1961 West German federal election

none February 2023 September 2022 West Germany parliamentary 1957 West German federal election 1957 1961 09 17 y 1965 West German federal election 1965 List of members of the 3rd Bundestag List of members of the 4th Bundestag All 499 seats in the BundestagAs well as the 22 non-voting delegates for West Berlin de Berliner Bundestagsabgeordneter sup, elected by the West Berlin Legislature. 250 37,440,715 ( 5.8%) 87.7% ( 0.1pp) Audenauer, Bestanddeelnr 912-8736.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Konrad Adenauer CDU/CSU 50.2%, 270 seats 242As well as 9 non-voting delegates for West Berlin de Berliner Bundestagsabgeordneter sup. 28 14,298,372 45.3% 4.9 pp Ben Joessef Ben Khedda . Ulbricht, Brandt en Audenauer, Bestanddeelnr 912-8735 Brandt Crop.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Willy Brandt Social Democratic Party of Germany 31.8%, 169 seats 190As well as 13 non-voting delegates for West Berlin de Berliner Bundestagsabgeordneter sup. 21 11,427,355 36.2% 4.4 pp Bundesarchiv Bild 183-87989-0060, Erich Mende.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Erich Mende Free Democratic Party (Germany) 7.7%, 41 seats 67 26 4,028,766 12.8% 5.1 pp 1961 West German federal election.svg 400px The left side shows constituency winners of the election by their party colours. The right side shows party list winners of the election for the additional members by their party colours. Government Third Adenauer cabinet CDU/CSU Government after election Fourth Adenauer cabinet CDU/CSU-FDP A federal election was held in West Germany on 17 September 1961 to elect the members of the fourth Bundestag. The CDU/CSU remained the largest faction, winning 242 of the 499 seats. However, the loss of its majority and the All-German Party (1961) All-German Party de Gesamtdeutsche Partei es Gesamtdeutsche Partei losing all its seats led to the CDU having to negotiate a coalition with the long-term junior coalition partner, the Free Democratic Party, leading to a demand for long-term chancellor Konrad Adenauer to leave office in 1963, halfway through his term. Campaign thumb|right|200px|Election posters The election campaign occurred in the context of the Berlin Crisis and the erection of the Berlin Wall.Barnes Samuel H. Grace Frank Pollock James K. Sperlich Peter W. 1962 The German Party System and the 1961 Federal Election https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/abs/german-party-system-and-the-1961-federal-election1/4DE5C1ABE2EC179628BFA39AAC3C14E2 American Political Science Review en 56 4 899–914 10.2307/1952792 1537-5943 subscription For the first time, the SPD announced a Chancellor candidate who was not chairman of the party: Willy Brandt, the Governing Mayor of West Berlin. After the building of the Berlin Wall, he gained more and more sympathy, while chancellor Konrad Adenauer was criticised for not showing enough support for the people of West Berlin. Adenauer had to save the absolute majority of CDU and CSU, but, considering his age and his long term as chancellor, there were big doubts if he should lead the country in a fourth term. Results File:Bundestag 1961.svg Party-list Constituency Elected West Berlin Berliner Bundestagsabgeordneter de Berliner Bundestagsabgeordneter sup Total +/– Social Democratic Party 11427355 99 11672057 91 190 13 203 +22 Christian Democratic Union 11283901 78 11622995 114 192 9 201 −21 Free Democratic Party 4028766 67 3866269 0 67 0 67 +24 Christian Social Union 3014471 8 3104742 42 50 0 50 −5 All-German Party (1961) All-German Party de Gesamtdeutsche Partei es Gesamtdeutsche Partei 870756 0 859290 0 0 0 0 −18 German Peace Union 609918 0 587488 0 0 0 0 0 #BE3075 Deutsche Reichspartei 262977 0 242649 0 0 0 0 0 German Community 27308 0 21083 0 0 0 0 0 South Schleswig Voters' Association 25449 0 24951 0 0 0 0 0 Electoral Group for a Neutral Germany 778 0 0 0 0 New Independents and voter groups 2164 0 0 0 0 0 1298723 845158 +2 37440715 37440715 BundeswahlleiterBundeswahlleiter Results by state Constituency seats StateTotalseatsSeats wonCDUSPDCSUBaden-Württemberg33276Bavaria47542Bremen33Hamburg88Hesse22319Lower Saxony341519North Rhine-Westphalia664125Rhineland-Palatinate15105Saarland55Schleswig-Holstein14131Total2471149142 List seats StateTotalseatsSeats wonSPDCDUFDPCSUBaden-Württemberg3316512Bavaria392388Bremen211Hamburg10163Hesse232147Lower Saxony266119North Rhine-Westphalia89353519Rhineland-Palatinate16664Saarland431Schleswig-Holstein1073Total2529978678 Aftermath The absolute majority was lost by the conservative union due to the gains of the liberal FDP under Erich Mende. From 1961 on, the Union, SPD and FDP established an electoral "triopoly" in the Bundestag that would last until 1983. Konrad Adenauer remained Chancellor, building a coalition between the CDU/CSU-FDP. In 1962 he had to announce a fifth cabinet: The FDP had temporarily left the coalition after the secretary of defense, Franz Josef Strauß (CSU), had ordered the arrest of five journalists for publishing a memo detailing alleged weaknesses in the German armed forces (known as the Spiegel scandal). In 1963 Adenauer finally retired; Ludwig Erhard took over his position as head of the coalition government. Further reading Barnes Samuel H. Grace Frank Pollock James K. Sperlich Peter W. The German Party System and the 1961 Federal Election 1962 American Political Science Review 56 4 899–914 10.2307/1952792 1952792 Notes References External links The Federal Returning Officer Psephos Category:Federal elections in Germany West Germany Federal Category:Konrad Adenauer Federal West Germany