Münster (electoral district)

128 Münster
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Münster in 2025
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Population	315,300 (2019)
Electorate	233,953 (2021)
Major settlements	Münster
Area	303.3 km^2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	GRÜNE
Member	Maria Klein-Schmeink
Elected	2021

Münster 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 128. It is located in northern North Rhine-Westphalia, comprising the city of Münster.^[1]

Münster was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2021, it has been represented by Maria Klein-Schmeink of the Alliance 90/The Greens.^[2]

Geography

Münster is located in northern North Rhine-Westphalia. As of the 2021 federal election, it is coterminous with the independent city of Münster.^[1]

History

Münster was created in 1949, then known as Münster-Stadt und -Land. It acquired its current name in the 1965 election. In the 1949 election, it was North Rhine-Westphalia constituency 38 in the numbering system. From 1953 through 1961, it was number 97. From 1965 through 1976, it was number 95. From 1980 through 1998, it was number 99. From 2002 through 2009, it was number 130. In the 2013 through 2021 elections, it was number 129. From the 2025 election, it has been number 128.

Originally, the constituency comprised the city of Münster and the Landkreis Münster district. From 1965 through 1976, it comprised the city of Münster and the municipalities of Amelsbüren, Handorf, Hiltrup, and St. Mauritz from the Landkreis Münster district. Since the 1980 election, it has been coterminous with the city of Münster.

Election	No.	Name	Borders
1949	38	Münster-Stadt und -Land	Münster city Landkreis Münster district
1953	97
1957
1961
1965	95	Münster	Münster city Landkreis Münster district (only Amelsbüren, Handorf, Hiltrup, and St. Mauritz municipalities)
1969
1972
1976
1980	99		Münster city
1983
1987
1990
1994
1998
2002	130
2005
2009
2013	129
2017
2021
2025	128

Members

The constituency has been held by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) during all but two Bundestag terms since 1949. It was first represented by Peter Nellen of the CDU from 1949 to 1961, followed by Hermann Diebäcker for two terms and Franz Berding for one. Friedrich-Adolf Jahn was then representative from 1972 to 1994. He was succeeded by Ruprecht Polenz from 1994 to 2002. Christoph Strässer of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) was elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2005, but former member Polenz regained the constituency for the CDU in 2009. Sybille Benning was elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2017. Maria Klein-Schmeink was elected for the Greens in 2021.

Election		Member	Party	%
	1949	Peter Nellen	CDU	34.6
	1953			67.8
	1957			64.8
	1961	Hermann Diebäcker	CDU	50.0
	1965			57.0
	1969	Franz Berding	CDU	49.5
	1972	Friedrich-Adolf Jahn	CDU	48.4
	1976			51.0
	1980			47.6
	1983			51.8
	1987			45.2
	1990			42.7
	1994	Ruprecht Polenz	CDU	44.0
	1998			44.2
	2002	Christoph Strässer	SPD	40.8
	2005			41.7
	2009	Ruprecht Polenz	CDU	39.3
	2013	Sybille Benning	CDU	38.8
	2017			37.2
	2021	Maria Klein-Schmeink	GRÜNE	32.3

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Münster[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	Maria Klein-Schmeink		63,160	32.3	19.6	60,036	30.7	16.1
	CDU	Stefan Nacke		51,096	26.2	11.0	43,790	22.4	10.4
	SPD	Svenja Schulze		47,047	24.1	4.8	45,844	23.5	2.6
	FDP	Klaus Kretzer		13,038	6.7	0.3	20,786	10.6	2.9
	AfD	Helmut Birke		5,234	2.7	1.8	5,603	2.9	2.1
	Left	Kira Sawilla		7,078	3.6	3.2	9,746	5.0	5.2
	Volt	Carina Beckmann		2,505	1.3		1,812	0.9
	PARTEI	Roland Scholle		2,283	1.2	0.3	1,684	0.9	0.2
	dieBasis	Peter Balint		1,582	0.8		1,409	0.7
	Human Environment Animal Protection						1,326	0.7	0.3
	Team Todenhöfer						774	0.4
	FW	Olaf Wirl		966	0.5		691	0.4	0.2
	Pirates						479	0.2	0.1
	ÖDP	Alina Möller		897	0.5	0.1	422	0.2	0.1
	Independent	Sarah Geselbracht		207	0.1
	Humanists						205	0.1	0.0
	V-Partei3						150	0.1	0.0
	LIEBE						138	0.1
	Gesundheitsforschung						116	0.1	0.0
	du.						93	0.0
	LfK						79	0.0
	DKP	Manfred Stolper		179	0.1	0.0	75	0.0	0.0
	PdF						52	0.0
	NPD						45	0.0	0.0
	Bündnis C						42	0.0
	LKR						25	0.0
	Independent	Andrea Dumberger		23	0.0
	SGP						22	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						12	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				981			820
Total valid votes				195,295			195,456
Turnout				196,276	83.9	1.6
	Greens gain from CDU		Majority	12,064	6.1

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Münster[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 Sybille Benning		70,606	37.2	1.6	62,276	32.8	5.1
	SPD	Robert von Olberg		54,778	28.9	6.6	39,714	20.9	6.3
	Greens	Maria Klein-Schmeink		24,248	12.8	1.7	27,739	14.6	0.6
	FDP	Jörg Berens		13,219	7.0	1.2	25,684	13.5	6.7
	Left	Hubertus Zdebel		13,024	6.9	2.6	19,287	10.1	3.9
	AfD	Martin Schiller		8,569	4.5	2.5	9,393	4.9	2.0
	PARTEI	Marie Völkering		2,722	1.4		1,935	1.0	0.6
	Human Environment Animal Protection						781	0.4
	Pirates	Daniel Düngel		1,003	0.5	1.5	712	0.4	1.9
	ÖDP	Joachim Bruns		1,027	0.5	0.1	641	0.3	0.0
	DiB						337	0.2
	FW						246	0.1	0.0
	Independent	Carlos Abaga Ayingono		224	0.1
	V-Partei³						222	0.1
	BGE						218	0.1
	DM						192	0.1
	Die Humanisten						158	0.1
	Independent	Markus Overdiek		154	0.1
	AD-DEMOKRATEN						137	0.1
	NPD						111	0.1	0.2
	Volksabstimmung						110	0.1	0.0
	Gesundheitsforschung						95	0.0
	DKP	Manfred Stolper		173	0.1		66	0.0
	MLPD	Sebastian Zumdick		107	0.1		64	0.0	0.0
	SGP						8	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,236			964
Total valid votes				189,854			190,126
Turnout				191,090	82.3	3.2
	CDU hold		Majority	15,828	8.3	4.9

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Münster[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	Sybille Benning		69,352	38.8	0.4	67,626	37.8	4.1
	SPD	Christoph Strässer		63,296	35.4	2.8	48,579	27.2	3.4
	Greens	Maria Klein-Schmeink		19,767	11.1	1.7	27,118	15.2	2.0
	FDP	Daniel Bahr		10,222	5.7	4.2	12,119	6.8	7.9
	Left	Hubertus Zdebel		7,620	4.3	0.5	11,254	6.3	0.4
	AfD	Helmut Birke		3,651	2.0		5,236	2.9
	Pirates	Sasa Raber		3,582	2.0		4,037	2.3	0.1
	PARTEI						673	0.4
	ÖDP	Sieglinde Kersting		752	0.4		595	0.3	0.1
	NPD						490	0.3	0.1
	Independent	Harry Seemann		324	0.2
	Nichtwahler						218	0.1
	FW						195	0.1
	PRO						139	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						123	0.1	0.0
	Party of Reason						113	0.1
	BIG						59	0.0
	REP						54	0.0	0.1
	RRP						52	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						51	0.0	0.0
	PSG						27	0.0	0.0
	Die Rechte						23	0.0
	BüSo						21	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,527			1,291
Total valid votes				178,566			178,802
Turnout				180,093	79.1	1.4
	CDU hold		Majority	6,056	3.4	3.3

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Münster[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	Ruprecht Polenz		63,819	39.3	2.1	54,902	33.7	1.8
	SPD	N Christoph Strässer		53,029	32.6	9.1	38,604	23.7	11.6
	Greens	Maria Klein-Schmeink		20,822	12.8	4.4	27,985	17.2	3.8
	FDP	Daniel Bahr		16,131	9.9	4.8	23,951	14.7	4.4
	Left	Hubertus Zdebel		7,805	4.8	2.2	10,970	6.7	2.7
	Pirates						3,489	2.1
	NPD	Dennis Dormuth		718	0.4	0.0	574	0.4	0.0
	Human Environment Animal Protection						567	0.3	0.1
	ÖDP						417	0.3
	FAMILIE						416	0.3	0.0
	RENTNER						294	0.2
	REP						175	0.1	0.0
	RRP						107	0.1
	Volksabstimmung						89	0.1	0.0
	Centre						78	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						39	0.0	0.0
	DVU						38	0.0
	PSG						19	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						17	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,362			1,190
Total valid votes				162,559			162,731
Turnout				163,921	77.7	5.3
	CDU gain from SPD		Majority	10,790	6.7

References

1. "Constituency Münster". Federal Returning Officer.
2. "Results for Münster". Federal Returning Officer.
3. Results for Münster
4. Results for Münster
5. Results for Münster
6. Results for Münster