Freiburg (electoral district)

281 Freiburg
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Freiburg in 2025
State	Baden-Württemberg
Population	320,800 (2019)
Electorate	224,392 (2021)
Major settlements	Freiburg im Breisgau
Area	452.8 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	GRÜNE
Member	Chantal Kopf
Elected	2021

Freiburg 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 281. It is located in southwestern Baden-Württemberg, comprising the city of Freiburg im Breisgau and northwestern parts of the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald.^[1]

Freiburg was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Chantal Kopf of the Alliance 90/The Greens.^[2]

Freiburg is located in southwestern Baden-Württemberg. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the independent city of Freiburg im Breisgau and the municipalities of Au, Bötzingen, Bollschweil, Breisach am Rhein, Ebringen, Ehrenkirchen, Eichstetten am Kaiserstuhl, Gottenheim, Horben, Ihringen, March, Merdingen, Merzhausen, Pfaffenweiler, Schallstadt, Sölden, Umkirch, Vogtsburg im Kaiserstuhl, and Wittnau from the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district.^[1]

Freiburg was created in 1949. In the 1949 election, it was Baden constituency 4 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1961 elections, it was number 186. In the 1965 through 1976 elections, it was number 190. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it was number 185. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 282. Since the 2009 election, it has been number 281.

Originally, the constituency comprised the independent city of Freiburg im Breisgau and the Landkreis Freiburg district. In the 1980 election, it acquired a configuration similar to its current borders, but including the municipalities of Glottertal, Gundelfingen, Heuweiler, Kirchzarten, Oberried, Sankt Märgen, Sankt Peter, and Stegen from the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

The constituency has been held by Christian Democratic Union (CDU) during all but four Bundestag terms since its creation. It was first represented by Hermann Kopf from 1949 to 1969, followed by Hans Evers from 1969 to 1980. Conrad Schroeder was representative from 1980 to 1994, followed by Sigrun Löwisch from 1994 to 1998. Gernot Erler of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was elected in 1998 and served until 2013. Matern von Marschall of the CDU was representative from 2013 to 2021. Chantal Kopf won the constituency for the Greens in 2021.

Federal election (2021): Freiburg[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	%	±%
	Greens	Chantal Kopf		51,777	28.8	3.1	56,861	31.6	10.4
	SPD	Julia Söhne		47,198	26.3	3.6	38,183	21.2	3.7
	CDU	N Matern von Marschall		37,111	20.6	7.4	31,296	17.4	10.7
	FDP	Claudia Raffelhüschen[a]		13,835	7.7	2.4	19,145	10.6	1.3
	Left	Tobias Pflüger		9,604	5.3	2.0	12,429	6.9	4.3
	AfD	Marco Näger		8,107	4.5	2.7	8,854	4.9	2.9
	dieBasis	Sabine Kropf		4,115	2.3		3,779	2.1
	Tierschutzpartei						2,092	1.2	0.1
	FW	Anke Glenz		2,769	1.5		1,821	1.0	0.7
	PARTEI	Hanna Kohl		2,730	1.5	0.1	1,719	1.0	0.1
	Volt	Anna Rasputina		1,043	0.6		801	0.4
	KlimalisteBW	Alexander Grevel		785	0.4
	Team Todenhöfer						610	0.3
	ÖDP						571	0.3	0.1
	Pirates						475	0.3	0.1
	Bündnis C						281	0.2
	Humanists	Simon Grimm		561	0.3		280	0.2
	DiB						220	0.1	0.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						145	0.1
	Bürgerbewegung						96	0.1
	MLPD	Mira Kaizl		134	0.1	0.1	74	0.0	0.0
	NPD						60	0.0	0.1
	Bündnis 21						35	0.0
	LKR						27	0.0
	DKP						19	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,207			1,103
Total valid votes				179,769			179,873
Turnout				180,976	80.7	0.7
	Greens gain from CDU		Majority	4,579	2.5

Federal election (2017): Freiburg[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 Matern von Marschall		50,256	28.0	6.9	50,423	28.1	7.3
	Greens	Kerstin Andreae		46,115	25.7	4.8	38,002	21.2	1.3
	SPD	Julien Bender		40,647	22.7	7.4	31,452	17.5	4.6
	Left	Tobias Pflüger		13,172	7.3	2.5	20,168	11.2	3.4
	AfD	Volker Kempf		12,984	7.2	4.7	14,103	7.9	4.0
	FDP	Adrian Hurrle		9,546	5.3	3.4	16,725	9.3	4.5
	Tierschutzpartei	Sonia-Ellen Hösl		2,890	1.6		1,958	1.1	0.2
	PARTEI	Tim Jochmann		2,538	1.4		1,846	1.0
	BGE						871	0.5
	ÖDP						716	0.4	0.0
	Pirates						626	0.3	2.6
	FW						608	0.3	0.1
	Independent	Daniel Barski		583	0.3
	DiB						560	0.3
	Bündnis C	Peter Uhrmeister		406	0.2
	Tierschutzallianz						275	0.2
	NPD						261	0.1	0.3
	DM						257	0.1
	Menschliche Welt						239	0.1
	V-Partei³						229	0.1
	MLPD	Martin Halbritter		237	0.1		137	0.1	0.0
	DKP						45	0.0
	DIE RECHTE						34	0.0
Informal votes				1,480			1,319
Total valid votes				179,374			179,535
Turnout				180,854	81.4	4.7
	CDU hold		Majority	4,141	2.3	2.6

Federal election (2013): Freiburg[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	Matern von Marschall		58,106	34.9	6.0	59,007	35.4	8.3
	SPD	N Gernot Erler		50,004	30.0	3.0	36,791	22.1	1.1
	Greens	Kerstin Andreae		34,762	20.9	1.0	33,044	19.8	3.0
	Left	Tobias Pflüger		8,083	4.9	1.4	13,105	7.9	1.0
	AfD	Elke Fein		4,207	2.5		6,384	3.8
	Pirates	André Martens		3,829	2.3		4,973	3.0	0.2
	FDP	Sascha Fiek		3,182	1.9	6.3	8,059	4.8	9.2
	Independent	Martin Kissel		1,800	1.1
	Tierschutzpartei						1,465	0.9	0.1
	FW	Rolf Dieter Hauser		1,111	0.7		732	0.4
	NPD	Michael Kerber		950	0.6	0.0	784	0.5	0.0
	ÖDP						642	0.4	0.1
	RENTNER						363	0.2
	PBC						329	0.2	0.2
	REP						282	0.2	0.5
	Volksabstimmung						261	0.2	0.1
	Party of Reason						120	0.1
	PRO						88	0.1
	MLPD						77	0.0	0.0
	BIG						52	0.0
	Independent	Naseem Verweyen		48	0.0
	BüSo						21	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,726			1,681
Total valid votes				166,534			166,579
Turnout				168,260	76.7	1.8
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	8,102	4.9

Federal election (2009): Freiburg[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	%	±%
	SPD	Y Gernot Erler		51,192	33.0	12.1	32,691	21.0	10.0
	CDU	Daniel Sander		44,749	28.8	5.6	42,224	27.1	2.5
	Greens	Kerstin Andreae		33,878	21.8	10.9	35,536	22.8	0.1
	FDP	Sascha Fiek		12,674	8.2	4.4	21,887	14.1	4.9
	Left	Uta Spöri		9,675	6.2	1.9	13,793	8.9	3.9
	Pirates						4,289	2.8
	Tierschutzpartei						1,165	0.7
	REP	Heiko Trenkle		1,063	0.7		981	0.6	0.2
	NPD	Susanne Hoffmann		890	0.6	0.3	764	0.5	0.2
	DIE VIOLETTEN	Markus Benz		1,023	0.7		658	0.4
	PBC						581	0.4	0.1
	ÖDP						474	0.3
	Volksabstimmung						369	0.2
	MLPD						88	0.1	0.0
	DVU						78	0.1
	ADM						56	0.0
	BüSo						49	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,537			1,998
Total valid votes				155,144			155,683
Turnout				157,681	74.9	5.6
	SPD hold		Majority	6,443	4.2	6.5