Bavarian Landtag elections in the Weimar Republic

Bavaria in the Weimar Republic. At the bottom center in bright green.

Landtag elections in the Free State of Bavaria (Freistaat Bayern) during the Weimar Republic were held at irregular intervals between 1919 and 1932. Results with regard to the total vote, the percentage of the vote won, the number of seats allocated to each party and the change in distribution of seats are presented in the tables below. ^{[1] [2]} On 31 March 1933, the sitting Landtag was dissolved by the Nazi-controlled central government and reconstituted to reflect the distribution of seats in the national Reichstag. The Landtag subsequently was formally abolished as a result of the "Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich" of 30 January 1934 which replaced the German federal system with a unitary state. ^[3]

1919

The 1919 Bavarian state election was held on 12 January and 2 February 1919 to elect the 180 members of the Landtag.

3 61 25 66 16 9
Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Bavarian People's Party	1,193,101	34.99	66
	Social Democratic Party	1,124,584	32.98	61
	German People's Party [a]	477,992	14.02	25
	Bavarian Peasants' League	310,165	9.10	16
	Bavarian National-Liberal Party [b] / Bavarian Middle Party  [ de ] / German People's Party in the Palatinate [c]	196,818	5.77	9
	Independent Social Democratic Party	86,254	2.53	3
Others		20,627	0.60	–
Total		3,409,541	100.00	180
Valid votes		3,409,541	99.38
Invalid/blank votes		21,377	0.62
Total votes		3,430,918	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,977,614	86.26
Source: Gonschior [4]

1. Bavarian branch of the DDP
2. Bavarian branch of the DVP
3. Bavarian branch of the DVP

1920

The 1920 Bavarian state election was held on 6 June 1920 to elect the 155 members of the Landtag.

Map of the results of the 1920 Bavarian Landtag Election

2 20 25 12 65 12 19
Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Bavarian People's Party	1,168,896	39.39	+4.40	65	−1
	Social Democratic Party	486,528	16.39	−16.59	25	−36
	Bavarian Middle Party  [ de ] [a] / German People's Party	401,936	13.54	−4.24	19	+10
	Independent Social Democratic Party	383,614	12.93	+10.40	20	+17
	German Democratic Party	240,375	8.10	−5.92	12	−13
	Bavarian Peasants' League	234,918	7.92	−1.18	12	−4
	Communist Party of Germany (Spartacus League)	51,602	1.74	New	2	New
Total		2,967,869	100.00	–	155	–
Valid votes		2,967,869	97.44	−1.94
Invalid/blank votes		77,924	2.56	+1.94
Total votes		3,045,793	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		4,021,399	75.74	−10.52
Source: Gonschior [5]

1. Bavarian branch of the DNVP

Members from Coburg

Following the incorporation of Coburg into Bavaria, the Coburg Landtag elected two Social Democratic Party members and one German Democratic Party member to join the Bavarian Landtag from 1 July 1920. ^[5]

A by-election was held in Coburg on 7 November 1920 to elect the region's three members to the Bavarian Landtag.

Party	Votes	%	Seats
German People's Party	8,442	32.8	1
Social Democratic Party of Germany	8,429	32.7	1
German Democratic Party	6,958	27.0	1
Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany	1,914	7.4	0
Invalid/blank votes	381	–	–
Total	26,124	100	3
Registered voters/turnout	45,670	61.4	–
Source: Elections in the Weimar Republic [5]

1924

The 1924 Bavarian state election was held on 6 April and 4 May 1924 to elect the 129 members of the Landtag.

Map of the 1924 Landtag Election results by electoral district.

9 23 3 1 10 46 1 1 1 11 23
Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Bavarian People's Party	982,348	32.84	−6.55	46	−19
	Social Democratic Party	513,590	17.17	+0.78	23	−2
	Völkischer Bloc	512,271	17.12	−4.24	23	New
	United National Right (Bavarian Middle Party  [ de ] [a] / German People's Party [b] )	281,707	9.42	-4.12	11	-8
	Communist Party of Germany	247,724	8.28	New	9	+7
	Bavarian Peasants' and Small Businesses' League	213,450	7.13	−1.18	10	−2
	German Bloc (DDP)	94,925	3.17	−5.92	3	−9
	Centre Party [c]	34,772	1.16	New	1	New
	National-Liberal State Party of Bavaria  [ de ]	29,054	0.97	New	1	New
	Kratofiel Civil Servants Group	23,225	0.78	New	1	New
	Christian-Social Party	21,881	0.73	New	1	New
	Independent Social Democratic Party	2,585	0.09	−12.84	0	−23
Others		34,153	1.14	–	–	–
Total		2,991,685	100.00	–	129	–
Valid votes		2,991,685	97.42	−0.02
Invalid/blank votes		79,194	2.58	+0.02
Total votes		3,070,879	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		4,279,507	71.76	−3.98
Source: Gonschior, [6] Schröder [7]

1. Bavarian branch of the DNVP
2. Ran only in the Palatinate
3. Ran only in the Palatinate

1928

The 1928 Bavarian state election was held on 20 May 1928 to elect the 128 members of the Landtag.

Map of the results of the 1928 Bavarian Landtag Election

5 34 17 46 4 13 9
Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Bavarian People's Party	1,045,963	31.57	−1.27	46	±0
	Social Democratic Party	802,951	24.24	+7.07	34	+11
	Bavarian Peasants' and Small Businesses' League	382,104	11.53	+4.40	17	+7
	German National People's Party	306,649	9.26	−0.16	13	+2
	National Socialist German Workers' Party	203,115	6.13	New	9	New
	Communist Party of Germany	125,842	3.80	−4.48	5	−4
	German People's Party/National-Liberal Party	109,524	3.31	+2.34	4	+3
	German Democratic People's Party/German Democratic Party of the Palatinate	108,771	3.28	+0.11	0	−3
	Economic Party	105,808	3.19	New	0	New
	Christian People's Service	43,867	1.32	New	0	New
	People's Justice Party (VRP–CSRP–BGK)	43,778	1.32	New	0	New
Others		34,572	1.04	–	–	–
Total		3,312,944	100.00	–	128	–
Valid votes		3,312,944	96.97	−0.45
Invalid/blank votes		103,595	3.03	+0.45
Total votes		3,416,539	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		4,607,846	74.15	−2,39
Source: Gonschior [8]

1932

The 1932 Bavarian state election was held on 24 April 1932 to elect the 128 members of the Landtag. In the aftermath of the election, Heinrich Held was reinstated as Minister President of Bavaria in what became the Held IV cabinet, forming a minority coalition with the DNVP. ^[9]

8 20 9 45 3 43
Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Bavarian People's Party	1,272,005	32.55	+0.98	45	−1
	National Socialist German Workers' Party	1,270,792	32.52	+26.39	43	+34
	Social Democratic Party	603,693	15.45	−8.79	20	−14
	Communist Party of Germany	259,338	6.64	+2.84	8	+3
	Bavarian Peasants' and Small Businesses' League	252,256	6.46	−5.07	9	−8
	DNVP	127,870	3.27	−5.99	3	−10
	DVP / Wirtschaftspartei	65,947	1.69	−1.62	0	−4
	Christian Social People's Service	42,158	1.08	+0.24	0	±0
Others		13,667	0.35	–	–	–
Total		3,907,726	100.00	–	128	–
Valid votes		3,907,726	99.64	+2.67
Invalid/blank votes		14,157	0.36	−2.67
Total votes		3,921,883	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		4,963,919	79.01	+4.86
Source: Gonschior [10]

References

1. Übersicht über die Landtagswahlen 1919 – 1933
2. "Landtagswahlen Freistaat Bayern 1919–1932".
3. Wells, Roger H. (April 1936). "The Liquidation of the German Länder". The American Political Science Review. 30 (2). American Political Science Association: 351–352. doi:10.2307/1947263. JSTOR   1947263. S2CID   147621323.
4. Gonschior, Andreas. "Der Freistaat Bayern Landtagswahl 1919". Wahlen in der Weimarer Republik. Archived from the original on 2001-05-15. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
5. Gonschior, Andreas. "Der Freistaat Bayern Landtagswahl 1920". Wahlen in der Weimarer Republik. Archived from the original on 2001-05-15. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
6. Gonschior, Andreas. "Der Freistaat Bayern Landtagswahl 1924". Wahlen in der Weimarer Republik. Archived from the original on 2001-05-15. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
7. Schröder, Valentin. "Landtagswahlen Freistaat Bayern". Wahlen in Deutschland. Archived from the original on 2005-02-23. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
8. Gonschior, Andreas. "Der Freistaat Bayern Landtagswahl 1928". Wahlen in der Weimarer Republik. Archived from the original on 2001-05-16. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
9. "EN:Cabinet Held IV, 1932-1933 - Historisches Lexikon Bayerns". www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de. Retrieved 2025-08-20.
10. Gonschior, Andreas. "Der Freistaat Bayern Landtagswahl 1932". Wahlen in der Weimarer Republik. Archived from the original on 2001-05-16. Retrieved 15 May 2021.