Jena – Sömmerda – Weimarer Land I

Jena – Sömmerda – Weimarer Land I is located in north-central Thuringia. As of the 2021 federal election, it comprises the independent city of Jena, the Sömmerda district, and the entirety of the Weimarer Land excluding the municipality of Grammetal.[1]

Jena – Sömmerda – Weimarer Land I was created after German reunification in 1990, then known as Sömmerda – Artern – Sondershausen – Langensalza. In the 2002 election, it was named Kyffhäuserkreis – Sömmerda – Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis II. In the 2005 through 2013 elections, it was named Kyffhäuserkreis – Sömmerda – Weimarer Land I. It acquired its current name in the 2017 election. In the 1990 through 1998 elections, it was constituency 298 in the numbering system. In the 2002 and 2005 elections, it was number 192. Since the 2009 election, it has been number 191.

Originally, the constituency comprised the districts of Sömmerda, Artern, Sondershausen, and Langensalza. In the 2002 election, it comprised the districts of Sömmerda and Kyffhäuserkreis as well as the municipalities of Mühlhausen, Anrode, Dünwald, Herbsleben, Menteroda, Weinbergen, and Unstruttal and the Verwaltungsgemeinschaften of Bad Tennstedt, Hildebrandshausen/Lengenfeld unterm Stein, and Schlotheim from the Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis district. In the 2005 through 2013 elections, it comprised districts of Sömmerda, Kyffhäuserkreis, and Weimarer Land excluding the municipality of Grammetal. It acquired its current borders in the 2017 election.

The constituency was first represented by Martin Göttsching of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1990 to 1994, followed by fellow CDU member Johannes Selle from 1994 to 1998. Gisela Hilbrecht won it for the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1998 and served until 2005, when Peter Albach regained it for the CDU. Former member Johannes Selle of the CDU was elected again in 2009, and re-elected in 2013 and 2017.