Hypertension is a highly prevalent cardiovascular risk factor. Although it is well known that hypertension has an impact on brain structure and function, the direct association with cognitive performance remains controversial. Recent findings suggest that variability of monthly or yearly blood pressure measurements predict the risk of stroke, cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and cognitive functioning. Long-term hypertension (for several years) is not well examined. Thus, we investigated the association of 10-year-stable blood pressure and cognitive function. We included 832 participants from the third examination of the population-based, longitudinal Heinz Nixdorf Recall study (T0: 2000-2003, n=4814; T1: 2006-2008, n=4175; T2: 2011-2015, n=3087) who had stable hypertension (defined as systolic blood pressure ≥140mmHg, or diastolic blood pressure ≥90mmHg, or intake of antihypertensive medication, age: 70.8±7.1 years) and 335 participants with normal/prehypertensive (<140mmHg or <90mmHg, age: 65.3±6.6 years) blood pressure at every examination (10 years). Cognitive function was measured at T2 with a neuropsychological assessment consisting of eight tests (immediate and delayed verbal recall, Labyrinthtest, verbal fluency test, Clock-drawing test, Trail Making Test A/B, Color-word test). Participants with dementia diagnosis and/or history of stroke were excluded. Multivariate analyses of (co)variance (MAN(C)OVA) were used to investigate the association of blood pressure category over ten years and cognitive function with the following covariates: age, education, gender, body mass index, hemoglobin A1c. Analyses revealed a main effect of blood pressure category (unadjusted: F(8, 1158)=14.40, p<.001; fully adjusted: F(8, 1127)=2.60, p=.008). In the unadjusted model, participants with stable hypertension showed worse performance in all cognitive subtests (except for the Clock-drawing test) in comparison to normotensive participants (for mean, standard deviation and parameter estimates see table 1). In the fully adjusted model, the results attenuated partially: Participants with hypertension showed lower performance in the immediate verbal recall, the Labyrinthtest and the Trail Making Test A (see table 1). Increased stable blood pressure was associated with performance in memory, speed of processing and executive functioning. These results are consistent with previous studies suggesting that stable blood pressure may have a severe impact on cognitive functioning in older adults.