1990 German federal election

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1990 German federal election
← West 1987
← East 1990		 2 December 1990 (1990-12-02) 1994 →
All 662 seats in the Bundestag
332 seats needed for a majority
Registered60,436,560 Increase 33.3%
Turnout46,995,915 (77.8%) Decrease 6.5pp
  First party Second party Third party
  Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F074398-0021 Kohl (cropped).jpg Oskar Lafontaine (1990).jpg Otto Graf Lambsdorff (1990).jpg
Candidate Helmut Kohl Oskar Lafontaine Otto Graf Lambsdorff
Party CDU/CSU SPD FDP
Last election 44.2%, 223 seats 37.0%, 186 seats 9.1%, 46 seats
Seats before 305 226 57
Seats won 319 239 79
Seat change Increase 14 Increase 13 Increase 22
Popular vote 20,358,096 15,545,366 5,123,233
Percentage 43.8% 33.5% 11.0%
Swing Decrease 0.4pp Decrease 3.5pp Increase 1.9pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
  Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-1202-011, Berlin, Bundestagswahl, Gregor Gysi (cropped).jpg
B90
Candidate Gregor Gysi none[a]
Party PDS B90
Last election Did not exist Did not exist
Seats before 24 0[b]
Seats won 17 8
Seat change Decrease 7 Increase 8
Popular vote 1,129,578 559,207
Percentage 2.4% 1.2%[c]
Swing New party New party
1990 German federal election - Results by constituency.svg
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 before election

Third Kohl cabinet
CDU/CSU–FDP

Government after election

Fourth Kohl cabinet
CDU/CSU–FDP

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Federal elections were held in Germany on 2 December 1990 to elect the members of the 12th Bundestag. This was the first all-German election since the Nazi show election in April 1938, the first multi-party all-German election since that of March 1933, which was held after the Nazi seizure of power and was subject to widespread suppression, and the first free and fair all-German election since November 1932. The result was a comprehensive victory for the governing coalition of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union and the Free Democratic Party, which was reelected to a third term. The second vote result of the CDU/CSU, 20,358,096 votes, remains the highest ever total vote count in a democratic German election.

Campaign[]

This was the first election conducted after German reunification which took place on 3 October. Previously, the Volkskammer had selected 144 of its members which where then co-opted as Members of the German Bundestag and served until the end of the 11. Bundestag.

Almost 150 seats had been added to represent the re-established eastern states of Germany without reducing the number of western members. The euphoria following the reunification gave the ruling CDU/CSU–FDP coalition a dramatic advantage in both Western and Eastern Germany throughout the campaign.

It was the one election for which the 5% threshold was applied not nationwide but separately for the former East Germany (including East Berlin) and former West Germany (including West Berlin). As a result, while the Western Greens did not gain representation, their ideologically-similar Eastern Alliance 90 did, with both merging to form Alliance 90/The Greens in 1993. The combined vote of the two lists totals over 5%, but as the two lists would not merge until 1993, it thus did not entitle the East German party to any elected members from the former West Germany, unlike the PDS, who managed to elect Ulla Jelpke.

Results[]

All change figures are relative to the pre-existing West German Bundestag.

Bundestag 1990.svg
Party Constituency Party list Total
seats 		+/–
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)a 17,707,574 38.3 192 17,055,116 36.7 76 268 +94
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 16,279,980 35.2 91 15,545,366 33.5 148 239 +53
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 3,595,135 7.8 1 5,123,233 11.0 78 79 +33
Christian Social Union (CSU)a 3,423,904 7.4 43 3,302,980 7.1 8 51 +2
The Greens (GRÜNE) (West) 2,037,885 4.4 0 1,788,200 3.8 0 0 −42
Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) 1,049,245 2.3 1 1,129,578 2.4 16 17 New
The Republicans (REP) 767,652 1.7 0 987,269 2.1 0 0 New
Alliance 90/Greens – Citizens' Movement (B90/Gr.) (East) 552,027 1.2 0 559,207 1.2 8 8 New
The Grays – Gray Panthers (GRAUE) 218,412 0.5 0 385,910 0.8 0 0 New
Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP) 243,469 0.5 0 205,206 0.4 0 0 0
National Democratic Party (NPD) 190,105 0.4 0 145,776 0.3 0 0 0
German Social Union (DSU) 131,747 0.3 0 89,008 0.2 0 0 New
Christian League (Liga) 8,667 0.0 0 39,640 0.1 0 0 New
Christian Centre (CM) 9,824 0.0 0 36,466 0.1 0 0 New
Bavaria Party (BP) 10,836 0.0 0 31,315 0.1 0 0 0
The Women (FRAUEN) 1,433 0.0 0 12,077 0.0 0 0 0
Patriots for Germany (Patrioten) 746 0.0 0 4,687 0.0 0 0 0
Eco-Union (ÖKO-UNION) 1,106 0.0 0 4,661 0.0 0 0 0
Union of Working Groups for Employee Politics and Democracy (VAA) 704 0.0 0 4,530 0.0 0 0 New
Communist Party of Germany (KPD) – – – 1,630 0.0 0 0 New
Spartacist Workers' Party of Germany (SpAD) 124 0.0 0 1,610 0.0 0 0 New
Federation of German Democrats (DDD) 474 0.0 0 1,009 0.0 0 0 New
Federation of Socialist Workers (BSA) 214 0.0 0 826 0.0 0 0 New
Responsible Citizens 72 0.0 0 492 0.0 0 0 0
European Federalist Party (EFP) 266 0.0 0 – – – 0 0
Independents and voter groups 43,324 0.1 0 – – – 0 0
Valid votes 46,274,925 98.5 – 46,455,772 98.9 – – –
Invalid/blank votes 720,990 1.5 – 540,143 1.1 – – –
Total votes 46,995,915 100.0 328 46,995,915 100.0 334 662 +165
Registered voters/turnout 60,436,560 77.8 – 60,436,560 77.8 – – –
Source: Bundeswahlleiter
^a – The Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union of Bavaria call themselves sister parties. They do not compete against each other in the same geographical regions and they form one group within the Bundestag.
↓
319 79 239 17 8
CDU/CSU FDP SPD PDS
Popular vote
CDU/CSU
 
 43.82%
SPD
 
 33.46%
FDP
 
 11.03%
GRÜNE
 
 5.05%
PDS
 
 2.43%
REP
 
 2.13%
Other
 
 2.08%
Bundestag seats
CDU/CSU
 
 48.19%
SPD
 
 36.10%
FDP
 
 11.93%
PDS
 
 2.57%
GRÜNE
 
 1.21%
Seat results – SPD in red, combined Greens in green, PDS in purple, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black
Winners by single-member constituency – SPD in red, PDS in purple, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black

Results by state[]

Second vote (Zweitstimme, or votes for party list)

State CDU/CSU SPD FDP Grüne PDS REP Others
 Baden-Württemberg 46.5 29.1 12.3 5.7 0.3 3.2 2.9
 Bavaria 51.9 26.7 8.7 4.6 0.2 5.0 2.9
 Berlin 39.4 30.6 9.1 7.2[d] 9.7 2.5 0.7
 Brandenburg 36.3 32.9 9.7 6.6 11.0 1.7 1.8
 Bremen 30.9 42.5 12.8 8.3 1.1 2.1 2.3
 Hamburg 36.6 41.0 12.0 5.8 1.1 1.7 1.8
 Hesse 41.3 38.0 10.9 5.6 0.4 2.1 1.7
 Lower Saxony 44.3 38.4 10.3 4.5 0.3 1.0 1.2
 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 41.2 26.5 9.1 5.9 14.2 1.4 1.7
 North Rhine-Westphalia 40.5 41.1 11.0 4.3 0.3 1.3 1.5
 Rhineland-Palatinate 45.6 36.1 10.4 4.0 0.2 1.7 2.0
 Saarland 38.1 51.2 6.0 2.3 0.2 0.9 1.3
 Saxony 49.5 18.2 12.4 5.9 9.0 1.2 3.8
 Saxony-Anhalt 38.6 24.7 19.7 5.3 9.4 1.0 1.3
 Schleswig-Holstein 43.5 38.5 11.4 4.0 0.3 1.2 1.1
 Thuringia 45.2 21.9 14.6 6.1 8.3 1.2 2.7
Old states (West) 44.3 35.7 10.6 4.8 0.3 2.3 2.0
New states (East) 41.8 24.3 12.9 6.2 11.1 1.5 2.3

Post-election[]

The governing CDU/CSU-FDP coalition was returned to office with a landslide majority, and Helmut Kohl remained chancellor. The CDU did exceptionally well in the former East Germany, which had been the heartland of the SPD before the Nazi era.

Notes[]

  1. ^ List Association of Alliance 90 and the East German Green Party.
  2. ^ As part of the Co-option of 144 members of the Volkskammer after German reunification, seven MdBs of Alliance 90 and the East German Green Party joined the Green Party faction.
  3. ^ Only ran in East Germany, where they received 6.2 % of the vote and thus passed the separate, special five percent threshold.
  4. ^ 3.9% West German Green Party, 3.3% East German Green Party/Alliance 90.

References[]

Sources[]

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