Biberach (electoral district)

292 Biberach
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Biberach in 2025
State	Baden-Württemberg
Population	230,500 (2019)
Electorate	169,147 (2021)
Major settlements	Biberach an der Riss Laupheim Bad Wurzach
Area	1,748.1 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CDU
Member	Josef Rief
Elected	2009, 2013, 2017, 2021

Biberach 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 292. It is located in southeastern Baden-Württemberg, comprising the Biberach district and northeastern parts of the Ravensburg district.

Biberach was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2009, it has been represented by Josef Rief of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Geography

Biberach is located in southeastern Baden-Württemberg. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the district of Biberach and the municipalities of Aichstetten, Aitrach, Bad Wurzach, and Kißlegg from the Ravensburg district.

History

Biberach was created in 1949. In the 1949 election, it was Württemberg-Hohenzollern constituency 5 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1961 elections, it was number 194. In the 1965 through 1976 elections, it was number 198. In the 1980 through 1998 elections, it was number 196. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 293. Since the 2009 election, it has been number 292.

Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Biberach, Saulgau, and Ehingen. In the 1965 through 1976 elections, it also contained the municipalities of Billafingen, Burgau, and Langenenslingen from the Sigmaringen district. In the 1980 election, it acquired a configuration similar to its current borders, but also containing the municipalities of Achberg, Amtzell, Argenbühl, Bad Waldsee, Bergatreute, Isny, Leutkirch, Vogt, Wangen, and Wolfegg from the Ravensburg district. It acquired its current borders in the 2009 election.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	5	Biberach	Biberach district Saulgau district Ehingen district
1953	194
1957
1961
1965	198		Biberach district Saulgau district Ehingen district Sigmaringen district (only Billafingen, Burgau, and Langenenslingen municipalities)
1969
1972
1976
1980	196		Biberach district Ravensburg district (only Achberg, Aichstetten, Aitrach, Amtzell, Argenbühl, Bad Waldsee, Bad Wurzach, Bergatreute, Isny, Kißlegg, Leutkirch, Vogt, Wangen, and Wolfegg municipalities)
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	293
2005
2009	292		Biberach district Ravensburg district (only Aichstetten, Aitrach, Bad Wurzach, and Kißlegg municipalities)
2013
2017
2021
2025

Members

The constituency has been held continuously by Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since its creation. It was first represented by Bernhard Bauknecht from 1949 to 1969, followed by Eugen Maucher from 1969 to 1976 and Isidor Früh from 1976 to 1980. Alois Graf von Waldburg-Zeil was representative from 1980 to 1998, followed by Franz Romer from 1998 to 2009. Josef Rief was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Bernhard Bauknecht	CDU	82.0
	1953			79.1
	1957			80.0
	1961			75.3
	1965			74.2
	1969	Eugen Maucher	CDU	73.1
	1972			72.1
	1976	Isidor Früh	CDU	72.9
	1980	Alois Graf von Waldburg-Zeil	CDU	70.6
	1983			75.1
	1987			67.6
	1990			62.1
	1994			58.9
	1998	Franz Romer	CDU	48.5
	2002			57.7
	2005			52.4
	2009	Josef Rief	CDU	42.7
	2013			59.0
	2017			44.5
	2021			35.1

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Biberach
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 Josef Rief		46,458	35.1	9.3	40,472	30.6	12.5
	SPD	Martin Gerster		24,567	18.6	1.6	23,152	17.5	4.8
	Greens	Anja Reinalter		17,912	13.6	0.0	18,070	13.7	2.4
	AfD	Rebecca Weißbrodt		13,469	10.2	1.1	14,308	10.8	1.6
	FDP	Florian Hirt		13,045	9.9	2.4	19,163	14.5	3.5
	FW	Ulrich Bossler		4,431	3.4	2.1	4,155	3.1	2.2
	dieBasis	Jan-Christopher Zubel		3,134	2.4		3,207	2.4
	ÖDP	Norbert Huchler		2,489	1.9	0.6	1,191	0.9	0.0
	Human Environment Animal Protection	Simone Bischof		2,371	1.8		1,921	1.5	0.7
	Left	Rainer Schaaf		2,064	1.6	2.2	2,967	2.2	2.4
	PARTEI	Sven Milverstaedt		1,471	1.1		1,175	0.9	0.4
	Pirates	Samuel Schmid		760	0.6		559	0.4	0.0
	Team Todenhöfer						433	0.3
	Volt						332	0.3
	Bündnis C						241	0.2
	Bürgerbewegung						200	0.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						189	0.1
	NPD						158	0.1	0.2
	DiB						122	0.1	0.0
	Humanists						117	0.1
	Bündnis 21						43	0.0
	LKR						27	0.0
	DKP						16	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						12	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,174			1,115
Total valid votes				132,171			132,230
Turnout				133,345	78.8	0.0
	CDU hold		Majority	21,891	16.5	10.9

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Biberach
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 Josef Rief		57,837	44.5	14.5	56,162	43.1	13.2
	SPD	Martin Gerster		22,034	16.9	3.0	16,557	12.7	2.1
	Greens	Anja Reinalter		17,589	13.5	4.5	14,729	11.3	2.2
	AfD	Matthias Stiel		14,640	11.3		16,236	12.5	8.2
	FDP	Tim Hundertmark		9,775	7.5	5.4	14,321	11.0	6.1
	Left	Ralph Heidenreich		4,907	3.8	0.4	5,997	4.6	1.2
	ÖDP	Gudrun Diebold		1,724	1.3	0.3	1,180	0.9	0.1
	FW	Deborah Schiwig		1,576	1.2	0.9	1,201	0.9	0.3
	Human Environment Animal Protection						923	0.7	0.0
	PARTEI						620	0.5
	Pirates						609	0.5	1.6
	NPD						384	0.3	0.6
	Tierschutzallianz						293	0.2
	DM						244	0.2
	BGE						224	0.2
	Menschliche Welt						219	0.2
	V-Partei³						156	0.1
	DiB						129	0.1
	DIE RECHTE						39	0.0
	MLPD						36	0.0	0.0
	DKP						16	0.0
Informal votes				1,611			1,418
Total valid votes				130,082			130,275
Turnout				131,693	78.8	4.5
	CDU hold		Majority	35,803	27.6	11.6

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Biberach
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 Josef Rief		70,540	59.0	16.3	67,567	56.3	13.1
	SPD	Martin Gerster		23,786	19.9	3.2	17,814	14.8	1.1
	Greens	Eugen Schlachter		10,754	9.0	0.8	10,887	9.1	1.8
	Left	Ralph Heidenreich		4,013	3.4	2.0	4,075	3.4	2.4
	Pirates	Lisa Rudolf		3,411	2.9		2,503	2.1	0.1
	FDP	Norbert Mayer		2,567	2.1	13.0	5,851	4.9	14.0
	AfD						5,072	4.2
	FW	Ulrich Bossler		2,558	2.1		1,516	1.3
	ÖDP	Gudrun Diebold		1,958	1.6	0.1	1,166	1.0	0.4
	NPD						1,062	0.9	0.3
	Human Environment Animal Protection						825	0.7	0.1
	REP						599	0.5	0.6
	RENTNER						316	0.3
	Volksabstimmung						273	0.2	0.1
	PBC						209	0.2	0.2
	Party of Reason						134	0.1
	PRO						105	0.1
	BIG						66	0.1
	BüSo						28	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						20	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,131			1,630
Total valid votes				119,587			120,088
Turnout				121,718	74.3	2.1
	CDU hold		Majority	46,574	39.1	19.4

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Biberach
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	Josef Rief		48,662	42.7	10.5	49,688	43.2	8.4
	SPD	Martin Gerster		26,275	23.0	3.9	15,742	13.7	7.9
	FDP	Oliver Lukner		17,233	15.1	7.6	21,665	18.8	7.8
	Greens	Thomas Oelmayer		11,176	9.8	4.1	12,524	10.9	3.1
	Left	Herbert Wilzek		6,117	5.4	3.2	6,636	5.8	3.2
	Pirates						2,277	2.0
	NPD	Siegfried Härle		2,389	2.1	0.0	1,401	1.2	0.1
	ÖDP	Gudrun Diebold		1,760	1.5		1,536	1.3
	REP						1,289	1.1	0.7
	Human Environment Animal Protection						879	0.8
	Independent	Peter Baer		414	0.4
	PBC						413	0.4	0.0
	Volksabstimmung						382	0.3
	DIE VIOLETTEN						277	0.2
	DVU						100	0.1
	BüSo						77	0.1	0.1
	ADM						60	0.1
	MLPD						40	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				3,263			2,303
Total valid votes				114,026			114,986
Turnout				117,289	72.2	7.0
	CDU hold		Majority	22,387	19.7	14.4