West German federal election, 1957
Election for the 3rd German Federal Diet[1]
|
| 15 September 1957 (1957-09-15)[1] |
|
|
All 519 seats in the Bundestag
260 seats needed for a majority |
| Turnout |
87.8% (voting eligible)[2] |
| |
First party |
Second party |
Third party |
| |
 |
 |
 |
| Leader |
Konrad Adenauer |
Erich Ollenhauer |
Reinhold Maier |
| Party |
CDU/CSU |
SPD |
FDP |
| Seats before |
249 |
162 |
53 |
| Seats won |
277 |
181 |
43 |
| Seat change |
 28 |
19 |
 10 |
| Popular vote |
15,008,399 |
9,495,571 |
2,307,135 |
| Percentage |
50.2% |
31.8% |
7.7% |
| Swing |
5.0% |
3.0% |
1.9% |
|
| |
Fourth party |
Fifth party |
| |
|
|
| Party |
DP |
GB/BHE |
| Seats before |
15 |
27 |
| Seats won |
17 |
0 |
| Seat change |
2 |
27 |
| Popular vote |
1,007,282 |
1,374,066 |
| Percentage |
3.4% |
4.6% |
| Swing |
0.1% |
1.3% |
|
|
| Election results (party list) by state: the lighter blue denotes states where CDU had the plurality of votes; darker blue denotes states where CDU/CSU had the absolute majority of the votes; and pink denotes states where the SPD had the plurality of votes |
|
|
Seat results – SPD in red, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black, others (moderate right) in gray
Federal elections were held in West Germany on 15 September 1957. The Christian Democratic Union and its longtime ally, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, won a sweeping victory, taking 277 seats in the Bundestag to win the first--and to date, only--absolute majority for a single German parliamentary group in a free election.
Issues and Campaign
Federal Chancellor Adenauer had some solid advantages over his Social Democratic opponent, Erich Ollenhauer: West Germany had become fully sovereign in 1955, it had joined the European Economic Community in March 1957, its economy grew steadily with a very low unemployment, and most West Germans felt clearly more prosperous and more secure than in 1949 or 1953. Although the West German economic growth was more directly enhanced by the social market economy policies of Economics Minister Ludwig Erhard, most non-socialistically inclined West German voters gave Adenauer the credit for it.[3][4]
Results
Summary of the 15 September 1957 German Bundestag election results
| Parties |
Constituency |
Party list |
Total seats |
| Votes |
% |
+/− |
Seats |
+/− |
Votes |
% |
+/− |
Seats |
+/− |
Seats† |
+/− |
% |
|
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) |
11,975,400 |
39.7 |
+4.9 |
147 |
+17 |
11,875,339 |
39.7 |
+3.3 |
68 |
+7 |
222 |
+25 |
42.8 |
|
Social Democratic Party (SPD) |
9,651,669 |
32.0 |
+2.5 |
46 |
+1 |
9,495,571 |
31.8 |
+3.0 |
123 |
+17 |
181 |
+19 |
34.9 |
|
Christian Social Union (CSU) |
3,186,150 |
10.6 |
+1.7 |
47 |
+5 |
3,133,060 |
10.5 |
+1.7 |
8 |
−2 |
55 |
+3 |
10.6 |
|
Free Democratic Party (FDP) |
2,276,234 |
7.5 |
−3.3 |
1 |
−13 |
2,307,135 |
7.7 |
−1.8 |
40 |
+6 |
44 |
−9 |
8.5 |
|
All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights (GB/BHE) |
1,324,636 |
4.4 |
−1.5 |
0 |
±0 |
1,374,066 |
4.6 |
−1.3 |
0 |
−27 |
0 |
−27 |
0 |
|
German Party (DP) |
1,062,293 |
3.5 |
−0.4 |
6 |
−4 |
1,007,282 |
3.4 |
+0.1 |
11 |
+6 |
17 |
+2 |
3.3 |
|
German Reich Party (DRP) |
290,622 |
1.0 |
+0.3 |
0 |
±0 |
308,564 |
1.0 |
−0.1 |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
|
Federalist Union (FU) |
295,533 |
1.0 |
+1.0 |
0 |
±0 |
254,322 |
0.9 |
+0.9 |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
|
Alliance of Germans (BdD) |
37,329 |
0.1 |
+0.1 |
0 |
±0 |
58,725 |
0.2 |
+0.2 |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
|
South Schleswig Voter Federation (SSW) |
33,463 |
0.1 |
−0.1 |
0 |
±0 |
32,262 |
0.1 |
−0.1 |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
| |
German Community (DG) |
16,410 |
0.1 |
+0.1 |
0 |
±0 |
17,490 |
0.1 |
+0.1 |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
|
German Middle Class (Mittelstand) |
3,024 |
0.0 |
+0.0 |
0 |
±0 |
36,592 |
0.1 |
+0.1 |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
| |
Patriotic Union (VU) |
2,250 |
0.0 |
±0.0 |
0 |
±0 |
5,020 |
0.0 |
+0.0 |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
| |
Party of the Good Germans (PdgD) |
356 |
0.0 |
+0.0 |
0 |
±0 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
| |
Electoral groups and independents |
845 |
0.0 |
−0.1 |
0 |
±0 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
0 |
±0 |
0 |
| Invalid/blank votes |
916,680 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
1,167,466 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| Total |
31,072,894 |
100 |
±0.0 |
247 |
+5 |
31,072,894 |
100 |
±0.0 |
250 |
+5 |
519 |
+10 |
±0 |
| Registered voters/turnout |
35,400,923 |
87.8 |
— |
— |
— |
35,400,923 |
87.8 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
| Source: Federal Returning Officer |
- ^† — includes the non-voting delegates for West Berlin (12 SPD, 7 CDU, 3 FDP).
↓
| 277 |
181 |
43 |
17 |
| CDU/CSU |
SPD |
FDP |
DP |
| Popular Vote |
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| CDU/CSU |
|
50.19% |
| SPD |
|
31.75% |
| FDP |
|
7.71% |
| GB/BHE |
|
4.59% |
| DP |
|
3.37% |
| Other |
|
2.38% |
| Bundestag seats |
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| CDU/CSU |
|
54.33% |
| SPD |
|
34.00% |
| FDP |
|
8.25% |
| DP |
|
3.42% |
Aftermath
Konrad Adenauer led the CDU-CSU coalition to a landslide victory. The CDU-CSU won an outright majority—to date, the only time a German party has been elected to a majority government in a free election (the CDU and CSU sit as a single bloc in the Bundestag).
References
- 1 2 "Wahl zum 3. Deutschen Bundestag am 15. September 1957" (in German). Bundeswahlleiter. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
- ↑ "Voter turnout by election year". Website of the Federal Returning Officer's Office. The Federal Returning Officer. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
- ↑ Erling Bjöl, Grimberg's History of the Nations, volume 23: The Rich West, "A Giant Dwarf: West Germany," Helsinki: WSOY, 1985
- ↑ 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
