# Gotha – Ilm-Kreis

Gotha – Ilm-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 191. It is located in west-central Thuringia, comprising the districts of Gotha and Ilm-Kreis.
Gotha – Ilm-Kreis was created for the inaugural 1990 federal election after German reunification. Since 2021, it has been represented by Marcus Bühl of the Alternative for Germany (AfD).

## Geography

Gotha – Ilm-Kreis is located in west-central Thuringia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the districts of Gotha and Ilm-Kreis.

## History

Gotha – Ilm-Kreis was created after German reunification in 1990, then known as Gotha – Arnstadt. It acquired its current name in the 2002 election. In the 1990 through 1998 elections, it was constituency 299 in the numbering system. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 193. In the 2009 through 2021 elections, it was number 192. From the 2025 election, it has been number 191.
Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Gotha and Arnstadt. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.
| Election | No. | Name | Borders |
| 1990 | 299 | Gotha – Arnstadt | Gotha district Arnstadt district |
| 1994 | 299 | Gotha – Arnstadt | Gotha district Arnstadt district |
| 1998 | 299 | Gotha – Arnstadt | Gotha district Arnstadt district |
| 2002 | 193 | Gotha – Ilm-Kreis | Gotha district Ilm-Kreis district |
| 2005 | 193 | Gotha – Ilm-Kreis | Gotha district Ilm-Kreis district |
| 2009 | 192 | Gotha – Ilm-Kreis | Gotha district Ilm-Kreis district |
| 2013 | 192 | Gotha – Ilm-Kreis | Gotha district Ilm-Kreis district |
| 2017 | 192 | Gotha – Ilm-Kreis | Gotha district Ilm-Kreis district |
| 2021 | 192 | Gotha – Ilm-Kreis | Gotha district Ilm-Kreis district |
| 2025 | 191 | Gotha – Ilm-Kreis | Gotha district Ilm-Kreis district |

## Members

The constituency was first represented by Gerhard Päselt of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1990 to 1998. Gerhard Neumann won it for the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1998 and served a single term. He was succeeded by fellow SPD member Petra Heß from 2002 to 2009. Tankred Schipanski of the CDU was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013 and 2017. Marcus Bühl won the constituency for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in 2021.
| Election | Member | Party | % |
| 1990 | Gerhard Päselt | CDU | 46.7 |
| 1994 | Gerhard Päselt | CDU | 43.1 |
| 1998 | Gerhard Neumann | SPD | 40.1 |
| 2002 | Petra Heß | SPD | 41.8 |
| 2005 | Petra Heß | SPD | 37.2 |
| 2009 | Tankred Schipanski | CDU | 29.1 |
| 2013 | Tankred Schipanski | CDU | 38.3 |
| 2017 | Tankred Schipanski | CDU | 29.0 |
| 2021 | Marcus Bühl | AfD | 26.5 |

## Election results
### 2025 election

Federal election (2025): Gotha – Ilm-Kreis :
| Notes: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | AfD | Y Marcus Bühl | Y Marcus Bühl | 60,348 | 41.2 | 14.7 | 59,553 | 40.6 | 14.6 |
| | CDU | Tankred Schipanski | Tankred Schipanski | 29,345 | 20.0 | 1.6 | 25,917 | 17.7 | 2.1 |
| | Left | Sascha Bilay | Sascha Bilay | 18,753 | 12.8 | 1.7 | 21,968 | 15.0 | 4.0 |
| | BSW | Juliane Hein | Juliane Hein | 11,661 | 8.0 | New | 13,584 | 9.3 | New |
| | SPD | Florian Wagner | Florian Wagner | 14,680 | 10.0 | 13.5 | 12,958 | 8.8 | 14.9 |
| | Greens | Madeleine Henfling | Madeleine Henfling | 4,402 | 3.0 | 1.6 | 5,144 | 3.5 | 2.3 |
| | FDP | Martin Mölders | Martin Mölders | 2,999 | 2.0 | 4.7 | 3,906 | 2.7 | 6.0 |
| | FW | Mathias Nicolai | Mathias Nicolai | 3,236 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 2,453 | 1.7 | 1.0 |
| | Independent | Timo Pradel | Timo Pradel | 967 | 0.7 | 0.3 | | | |
| | Volt | | | | | | 697 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| | BD | | | | | | 465 | 0.3 | New |
| | Independent | Juliane Hahn | Juliane Hahn | 235 | 0.2 | New | | | |
| | MLPD | | | | | | 465 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,359 | | | 1,162 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 146,626 | | | 146,823 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 147,985 | 80.3 | 5.5 | | | |
| | AfD hold | AfD hold | Majority | 31,003 | 21.2 | 18.2 | | | |

### 2021 election

Federal election (2021): Gotha – Ilm-Kreis :
| Notes: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | AfD | Marcus Bühl | Marcus Bühl | 37,249 | 26.5 | 2.6 | 36,522 | 26.0 | 1.9 |
| | SPD | Michael Müller | Michael Müller | 33,085 | 23.5 | 4.9 | 33,437 | 23.8 | 9.8 |
| | CDU | N Tankred Schipanski | N Tankred Schipanski | 25,918 | 18.4 | 10.5 | 21,820 | 15.5 | 12.3 |
| | Left | Cornelia Wanderer | Cornelia Wanderer | 15,579 | 11.1 | 4.5 | 15,454 | 11.0 | 4.7 |
| | FDP | Martin Mölders | Martin Mölders | 9,494 | 6.8 | 0.7 | 12,126 | 8.6 | 0.9 |
| | Greens | Stephan Ostermann | Stephan Ostermann | 6,498 | 4.6 | 1.3 | 8,100 | 5.8 | 2.0 |
| | FW | Sylke Mönch | Sylke Mönch | 5,622 | 4.0 | 0.4 | 3,810 | 2.7 | 0.9 |
| | PARTEI | Frank-Peter Prüger | Frank-Peter Prüger | 2,783 | 2.0 | | 1,791 | 1.3 | 0.5 |
| | dieBasis | Sven-Jarno Bien | Sven-Jarno Bien | 2,435 | 1.7 | | 2,351 | 1.7 | |
| | Tierschutzpartei | | | | | | 2,168 | 1.5 | |
| | Graue Panther | André Pfannschmidt | André Pfannschmidt | 961 | 0.7 | | | | |
| | Pirates | | | | | | 759 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| | THP | Timo Pradel | Timo Pradel | 549 | 0.4 | | | | |
| | Volt | | | | | | 468 | 0.3 | |
| | The Homeland | | | | | | 437 | 0.3 | 0.9 |
| | Menschliche Welt | | | | | | 405 | 0.3 | |
| | Team Todenhöfer | | | | | | 297 | 0.2 | |
| | MLPD | Louisa von Freytag-Löringhoff | Louisa von Freytag-Löringhoff | 411 | 0.3 | | 235 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| | Humanists | | | | | | 173 | 0.1 | |
| | ÖDP | | | | | | 162 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| | V-Partei3 | | | | | | 133 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,982 | | | 1,918 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 140,584 | | | 140,648 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 142,566 | 74.8 | 0.2 | | | |
| | AfD gain from CDU | AfD gain from CDU | Majority | 4,164 | 3.0 | | | | |

### 2017 election

Federal election (2017): Gotha – Ilm-Kreis :
| Notes: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | CDU | Y Tankred Schipanski | Y Tankred Schipanski | 42,221 | 29.0 | 8.3 | 40,576 | 27.8 | 10.4 |
| | AfD | Carsten Günther | Carsten Günther | 34,798 | 23.9 | 18.1 | 35,091 | 24.1 | 16.6 |
| | SPD | Petra Heß | Petra Heß | 27,120 | 18.6 | 6.3 | 20,391 | 14.0 | 3.1 |
| | Left | Anke Hofmann-Domke | Anke Hofmann-Domke | 22,674 | 15.6 | 4.6 | 22,920 | 15.7 | 6.4 |
| | FDP | Martin Mölders | Martin Mölders | 8,775 | 6.0 | 4.7 | 11,218 | 7.7 | 5.3 |
| | FW | Wolfgang Sturm | Wolfgang Sturm | 5,198 | 3.6 | 2.1 | 2,691 | 1.8 | 0.3 |
| | Greens | Matthias Schlegel | Matthias Schlegel | 4,809 | 3.3 | 0.3 | 5,411 | 3.7 | 0.9 |
| | PARTEI | | | | | | 2,654 | 1.8 | |
| | The Homeland | | | | | | 1,824 | 1.3 | 1.9 |
| | DM | | | | | | 829 | 0.6 | |
| | Pirates | | | | | | 733 | 0.5 | 2.1 |
| | ÖDP | | | | | | 541 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| | BGE | | | | | | 459 | 0.3 | |
| | V-Partei³ | | | | | | 347 | 0.2 | |
| | MLPD | | | | | | 193 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 2,470 | | | 2,187 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 145,595 | | | 145,878 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 148,065 | 74.7 | 5.9 | | | |
| | CDU hold | CDU hold | Majority | 7,423 | 5.1 | 7.2 | | | |

### 2013 election

Federal election (2013): Gotha – Ilm-Kreis :
| Notes: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | CDU | Y Tankred Schipanski | Y Tankred Schipanski | 51,861 | 37.3 | 8.2 | 53,196 | 38.2 | 7.5 |
| | SPD | Petra Heß | Petra Heß | 34,726 | 25.0 | 1.9 | 23,815 | 17.1 | 2.5 |
| | Left | Martina Renner | Martina Renner | 28,015 | 20.1 | 5.9 | 30,758 | 22.1 | 5.6 |
| | AfD | Jens Dietrich | Jens Dietrich | 8,063 | 5.8 | | 10,309 | 7.4 | |
| | The Homeland | Sebastian Reiche | Sebastian Reiche | 4,689 | 3.4 | 0.6 | 4,416 | 3.2 | 0.4 |
| | Greens | Steffen Fuchs | Steffen Fuchs | 4,117 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 6,414 | 4.6 | 0.9 |
| | Pirates | Andreas Kaßbohm | Andreas Kaßbohm | 3,656 | 2.6 | | 3,566 | 2.6 | 0.3 |
| | FW | Annette Garcia | Annette Garcia | 2,067 | 1.5 | | 2.079 | 1.5 | |
| | FDP | Torsten Köhler-Hohlfeld | Torsten Köhler-Hohlfeld | 1,879 | 1.4 | 5.9 | 3,280 | 2.4 | 6.6 |
| | ÖDP | | | | | | 734 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| | REP | | | | | | 343 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| | MLPD | | | | | | 182 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 2,388 | | | 2,369 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 139,073 | | | 139,092 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 141,461 | 68.7 | 3.5 | | | |
| | CDU hold | CDU hold | Majority | 17,135 | 12.3 | 10.1 | | | |

### 2009 election

Federal election (2009): Gotha – Ilm-Kreis :
| Notes: | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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 | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | CDU | Tankred Schipanski | Tankred Schipanski | 40,063 | 29.1 | 0.0 | 42,479 | 30.8 | 4.3 |
| | SPD | N Petra Heß | N Petra Heß | 37,032 | 26.9 | 10.3 | 27,092 | 19.6 | 11.2 |
| | Left | Cornelia Hirsch | Cornelia Hirsch | 35,942 | 26.1 | 4.7 | 38,257 | 27.7 | 3.0 |
| | FDP | Anja Kolbe | Anja Kolbe | 10,056 | 7.3 | 2.6 | 12,393 | 9.0 | 1.4 |
| | Greens | Katrin Göring-Eckardt | Katrin Göring-Eckardt | 7,391 | 5.4 | 2.8 | 7,608 | 5.5 | 1.1 |
| | The Homeland | Sebastian Reiche | Sebastian Reiche | 5,475 | 4.0 | 0.4 | 4,924 | 3.6 | 0.3 |
| | Pirates | | | | | | 3,992 | 2.9 | |
| | Independent | Stephan Beyer | Stephan Beyer | 1,176 | 0.9 | | | | |
| | Independent | Silke Möller | Silke Möller | 672 | 0.5 | | | | |
| | REP | | | | | | 513 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| | ÖDP | | | | | | 499 | 0.4 | |
| | MLPD | | | | | | 191 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 2,112 | | | 1,971 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 137,807 | | | 137,948 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 139,919 | 65.2 | 10.6 | | | |
| | CDU gain from SPD | CDU gain from SPD | Majority | 3,031 | 2.2 | | | | |