Hochsauerlandkreis: the 2025 federal election result
In the federal election on 23 February 2025, CDU led in Hochsauerlandkreis with 43.6% of the second votes, followed by AfD with 16.7%. Below, the results of all 12 municipalities.
- District Administrator
- Karl Schneider (CDU) · Wikidata
- Population
- 259,176 · 132 per km²
- Largest sector
- Manufacturing 30%
- Turnout
- 83.9% · North Rhine-Westphalia 82.2% · Germany 82.5%
- Voters
- 165,006 of 196,716 eligible voters
- Compared with North Rhine-Westphalia
- CDU +13.5 · AfD −0.1 · SPD −3.6 · Grüne −5.1
- CDU range across municipalities
- 37.9% to 56.2%
North Rhine-Westphalia local elections 2025: result in Hochsauerlandkreis
Official result of the election of 14 September 2025, run-offs on 28 September 2025, from the data of Die Landeswahlleiterin des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, IT.NRW. Overview of all districts.
- Largest list in the Kreistag
- CDU 46.6% (26/56)
- Landrat
- Grosche, Thomas (CDU), 63.2%
- Turnout
- 61.5%
Turnout 61.5% · 209,627 eligible voters · 56 seats
Source: Die Landeswahlleiterin des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, IT.NRW, Kommunalwahlen 2025 in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Endgültige Ergebnisse (Downloads) (file), final result, retrieved 3 Nov 2026, Amtliches Werk (§ 5 UrhG), Quellenangabe. Direktwahlen: nur Sieger und Stichwahl-Gegner mit Prozent; Wählergruppen als Summe. Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.
Landrat election Hochsauerlandkreis
The state returning officer publishes only the winner and the run-off opponent with their share; all candidates are listed on the municipality's election portal.
First round 14 September 2025
- Grosche, Thomas, CDU63.2%
Second votes in Hochsauerlandkreis
Deviation from the state result in points.
Where do these figures come from?
Official results of the 2025 federal election from the Federal Returning Officer's district file, second votes per district.
What does the comparison show?
The lighter bar is the state result of the same election, so you can see where the area differs from its state. Differences are in percentage points.
Source: Federal Returning Officer, 2025 federal election, results by independent city and district (file), final result, retrieved 7 Sep 2026, Data licence Germany, attribution 2.0. Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.
2024 European election in Hochsauerlandkreis
In the European election on 9 June 2024, CDU came first in Hochsauerlandkreis with 46.6% of the vote; in North Rhine-Westphalia CDU got 31.2%. The bars show the European election shares, the small figures the gap to the 2025 federal election in the same area.
In the 2024 European election, CDU was the strongest party in Hochsauerlandkreis with 46.6%, +3.0 points compared with the 2025 federal election. Turnout was 65.8% (2025 federal election: 83.9%).
Why do the European and federal elections differ?
The European election has no electoral threshold, so small parties such as Volt, Die PARTEI or the animal-welfare party win more votes. Turnout is much lower, and the political mood shifted between June 2024 and February 2025. The single European-election vote is compared with the second vote of the federal election in the same area; parties that count as Others in 2025 get no difference.
Where do these figures come from?
Official final result of the 2024 European election from the Federal Returning Officer (kerg2.csv), votes per district and independent city.
| Party | Votes 2024 | European election 2024 | Federal election 2025 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDU | 61,708 | 46.6% | 43.6% | +3.0 |
| SPD | 19,123 | 14.5% | 16.4% | -1.9 |
| AfD | 16,530 | 12.5% | 16.7% | -4.2 |
| Grüne | 9,601 | 7.3% | 7.3% | ±0 |
| FDP | 6,770 | 5.1% | 3.8% | +1.3 |
| BSW | 4,848 | 3.7% | 3.2% | +0.5 |
| Die PARTEI | 2,275 | 1.7% | – | – |
| Volt | 1,844 | 1.4% | 0.5% | +0.9 |
| Tierschutzpartei | 1,781 | 1.3% | – | – |
| Linke | 1,561 | 1.2% | 5.3% | -4.1 |
| Freie Wähler | 1,108 | 0.8% | 0.7% | +0.1 |
| ÖDP | 312 | 0.2% | – | – |
| Others | 4,851 | 3.7% | – | – |
Die PARTEI, Tierschutzpartei, ÖDP: counted as Others in the 2025 federal election, so no difference is shown.
Source: Federal Returning Officer, 2024 European election, results by state and district (kerg2.csv) (file), final result, retrieved 28 Sep 2026, Data licence Germany, attribution 2.0. Berlin East and Berlin West are aggregated from the boroughs as in the 2025 federal election. Comparison values: second votes of the 2025 federal election in the same area. Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.
Hochsauerlandkreis in figures
Key facts about the place from official statistics and Wikidata, so the election result can be put in context. The figures describe, they do not explain.
- Population
- 259,176 (as of 2025-12-31)
- Area
- 1,960.2 km²
- Population density
- 132 inhabitants per km²
- Under 19
- 17.4%
- 67 and older
- 20.2%
- Foreign nationals (2022 census)
- 9.9%
- Employees subject to social insurance (place of work)
- 112,323 (as of 2025-12-31)
- Largest sectors
- Manufacturing 30% · Health and social work 19% · Trade and vehicle repair 12%
- Commuter balance
- -677 (more out-commuters than in-commuters)
- Unemployment rate
- 4.8% (as of 2026-09)
- Oventrop
- 1,000 employees
- TITAL
- 600 employees
- Olsberger Hütte
- 480 employees
- Ritzenhoff
- 435 employees
- Volksbank Sauerland
- 272 employees (2016-12-31)
- District seat
- Arnsberg
- Municipalities
- 12
- Elevation
- 577 m
- First mention or foundation
- 1975
- Website
- www.hochsauerlandkreis.de
- Wikipedia
- Hochsauerlandkreis (Wikipedia)
Hochsauerlandkreis has 259,176 inhabitants. The largest sector is Manufacturing with 30% of employees. The largest company headquartered in Hochsauerlandkreis is Oventrop with 1,000 employees. The unemployment rate is 4.8%.
Where do the profile figures come from?
Population, area and coordinates from the Federal Statistical Office's municipality register, employees, sectors and unemployment from the Federal Employment Agency, age structure from the 2022 census, coat of arms, website and companies from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons. All sources are openly licensed and linked below the list.
Does the profile explain the election result?
No. It describes the place so readers can put figures in context. Whether sector, age or density relate to voting can only be tested across many places, not from a single result.
Sources: Wikidata (CC0 1.0) · Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis), Gemeindeverzeichnis GV-ISys (Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung – Version 2.0) · Statistik der Bundesagentur für Arbeit (© Statistik der Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Nutzung mit Quellenangabe) · Zensus 2022, Statistische Ämter des Bundes und der Länder, Regionaltabelle Demografie (Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung – Version 2.0)
Strongest party by municipality in Hochsauerlandkreis
Tap to open the municipality result. Labels appear on the largest municipalities by area; all values are in the table below.
Strongest party: CDU in 12 municipalities of 12. Highest share: CDU with 56.2% in Eslohe (Sauerland).
What does the map show?
Each municipality is coloured by the party with the highest second-vote share at the 2025 federal election; the intensity follows the share. Postal votes counted at the level of a joint administration are shown on the administration's page. Click a municipality for its full result.
All municipalities in Hochsauerlandkreis
Sorted by number of voters. Range across the district: CDU 37.9 to 56.2%, AfD 11.8 to 19.1%, SPD 9.8 to 19.4%, Grüne 5.4 to 8.4%, Linke 3.3 to 6%, FDP 3.2 to 6.2%, BSW 2 to 3.7%.
| Municipality | Voters | Turnout | CDU | AfD | SPD | Grüne | Linke | FDP | BSW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arnsberg | 45,336 | 81.8% | 38.3 | 17.5 | 18.8 | 8.4 | 6.0 | 3.6 | 3.7 |
| Meschede, Kreis- und Hochschulstadt | 18,471 | 83.9% | 42.3 | 16.2 | 16.8 | 7.8 | 6.0 | 3.8 | 3.5 |
| Sundern (Sauerland) | 17,547 | 84.5% | 43.4 | 17.7 | 15.3 | 7.8 | 5.2 | 3.7 | 3.2 |
| Brilon | 16,640 | 84.6% | 43.7 | 17.9 | 16.3 | 6.2 | 5.5 | 4.1 | 3.0 |
| Schmallenberg | 16,570 | 86.8% | 53.0 | 13.2 | 12.8 | 7.2 | 4.2 | 3.8 | 2.7 |
| Marsberg | 12,312 | 81.3% | 37.9 | 19.1 | 19.4 | 7.2 | 5.6 | 3.8 | 3.4 |
| Olsberg | 9,455 | 84.5% | 44.1 | 17.3 | 17.1 | 7.0 | 4.4 | 3.6 | 3.0 |
| Winterberg | 8,438 | 85.5% | 48.1 | 15.6 | 13.4 | 6.5 | 5.0 | 4.3 | 2.7 |
| Bestwig | 6,325 | 83.6% | 43.0 | 16.7 | 18.0 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 3.2 | 3.5 |
| Eslohe (Sauerland) | 5,926 | 87.9% | 56.2 | 11.8 | 12.5 | 6.3 | 4.4 | 3.6 | 2.0 |
| Medebach | 5,099 | 85.7% | 53.1 | 17.1 | 9.8 | 5.4 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 3.0 |
| Hallenberg | 2,887 | 87.0% | 50.3 | 16.0 | 12.2 | 5.6 | 3.3 | 6.2 | 2.8 |
Source: Federal Returning Officer, 2025 federal election, results by polling district (file), final result, retrieved 7 Sep 2026, Data licence Germany, attribution 2.0. Municipal results are the sum of a municipality's polling districts including the postal-vote districts assigned to it. Compiled by wahlergebnisse.io.