Erzgebirgskreis I

163 Erzgebirgskreis I
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Erzgebirgskreis I in 2025
State	Saxony
Population	256,600 (2019)
Electorate	210,941 (2021)
Major settlements	Aue-Bad Schlema Annaberg-Buchholz Marienberg
Area	1,560.9 km2
Current electoral district
Created	2009
Party	AfD
Member	Thomas Dietz
Elected	2021, 2025

Erzgebirgskreis I 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 163. It is located in southwestern Saxony, comprising most of the Erzgebirgskreis district. ^[1]

Erzgebirgskreis I was created for the 2009 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Thomas Dietz of the Alternative for Germany (AfD). ^[2]

Geography

Erzgebirgskreis I is located in southwestern Saxony. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Erzgebirgskreis district excluding the municipalities of Hohndorf, Jahnsdorf, Neukirchen, Oelsnitz, Thalheim, and Zwönitz and the Verwaltungsgemeinschaften of Burkhardtsdorf, Lugau, and Stollberg. ^[1]

History

Erzgebirgskreis I was created in 2009 and contained parts of the abolished constituencies of Bundestagswahlkreis Freiberg – Mittlerer Erzgebirgskreis and Annaberg – Aue-Schwarzenberg. In the 2009 election, it was constituency 165 in the numbering system. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 164. From the 2025 election, it has been number 163. Its borders have not changed since its creation.

Members

The constituency was first represented by Günter Baumann of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 2009 to 2017. He was succeeded by Alexander Krauß in 2017. Thomas Dietz won the constituency for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	2009	Günter Baumann	CDU	40.3
	2013			50.2
	2017	Alexander Krauß	CDU	34.7
	2021	Thomas Dietz	AfD	31.7

Election results

2025 election

Federal election (2025): Erzgebirgskreis I [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	%	±%
	AfD	Y Thomas Dietz		75,867	46.6	14.9	75,154	46.2	15.6
	CDU	Alexander Krauß		40,717	25.0	0.4	33,585	20.6	1.0
	BSW	André Müller		10,287	6.3	New	16,031	9.8	New
	Left	Jennifer Wolf		11,122	6.8	1.2	11,359	7.0	0.6
	SPD	Silvio Heider		10,741	6.6	8.2	10,739	6.6	11.5
	FDP	Ulrike Harzer		3,590	2.2	5.3	4,797	2.9	7.2
	FW	Phillip Kirmse		5,545	3.4	1.7	3,780	2.3	0.9
	Greens	Philipp Riese		2,597	1.6	0.9	3,646	2.2	1.0
	Independent	Robby Schubert		2,175	1.3	New
	Tierschutzpartei						1,897	1.2	0.7
	PARTEI						574	0.4	0.7
	BD						530	0.3	New
	Volt						392	0.2	0.1
	Pirates						177	0.1	0.1
	Humanists						102	0.1	0.0
	MLPD						53	<0.1	0.0
Informal votes				1,683			1,508
Total valid votes				162,641			162,816
Turnout				164,324	80.9	4.3
	AfD hold		Majority	35,150	21.6	15.3

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Erzgebirgskreis I [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	%	±%
	AfD	Thomas Dietz		50,571	31.7	1.5	48,794	30.6	1.3
	CDU	N Alexander Krauß		40,550	25.4	9.3	31,340	19.6	11.3
	SPD	Silvio Heider		23,650	14.8	5.8	28,848	18.1	8.6
	Left	Clara Bünger [a]		12,787	8.0	7.2	12,078	7.6	6.5
	FDP	Ulrike Harzer		11,914	7.5	0.2	16,210	10.2	2.8
	FW	Andreas Schmiedel		8,210	5.1		5,079	3.2	1.8
	Greens	Sebastian Walter		4,001	2.5	0.1	5,194	3.3	1.0
	Tierschutzpartei						2,966	1.9	0.4
	PARTEI	Carsten Staat		2,422	1.5		1,650	1.0	0.2
	dieBasis	Grit Weiß		2,313	1.5		1,958	1.2
	Bündnis C	Simon Haustein		2,069	1.3		1,940	1.2
	The Homeland						914	0.6	1.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						673	0.4
	Pirates						397	0.2	0.1
	Team Todenhöfer						323	0.2
	The III. Path						291	0.2
	ÖDP						256	0.2	0.1
	Volt						248	0.2
	V-Partei3	Jennifer Schilling		520	0.3		166	0.1	0.0
	Independent	Sandro Reichel		488	0.3
	Humanists						150	0.1
	DKP						102	0.1
	MLPD						58	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,261			2,121
Total valid votes				159,495			159,635
Turnout				161,756	76.7	1.2
	AfD gain from CDU		Majority	10,021	6.3

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Erzgebirgskreis I [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	Alexander Krauß		56,716	34.7	15.5	50,759	31.0	15.1
	AfD	Karsten Teubner		49,465	30.2		47,952	29.2	21.6
	Left	Klaus Tischendorf		24,808	15.2	5.4	23,090	14.1	5.3
	SPD	Sören Wittig		14,707	9.0	3.1	15,452	9.4	3.2
	FDP	Tino Günther		11,820	7.2	0.7	12,106	7.4	3.7
	Greens	Sebastian Walter		4,334	2.6	0.5	3,661	2.2	0.3
	The Homeland						2,727	1.7	2.4
	Tierschutzpartei						2,354	1.4
	FW						2,343	1.4	0.2
	PARTEI						1,424	0.9
	Pirates						531	0.3	1.6
	BGE						493	0.3
	ÖDP						378	0.2
	DiB						269	0.2
	V-Partei³						213	0.1
	MLPD						121	0.1	0.0
	BüSo						98	0.1	0.1
	Independent	Jörg Held		1,702	1.0
Informal votes				3,149			2,730
Total valid votes				163,552			163,971
Turnout				166,701	75.5	5.9
	CDU hold		Majority	7,251	4.5	25.1

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Erzgebirgskreis I [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	Y Günter Baumann		79,318	50.2	9.9	73,098	46.0	7.5
	Left	Andrea Schrutek		32,472	20.6	3.1	30,741	19.4	5.9
	SPD	Wolfgang Gunkel		19,143	12.1	1.2	20,114	12.7	0.7
	AfD						12,119	7.6
	FDP	Heinz-Peter Haustein		10,246	6.5	8.7	5,828	3.7	10.4
	The Homeland	David Schröer		8,425	5.3	0.3	6,398	4.0	1.0
	Greens	Bert Meyer		5,051	3.2	0.6	3,964	2.5	1.3
	Pirates	Sebastian Hacker		3,263	2.1		3,008	1.9
	FW						2,551	1.6
	PRO						613	0.4
	BüSo						183	0.1	0.6
	MLPD						133	0.1	0.2
Informal votes				3,800			2,968
Total valid votes				157,918			158,750
Turnout				161,718	69.6	5.1
	CDU hold		Majority	36,846	29.6	13.0

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Erzgebirgskreis I [7]
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	Günter Baumann		63,211	40.3	1.8	60,413	38.5	5.1
	Left	Andrea Schrutek		37,166	23.7	2.7	39,545	25.2	2.7
	FDP	Heinz-Peter Haustein		23,820	15.2	5.2	22,051	14.1	3.4
	SPD	Sebastian Vogel		17,168	11.0	8.1	18,846	12.0	8.2
	The Homeland	Ulrich Pätzold		7,930	5.1	1.5	7,876	5.0	1.4
	Greens	Hartmut Kahl		5,896	3.8	1.8	5,919	3.8	1.1
	Independent	Markus Peuschel		1,580	1.0
	BüSo						1,157	0.7	0.2
	REP						618	0.4	0.1
	MLPD						373	0.2	0.1
Informal votes				2,884			2,857
Total valid votes				156,771			156,798
Turnout				159,655	64.5	12.4
	CDU win new seat		Majority	26,045	16.6

Notes

1. Bünger entered the Bundestag on the Left list after the resignation of Katja Kipping in January 2022.

References

1. "Constituency Erzgebirgskreis I". Federal Returning Officer.
2. "Results for Erzgebirgskreis I". Federal Returning Officer.
3. Results for Erzgebirgskreis I
4. Results for Erzgebirgskreis I
5. Results for Erzgebirgskreis I
6. Results for Erzgebirgskreis I
7. Results for Erzgebirgskreis I