	0.0	0.0
	DKP						27	0.0
Informal votes				2,318			1,960
Total valid votes				154,890			155,248
Turnout				157,208	76.1	4.8
	CDU hold		Majority	38,773	25.1	5.4

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Rastatt
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	Kai Whittaker		77,850	53.5	5.4	71,752	49.2	10.3
	SPD	Gabriele Katzmarek		33,482	23.0	0.3	30,043	20.6	1.5
	Greens	Jörg Rupp		12,233	8.4	2.4	13,223	9.1	2.5
	AfD	Bernd Kölmel		7,021	4.8		8,397	5.8
	Left	Norbert Maßon		5,073	3.5	2.8	6,055	4.1	2.9
	FDP	Lutz Jäckel		4,527	3.1	6.9	8,436	5.8	12.0
	Pirates	Heinz Kraft		3,058	2.1		2,906	2.0	0.2
	NPD	Karl-Heinz Pfirrmann		1,642	1.1	0.6	1,409	1.0	0.2
	Tierschutzpartei						1,076	0.7	0.0
	Independent	Alois Degler		760	0.5
	FW						751	0.5
	REP						376	0.3	0.4
	RENTNER						380	0.3
	Volksabstimmung						329	0.2	0.0
	ÖDP						280	0.2	0.1
	PBC						174	0.1	0.1
	Party of Reason						137	0.1
	PRO						121	0.1
	MLPD						54	0.0	0.0
	BIG						46	0.0
	BüSo						12	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,513			2,202
Total valid votes				145,646			145,957
Turnout				148,159	71.4	1.3
	CDU hold		Majority	44,368	30.5	5.8

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Rastatt
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 Peter Götz		68,652	48.0	1.3	55,806	38.9	2.7
	SPD	Nicolette Kressl		33,279	23.3	11.4	27,376	19.1	12.4
	Greens	Hans-Peter Behrens		15,404	10.8	4.9	16,649	11.6	3.2
	FDP	Josef Benz		14,235	10.0	4.7	25,553	17.8	6.8
	Left	Norbert Maßon		8,935	6.3	2.8	10,093	7.0	3.2
	Pirates						2,538	1.8
	NPD	Nelly Rühle		2,436	1.7	0.2	1,727	1.2	0.1
	Tierschutzpartei						1,095	0.8
	REP						1,013	0.7	0.3
	ÖDP						378	0.3
	PBC						348	0.2	0.1
	DIE VIOLETTEN						321	0.2
	Volksabstimmung						316	0.2
	BüSo						83	0.1	0.0
	DVU						81	0.1
	ADM						58	0.0
	MLPD						58	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				3,219			2,667
Total valid votes				142,941			143,493
Turnout				146,160	70.0	6.4
	CDU hold		Majority	35,373	24.7	10.1