1953 West German federal election

1953 West German federal election

←  1949 6 September 1953 (1953-09-06) 1957  →
←  outgoing members elected members  →
All 487 seats in the Bundestag [a] 244 seats needed for a majority
Registered	33,120,940 6.1%
Turnout	28,479,550 (86.0%) 7.5pp
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Konrad Adenauer Erich Ollenhauer Franz Blücher Party CDU/CSU SPD FDP Last election 31.0%, 139 seats 29.2%, 131 seats 11.9%, 52 seats Seats won 243 [b] 151 [c] 48 [d] Seat change 104 20 4 Popular vote 12,443,981 7,944,943 2,629,163 Percentage 45.2% 28.8% 9.5% Swing 14.2 pp 0.4 pp 2.4 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Candidate Waldemar Kraft Heinrich Hellwege Johannes Brockmann Party GB/BHE DP Centre Last election Did not exist 4.0%, 17 seats 3.1%, 10 seats Seats won 27 15 3 Seat change New party 2 7 Popular vote 1,616,953 896,128 217,078 Percentage 5.9% 3.3% 0.8% Swing New party 0.7 pp 2.3 pp
The left side shows the winning party vote in the constituencies, the right side shows the seats won by parties in each of the states. The pie chart over West Berlin shows the partisan composition of its legislature.
Government before election First Adenauer cabinet CDU/CSU–FDP–DP Government after election Second Adenauer cabinet CDU/CSU–FDP–GB/BHE–DP

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 6 September 1953 to elect the members of the second Bundestag. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) emerged as the largest party.

This elections were the last before Saarland joined West Germany in 1957. It had been a separate entity, Saar protectorate, under French control since 1946.

The CDU/CSU formed a center-right coalition government with the FDP, DP and GB/BHE, leaving the SPD as the main opposition. ^[1] In comparison to the 1949 election where ten parties won seats, only six parties won seats in the 1953 election, thus entailing a consolidation of the party system. ^[1]

Campaign

Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (who was also CDU leader) campaigned on his policies of economic reconstruction and growth, moderate conservatism or Christian democracy, and close relations with the United States. During the campaign he attacked the Social Democratic Party (SPD) ferociously. His staff had a comfortable coach on a train previously used only by Hermann Göring and behind that a dining car with sleeping berths for journalists. ^[2] The new SPD leader (Kurt Schumacher had died in 1952) was Erich Ollenhauer, who was more moderate in his policies than Schumacher had been. He did not oppose, in principle, the United States' military presence in Western Europe. He later – in 1957 – supported a military alliance of most European countries, including Germany. ^{[3] [4]} On 3 September American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles said that "A defeat for Adenauer would have catastrophic consequences for the prospects for German reunification and the restoration of sovereignty" and that it would "trigger off such confusion in Germany that further delays in German efforts for reunification and freedom would be unavoidable." ^[2] Adenauer managed to convince clearly more West German voters of his leadership abilities and economic and political success to easily win a second term, although he had to form a coalition government with the Free Democratic Party and the conservative German Party to gain a majority in the Bundestag.

Results

Party		Party-list			Constituency			Seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Elected	West Berlin	Total	+/–
	Christian Democratic Union	10,016,594	36.36	61	9,577,659	34.80	130	191	6	197	+80
	Social Democratic Party	7,944,943	28.84	106	8,131,257	29.55	45	151	11	162	+26
	Free Democratic Party	2,629,163	9.54	34	2,967,566	10.78	14	48	5	53	0
	Christian Social Union	2,427,387	8.81	10	2,450,286	8.90	42	52	0	52	+28
	All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights	1,616,953	5.87	27	1,613,215	5.86	0	27	0	27	New
	German Party	896,128	3.25	5	1,073,031	3.90	10	15	0	15	−2
	Communist Party	607,860	2.21	0	611,317	2.22	0	0	0	0	−15
	Bavaria Party	465,641	1.69	0	399,070	1.45	0	0	0	0	−17
	All-German People's Party	318,475	1.16	0	286,465	1.04	0	0	0	0	New
	Deutsche Reichspartei	295,739	1.07	0	204,725	0.74	0	0	0	0	−5
	Centre Party	217,078	0.79	2	55,835	0.20	1	3	0	3	−7
	Dachverband der Nationalen Sammlung	70,726	0.26	0	78,356	0.28	0	0	0	0	New
	South Schleswig Voters' Association	44,585	0.16	0	44,339	0.16	0	0	0	0	−1
	Schleswig-Holstein Farmers and Farmworkers Democracy				6,269	0.02	0	0	0	0	New
	Patriotic Union				2,531	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	Party of the Good Germans				654	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Independents and voter groups				17,185	0.06	0	0	0	0	−3
Total		27,551,272	100.00	245	27,519,760	100.00	242	487	22	509	+99
Valid votes		27,551,272	96.74		27,519,760	96.63
Invalid/blank votes		928,278	3.26		959,790	3.37
Total votes		28,479,550	100.00		28,479,550	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		33,120,940	85.99		33,120,940	85.99
Source: Bundeswahlleiter

Results by state

Constituency seats

State	Total seats	Seats won
		CDU	SPD	CSU	FDP	DP	DZP
Baden-Württemberg	33	29	2		2
Bavaria	47		3	42	2
Bremen	3		3
Hamburg	8	3	1		2	2
Hesse	22	7	10		5
Lower Saxony	34	13	11		2	8
North Rhine-Westphalia	66	51	13		1		1
Rhineland-Palatinate	15	13	2
Schleswig-Holstein	14	14
Total	242	130	59	42	14	10	1

List seats

State	Total seats	Seats won
		SPD	CDU	FDP	GB/ BHE	CSU	DP	DZP
Baden-Württemberg	34	14	9	7	3		1
Bavaria	44	22		4	8	10
Bremen	3		2				1
Hamburg	10	6	4
Hesse	22	6	8	4	3		1
Lower Saxony	32	10	12	3	7
North Rhine-Westphalia	72	34	21	11	3		1	2
Rhineland-Palatinate	16	7	5	4
Schleswig-Holstein	12	7		1	3		1
Total	245	106	61	34	27	10	5	2

Aftermath

Konrad Adenauer remained Chancellor, governing in a broad coalition (two-thirds majority) with most of the minor parties except for the SPD and Centre Party.

Notes

1. As well as the 22 non-voting delegates for West Berlin, elected by the West Berlin Legislature.
2. As well as 6 non-voting delegates for West Berlin.
3. As well as 11 non-voting delegates for West Berlin.
4. As well as 5 non-voting delegates for West Berlin.

References

1. Barnes, Samuel H.; Grace, Frank; Pollock, James K.; Sperlich, Peter W. (1962). "The German Party System and the 1961 Federal Election". American Political Science Review. 56 (4): 899–914. doi:10.2307/1952792. ISSN   1537-5943.
2. Charles Williams (2000) Adenauer: The Father of the New Germany, p407
3. Erling Bjöl, Grimberg's History of the Nations, volume 23: The Rich West, "A Giant Dwarf: West Germany," Helsinki: WSOY, 1985
4. Dennis L. Bark and David R. Gress, A History of West Germany: Volume 1: 1945–1963: From Shadow to Substance, London, UK: Basil Blackwell, 1989