257 Ostallgäu
Electoral district for the Bundestag
Ostallgäu in 2025
State	Bavaria
Population	339,800 (2019)
Electorate	250,767 (2017)
Major settlements	Kaufbeuren Marktoberdorf Füssen
Area	2,328.1 km2
Current electoral district
Created	1949
Party	CSU
Member	Stephan Stracke
Elected	2009, 2013, 2017, 2021

Ostallgäu 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 257. It is located in southwestern Bavaria, comprising the city of Kaufbeuren, the Ostallgäu district, and southern parts of the Landkreis Augsburg district. ^[1]

Ostallgäu was created for the inaugural 1949 federal election. Since 2009, it has been represented by Stephan Stracke of the Christian Social Union (CSU). ^[2]

Geography

Ostallgäu is located in southwestern Bavaria. As of the 2025 federal election, it comprises the independent city of Kaufbeuren, the Ostallgäu district, and the municipality of Graben and Verwaltungsgemeinschaften of Großaitingen, Langerringen, and Lechfeld from the Landkreis Augsburg district. ^[1]

History

Ostallgäu was created in 1949, then known as Kaufbeuren. It acquired its current name in the 1976 election. In the 1949 election, it was Bavaria constituency 45 in the numbering system. In the 1953 through 1961 elections, it was number 240. In the 1965 through 1972 elections, it was number 242. In the 1976 through 1998 elections, it was number 243. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 258. Since the 2009 election, it has been number 257.

Originally, the constituency comprised the independent city of Kaufbeuren and the districts of Landkreis Kaufbeuren, Füssen, Marktoberdorf, and Schwabmünchen. In the 1965 through 1972 elections, it comprised the independent cities of Kaufbeuren and Memmingen and the districts of Landkreis Kaufbeuren, Landkreis Memmingen, Mindelheim, and Marktoberdorf. In the 1976 through 1990 elections, it comprised the cities of Kaufbeuren and Memmingen and the districts of Ostallgäu and Unterallgäu. In 1994, several municipalities of Untergallgäu were transferred out of the constituency. It was reconfigured to its current borders ahead of the 2025 election.

Members

Like most constituencies in rural Bavaria, it is an CSU safe seat, the party holding the seat continuously since its creation. It was first represented by Josef Spies from 1949 to 1965, followed by Hans August Lücker from 1965 to 1980. Kurt Rossmanith was representative from 1980 to 2009, a total of eight consecutive terms. Stephan Stracke was elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021.

Election results

2021 election

Federal election (2021): Ostallgäu [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	%	±%
	CSU	Y Stephan Stracke		76,399	38.8	10.4	62,635	31.7	10.3
	SPD	Regina Leenders		24,288	12.3	0.9	30,914	15.6	3.5
	Greens	Daniel Pflügl		24,128	12.2	3.5	23,712	12.0	3.5
	AfD	Christian Sedlmeir		20,021	10.2	2.5	19,779	10.0	3.3
	FW	Mariana Braunmiller		17,819	9.0	5.6	17,985	9.1	6.4
	FDP	Kai Fackler		14,258	7.2	1.6	21,561	10.9	0.4
	dieBasis	Florian Mayr		7,303	3.7		5,832	3.0
	Left	Susanne Ferschl		6,667	3.4	2.0	5,007	2.5	2.9
	Tierschutzpartei						2,086	1.1	0.2
	ÖDP	Alexander Abt		3,120	1.6	0.4	1,948	1.0	0.5
	PARTEI	Christian Armster		2,340	1.2		1,416	0.7	0.2
	BP						1,033	0.5	0.6
	Pirates						767	0.4	0.1
	Team Todenhöfer						685	0.3
	Unabhängige						407	0.2
	Bündnis C						347	0.2
	Volt						334	0.2
	V-Partei3	Christiana Hofer		782	0.4		307	0.2	0.0
	NPD						214	0.1	0.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						208	0.1	0.0
	Humanists						163	0.1
	du.						125	0.1
	The III. Path						100	0.1
	LKR						31	0.0
	DKP						25	0.0	0.0
	MLPD						22	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,542			1,024
Total valid votes				197,125			197,643
Turnout				198,667	79.3	1.9
	CSU hold		Majority	52,111	26.5	10.0

2017 election

Federal election (2017): Ostallgäu [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	%	±%
	CSU	Y Stephan Stracke		93,430	49.2	10.6	79,932	42.0	13.1
	AfD	Christoph Maier		24,018	12.6	8.5	25,384	13.3	8.5
	SPD	Pascal André Lechler		21,610	11.4	3.7	23,044	12.1	2.9
	Greens	Günter Claus Räder		16,537	8.7	2.7	16,214	8.5	1.4
	FDP	Jonas Flott		10,627	5.6	3.9	19,898	10.5	5.8
	Left	Susanne Ferschl		10,153	5.3	2.5	10,387	5.5	2.3
	FW	Susen Knabner		6,445	3.4	0.1	5,112	2.7	0.0
	ÖDP	Krimhilde Dornach		3,813	2.0	0.0	2,789	1.5	0.1
	BP	Jürgen Eißner		2,660	1.4	1.5	2,123	1.1	0.6
	PARTEI						949	0.5
	Pirates						629	0.3	1.4
	Independent	Werner Fischer		596	0.3
	NPD						532	0.3	0.5
	DM						424	0.2
	BGE						345	0.2
	V-Partei³						325	0.2
	Gesundheitsforschung						227	0.1
	DiB						219	0.1
	MLPD						35	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						24	0.0	0.0
	DKP						24	0.0
Informal votes				1,692			1,412
Total valid votes				189,889			190,169
Turnout				191,581	77.4	8.8
	CSU hold		Majority	69,412	36.6	8.2

2013 election

Federal election (2013): Ostallgäu [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	%	±%
	CSU	Y Stephan Stracke		99,333	59.8	8.7	91,664	55.1	8.7
	SPD	Rolf Spitz		25,009	15.0	1.4	24,971	15.0	2.8
	Greens	Elfriede Klein		10,039	6.0	2.9	11,785	7.1	2.2
	AfD	Franz Knapp		6,842	4.1		7,991	4.8
	FW	Hermann Zelt		5,425	3.3		4,537	2.7
	BP	Thomas Hilscher		4,808	2.9	0.3	2,913	1.8	0.1
	Left	Paul Meichelböck		4,731	2.8	2.4	5,270	3.2	2.4
	Pirates	Anton Betzler		3,260	2.0		2,904	1.7	0.0
	ÖDP	Lucia Fischer		3,258	2.0	0.2	2,593	1.6	0.1
	FDP	René Müller		2,847	1.7	10.9	7,677	4.6	12.3
	NPD						1,374	0.8	0.5
	Tierschutzpartei						1,103	0.7	0.1
	Independent	Werner Fischer		660	0.4
	REP						587	0.4	0.2
	DIE FRAUEN						382	0.2
	DIE VIOLETTEN						199	0.1	0.1
	Party of Reason						176	0.1
	PRO						114	0.1
	RRP						42	0.0	0.5
	MLPD						30	0.0	0.0
	BüSo						28	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				1,456			1,328
Total valid votes				166,212			166,340
Turnout				167,668	68.6	1.7
	CSU hold		Majority	74,324	44.8	7.4

2009 election

Federal election (2009): Ostallgäu [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	%	±%
	CSU	Stephan Stracke		85,429	51.1	9.9	77,911	46.4	10.1
	SPD	Rolf Spitz		22,859	13.7	5.3	20,544	12.2	6.6
	FDP	Bernd Rösel		21,115	12.6	5.7	28,362	16.9	6.6
	Greens	Tobias Specht		15,030	9.0	2.3	15,668	9.3	2.7
	Left	Paul Meichelböck		8,822	5.3	2.5	9,369	5.6	2.8
	Pirates						2,951	1.8
	BP	Peter Fendt		5,367	3.2		2,849	1.7	0.9
	ÖDP	Daniel Ansorge		3,671	2.2		2,728	1.6
	NPD	Kurt-Jürgen Blank		2,814	1.7	0.3	2,262	1.3	0.1
	FAMILIE						1,196	0.7	0.1
	Independent	Werner Fischer		1,125	0.7
	Tierschutzpartei						1,018	0.6
	REP						1,010	0.6	0.3
	RRP						803	0.5
	Freie Union	Frank Alfred Stengel		737	0.4
	CM						397	0.2
	PBC						390	0.2	0.1
	DIE VIOLETTEN						334	0.2
	Independent	Margitta Gisela Stephan		263	0.2
	DVU						119	0.1
	BüSo						85	0.1	0.0
	MLPD						34	0.0	0.0
Informal votes				2,992			2,194
Total valid votes				167,232			168,030
Turnout				170,224	70.2	7.5
	CSU hold		Majority	62,570	37.4	4.6

References