Wetterau I

176 Wetterau I
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Wetterau I in 2025
State	Hesse
Population	243,000 (2019)
Electorate	176,897 (2021)
Major settlements	Bad Vilbel Bad Nauheim Friedberg
Area	745.8 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	SPD
Member	Natalie Pawlik
Elected	2021

Wetterau 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 176. It is located in central Hesse, comprising most of the Wetteraukreis district.^[1]

Wetterau I was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Natalie Pawlik of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).^[2]

Wetterau I is located in central Hesse. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Wetteraukreis district excluding the municipalities of Altenstadt, Büdingen, Gedern, Glauburg, Hirzenhain, Kefenrod, Limeshain, and Ortenberg.^[1]

Wetterau I was created in 1949, then known as Friedberg. In the 1976 through 2009 elections, it was named Wetterau. It acquired its current name in the 2013 election. In the 1949 election, it was Hesse constituency 11 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1976, it was number 136. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 134. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 178. In the 2009 through 2021 elections, it was number 177. From the 2025 election, it has been number 176.

Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Büdingen and Friedberg. From 1976 through 1998, it was coterminous with the Wetteraukreis district. In the 2002 through 2009 elections, it comprised the Wetteraukreis district and the municipalities of Bad Soden-Salmünster, Brachttal, and Wächtersbach from the Main-Kinzig-Kreis district. It acquired its current borders in the 2013 election.

The constituency was first represented by Wilhelm Knothe of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 1949 until his death in 1952. Fellow party member Kurt Moosdorf won the subsequent by-election, but Willi Richter replaced him as SPD candidate and representative in the 1953 federal election. Richter was succeeded by Lucie Beyer in 1957. Georg Schlaga then served from 1969 to 1983. Christian Schwarz-Schilling of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was elected in 1983 and was representative until 1998. Nina Hauer won the constituency for the SPD in 1998 and served three terms. Lucia Puttrich of the CDU was then representative from 2009 to 2013. Oswin Veith was elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2017. He resigned in March 2020 to become chairman of Oberhessische Versorgungsbetriebe (OVAG). Natalie Pawlik was elected for the SPD in 2021.

Federal election (2021): Wetterau 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	%	±%
	SPD	Natalie Pawlik		40,618	29.7	0.6	35,909	26.2	3.5
	CDU	Armin Häuser		38,807	28.3	8.1	32,419	23.6	8.4
	Greens	Michaela Colletti		18,996	13.9	5.6	21,917	16.0	6.5
	FDP	Peter Heidt		15,000	11.0	2.9	19,043	13.9	1.1
	AfD	Andreas Lichert		11,318	8.3	2.7	11,680	8.5	3.1
	FW	Cenk Gönül		4,238	3.1	1.3	2,812	2.0	1.1
	Left	Julian Eder		3,904	2.9	2.1	4,905	3.6	3.2
	Human Environment Animal Protection						2,255	1.6	0.5
	dieBasis	Eva Rosen		2,411	1.8		1,915	1.4
	PARTEI						1,153	0.8	0.0
	Pirates	Stephan Flindt		1,633	1.2		771	0.6	0.2
	Team Todenhöfer						637	0.5
	Volt						559	0.4
	NPD						352	0.3	0.3
	Gesundheitsforschung						230	0.2
	V-Partei3						162	0.1	0.1
	ÖDP						145	0.1	0.1
	Humanists						139	0.1
	Bündnis C						114	0.1
	Bündnis 21						50	0.0
	LKR						39	0.0
	DKP						29	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						22	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,010			1,678
Total valid votes				136,925			137,257
Turnout				138,935	78.5	0.2
	SPD gain from CDU		Majority	1,811	1.4

Federal election (2017): Wetterau 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	%	±%
	CDU	Y Oswin Veith		49,891	36.4	10.6	43,951	32.0	8.9
	SPD	Natalie Pawlik		39,773	29.0	2.9	31,152	22.7	4.7
	AfD	Klaus Herrmann		14,987	10.9		15,895	11.6	5.6
	Greens	Kathrin Anders		11,368	8.3	0.9	13,002	9.5	0.1
	FDP	Peter Heidt[a]		11,047	8.1	5.3	17,462	12.7	6.8
	Left	Julian Simon Eder		6,719	4.9	0.1	9,249	6.7	1.6
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,632	1.2
	FW	Thorsten Schwellnus		2,417	1.8	0.1	1,299	0.9	0.2
	PARTEI						1,199	0.9	0.4
	NPD	Stefan Jagsch		719	0.5	1.3	811	0.6	0.9
	Pirates						544	0.4	1.6
	DM						249	0.2
	V-Partei³						239	0.2
	BGE						233	0.2
	ÖDP						229	0.2
	BüSo						27	0.0	0.1
	MLPD						24	0.0	0.0
	DKP						23	0.0
Informal votes				1,932			1,633
Total valid votes				136,921			137,220
Turnout				138,853	78.7	3.6
	CDU hold		Majority	10,118	7.4	7.8

Federal election (2013): Wetterau 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	Oswin Veith		60,118	47.1	5.7	52,419	40.9	7.4
	SPD	Stefan Lux		40,805	31.9	1.0	34,937	27.3	2.7
	Greens	Antje Gesinn		9,497	7.4	0.1	11,991	9.4	2.1
	AfD						7,608	5.9
	Left	Gabriele Faulhaber		6,174	4.8	1.0	6,615	5.2	2.1
	FDP	Natascha Colette Baumann		3,527	2.8	6.4	7,586	5.9	12.0
	Pirates	Marc Stephan Weitz		2,863	2.2		2,535	2.0	0.1
	FW	Rebecca Scholz		2,422	1.9		1,440	1.1
	NPD	Stefan Jagsch		2,364	1.9	0.0	1,860	1.5	0.3
	PARTEI						604	0.5
	REP						194	0.2	0.1
	PRO						170	0.1
	BüSo						110	0.1	0.0
	SGP						57	0.0
	MLPD						23	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				3,710			3,331
Total valid votes				127,770			128,149
Turnout				131,480	75.1	0.6
	CDU hold		Majority	19,313	15.2	7.3

Federal election (2009): Wetterau[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	Lucia Puttrich		73,702	41.0	0.9	60,038	33.4	1.2
	SPD	N Nina Hauer		59,420	33.1	10.2	45,085	25.1	9.6
	FDP	Achim Güssgen		16,284	9.1	4.9	31,612	17.6	5.1
	Greens	Christian Kolb		12,425	6.9	3.0	19,242	10.7	1.6
	Left	Gabriele Faulhaber		11,116	6.2	2.2	13,681	7.6	2.6
	Pirates						3,623	2.0
	NPD	Daniel Lachmann		3,792	2.1	0.1	3,426	1.9	0.1
	Human Environment Animal Protection	Christa Rust		2,631	1.5		2,069	1.2	0.3
	REP						677	0.4	0.3
	Independent	Manuel Hachenburger		328	0.2
	BüSo						182	0.1	0.0
	DVU						138	0.1
	MLPD						45	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				4,122			4,002
Total valid votes				179,698			179,818
Turnout				183,820	74.5	4.2
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	14,282	7.9