Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis

Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis 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 189. It is located in western Thuringia, comprising the city of Eisenach and the districts of Wartburgkreis and Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis.

189 Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis in 2025
State	Thuringia
Population	263,500 (2019)
Electorate	212,267 (2021)
Major settlements	Eisenach Mühlhausen Bad Salzungen
Area	2,350.8 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1990
Party	AfD
Member	Klaus Stöber
Elected	2021

Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis was created for the inaugural 1990 federal election after German reunification. Since 2021, it has been represented by Klaus Stöber of the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Geography

Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis is located in western Thuringia. As of the 2025 federal election, it comprises the independent city of Eisenach and the districts of Wartburgkreis and Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis.

History

Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis was created after German reunification in 1990, then known as Eisenach – Mühlhausen. In the 2002 election, it was named Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis I. In the 2005 through 2013 elections, it was named Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis II. It acquired its current name in the 2017 election. In the 1990 through 1998 elections, it was constituency 297 in the numbering system. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 191. In the 2009 through 2021 elections, it was number 190. From the 2025 election, it has been number 189.

Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Eisenach and Mühlhausen. In the 2002 election, it comprised the city of Eisenach, the district of Wartburgkreis, and the municipalities of Bad Langensalza, Heyerode, and Katharinenberg and the Verwaltungsgemeinschaften of Unstrut-Hainich and Vogtei from the Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis district. In the 2005 through 2013 elections, it gained of the municipalities of Menteroda and Weinbergen and the Verwaltungsgemeinschaften of Bad Tennstedt, Herbsleben, and Schlotheim from the Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis district. It acquired its current borders in the 2017 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1990	297	Eisenach – Mühlhausen	Eisenach district Mühlhausen district
1994
1998
2002	191	Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis I	Eisenach city Wartburgkreis district Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis district (only Bad Langensalza, Heyerode, and Katharinenberg municipalities and Unstrut-Hainich and Vogtei Verwaltungsgemeinschaften)
2005		Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis II	Eisenach city Wartburgkreis district Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis district (only Bad Langensalza, Heyerode, Katharinenberg, Menteroda, and Weinbergen municipalities and Bad Tennstedt, Herbsleben, Schlotheim, Unstrut-Hainich and Vogtei Verwaltungsgemeinschaften)
2009	190
2013
2017		Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis	Eisenach city Wartburgkreis district Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis district
2021
2025	189

Members

The constituency was first represented by Manfred Heise of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1990 to 1998. Eckhard Ohl won it for the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1998 and served a single term. He was succeeded by fellow SPD member Ernst Kranz from 2002 to 2009. Christian Hirte was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. He was defeated in 2021 by Klaus Stöber of the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Election		Member	Party	%
	1990	Manfred Heise	CDU	50.6
	1994			42.7
	1998	Eckhard Ohl	SPD	42.8
	2002	Ernst Kranz	SPD	42.6
	2005			35.3
	2009	Christian Hirte	CDU	34.8
	2013			43.3
	2017			34.4
	2021	Klaus Stöber	AfD	24.8

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis
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	Klaus Stöber		38,166	24.8	3.6	37,737	24.5	2.2
	SPD	Tina Rudolph		36,729	23.8	8.6	38,363	24.9	10.5
	CDU	N Christian Hirte		35,415	23.0	11.4	28,249	18.3	11.7
	Left	Martina Renner		17,216	11.2	4.3	15,872	10.3	5.4
	FDP	Leon Bender		8,869	5.8	0.7	13,258	8.6	1.4
	FW	Andreas Böhme		5,529	3.6	0.5	3,882	2.5	0.5
	Greens	Justus Heuer		5,447	3.5	0.4	7,469	4.8	1.4
	dieBasis	Andreas Wolfschlag		3,007	2.0		2,563	1.7
	Human Environment Animal Protection						2,226	1.4
	PARTEI	Stephan Hinze		2,502	1.6		1,649	1.1	0.1
	NPD						624	0.4	1.5
	Pirates						558	0.4	0.1
	Menschliche Welt						380	0.2
	Volt						339	0.2
	ÖDP	Peter Schneider		567	0.4		307	0.2	0.1
	MLPD	Lea Weinmann		431	0.3	0.2	298	0.2	0.0
	Team Todenhöfer						227	0.1
	Humanists						129	0.1
	LKR	Wladislaw Schel		130	0.1
	V-Partei3						91	0.1	0.1
Informal votes				2,105			1,892
Total valid votes				154,008			154,221
Turnout				156,113	73.5	0.2
	AfD gain from CDU		Majority	1,437	0.8

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis
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 Christian Hirte		55,378	34.4	9.0	48,340	30.0	10.1
	AfD	Klaus Stöber		34,052	21.2		35,824	22.3	17.2
	Left	Sigrid Hupach		24,899	15.5	8.0	25,171	15.6	6.9
	SPD	Michael Klostermann		24,478	15.2	3.4	23,206	14.4	2.6
	FDP	Lars Christian Schröder		8,075	5.0	3.4	11,545	7.2	4.7
	Greens	Andreas Hundertmark		5,066	3.1	0.1	5,596	3.5	0.6
	FW	Andreas Böhme		5,010	3.1	0.8	3,185	2.0	0.1
	NPD	Patrick Wieschke		3,193	2.0	2.4	3,019	1.9	1.9
	PARTEI						1,857	1.2
	BGE						620	0.4
	Pirates						676	0.4	1.6
	DM						608	0.4
	ÖDP						563	0.3	0.2
	MLPD	Friedrich Christoph Hofmann		689	0.4		369	0.2	0.1
	V-Partei³						307	0.2
Informal votes				2,314			2,268
Total valid votes				160,840			160,886
Turnout				163,154	73.3	6.2
	CDU hold		Majority	21,326	13.2	6.4

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis II
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 Christian Hirte		55,220	43.3	8.5	51,442	40.2	7.6
	Left	Anja Müller		30,220	23.7	3.9	28,787	22.5	5.8
	SPD	Michael Klostermann		23,564	18.5	4.1	21,731	17.0	1.5
	AfD						6,307	4.9
	NPD	Patrick Wieschke		5,969	4.7	0.9	5,144	4.0	0.5
	Greens	Rüdiger Bender		4,129	3.2	0.6	5,121	4.0	1.0
	Pirates	Andreas Jacob		3,450	2.7		2,682	2.1	0.1
	FW	Andreas Böhme		3,113	2.4		2,509	2.0
	FDP	Fred Leise		1,927	1.5	4.9	3,123	2.4	6.8
	ÖDP						616	0.5	0.1
	REP						254	0.2	0.2
	MLPD						199	0.2	0.1
Informal votes				2,312			1,989
Total valid votes				127,592			127,915
Turnout				129,904	67.4	2.5
	CDU hold		Majority	25,000	19.6	12.4

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Eisenach – Wartburgkreis – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis II
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	Christian Hirte		44,903	34.8	6.1	42,063	32.6	6.2
	Left	Anja Müller		35,666	27.6	5.2	36,508	28.3	3.5
	SPD	N Ernst Kranz		29,106	22.6	12.7	23,845	18.5	12.8
	FDP	Daniel Rudloff		8,211	6.4	1.6	11,921	9.2	1.7
	Greens	Richard Janus		4,921	3.8	0.9	6,451	5.0	0.7
	NPD	Patrick Wieschke		4,864	3.8	0.2	4,607	3.6	0.2
	Pirates						2,516	1.9
	Independent	Klaus Lohfing-Blanke		1,075	0.7
	ÖDP						489	0.4
	REP						467	0.4	0.3
	Independent	Andreas Grube		317	0.2
	MLPD						268	0.2	0.3
Informal votes				1,984			1,912
Total valid votes				129,063			129,135
Turnout				131,047	65.0	10.1
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	9,237	7.2