Hochtaunus is an electoral constituency (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

. It elects one member via

first-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 176. It is located in southwestern

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

, comprising most of

Hochtaunuskreis The Hochtaunuskreis is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the middle of Hesse, Germany and is part of the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Neighbouring districts are Lahn-Dill, Wetteraukreis, district-free Frankfurt, Main-Taunus, Rheingau-Taunus ...

and the northeastern part of the

Limburg-Weilburg Limburg-Weilburg is a Kreis (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Lahn-Dill, Hochtaunuskreis, Rheingau-Taunus, Rhein-Lahn, Westerwaldkreis. History *1867 the ''Oberlahnkreis'', capital Weilburg was created *1886 the ...

district. Hochtaunus was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2013, it has been represented by Markus Koob of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Geography

Hochtaunus is located in southwestern

. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the entirety of the Hochtaunuskreis district excluding the municipalities of

Königstein im Taunus Königstein im Taunus () is a health spa and lies on the thickly wooded slopes of the Taunus in Hesse, Germany. The town is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Owing to its advantageous location for both scenery and transport on the ed ...

Kronberg im Taunus Kronberg im Taunus is a town in the Hochtaunuskreis district, Hesse, Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Before 1866, it was in the Duchy of Nassau; in that year the whole Duchy was absorbed into Prussia. Kronberg lies at th ...

, and Steinbach (Taunus), as well as the municipalities of Beselich, Löhnberg, Mengerskirchen, Merenberg,

Runkel Runkel is a town on the river Lahn in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Runkel lies in the Lahn Valley on both sides of the river between the Westerwald and the Taunus, some eight kilometres east of Limburg. ...

, Villmar,

Weilburg Weilburg is, with just under 13,000 inhabitants, the third biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, after Limburg an der Lahn and Bad Camberg. Geography Location The community lies in the Lahn valley between the Wester ...

, Weilmünster, and Weinbach from the Limburg-Weilburg district.

History

Hochtaunus was created in 1949, then known as ''Obertaunuskreis''. In the 1972 election, it was named ''Obertaunuskreis (Hochtaunuskreis)''. It acquired its current name in the 1976 election. In the 1949 election, it was Hesse constituency 10 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1976, it was number 135. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 133. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 177. Since the 2009 election, it has been number 176. Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Oberlahnkreis, Obertaunuskreis, and Usingen. From 1976 through 1998, it comprised the Hochtaunuskreis district, the municipalities of Beselich, Löhnberg, Mengerskirchen, Merenberg, Runkel, Villmar, Weilburg, Weilmünster, and Weinbach from the Limburg-Weilburg district, and the municipalities of

Eppstein Eppstein is a town in the Main-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. Eppstein lies west of Frankfurt am Main, around 12 km north east of the state capital Wiesbaden, and is at the edge of the Taunus mountains. The ruins of the Eppstein castle is ...

and Kelkheim from the

Main-Taunus-Kreis Main-Taunus is a Kreis (district) in the middle of Hessen, Germany and is part of the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region as well as the Frankfurt urban area. Neighboring districts are Hochtaunuskreis, district-free Frankfurt, Groß-Gerau, d ...

district. It acquired its current borders in the 2002 election.

Members

The constituency was represented by six different members in the first six terms of the Bundestag: Heinrich Müller of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(SPD) from 1949 to 1953, Erich Köhler of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1953 to 1957, Berthold Martin of the CDU from 1957 to 1961,

Kurt Gscheidle Kurt Gscheidle (16 December 1924 – 22 February 2003) was a German politician affiliated to the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Gscheidle trained as a mechanic with the Deutsche Reichspost until 1942, when he was called up by the Wehrmacht. I ...

of the SPD from 1961 to 1965,

Walther Leisler Kiep Walther Gottlieb Louis Leisler Kiep (5 January 1926 – 9 May 2016) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He was a member of the Bundestag between 1965 and 1976 and again from 1980 to 1982. After switching to state-le ...

of the CDU from 1965 to 1969, and Dietrich Sperling of the SPD from 1969 to 1973. Sperling was re-elected in 1972. Manfred Langner won the constituency for the CDU in 1976 and served until 1990, when he was succeeded by fellow party member Bärbel Sothmann. Holger Haibach served from 2002 to 2013. Markus Koob was elected in 2013, and re-elected in 2017 and 2021.

Election results

2021 election

2017 election

2013 election

2009 election

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hochtaunus Federal electoral districts in Hesse 1949 establishments in West Germany Constituencies established in 1949 Hochtaunuskreis Limburg-Weilburg