1958 Bavarian state election
23 November 1958
All 204 seats in the Landtag of Bavaria
103 seats needed for a majority
Registered6,254,214
Turnout4,655,745 (76.6%)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Georg Meixner Waldemar von Knoeringen Willi Guthsmuths
Party CSU SPD GB/BHE
Seats won 101 64 17
Seat change Increase 18 Increase 3 Decrease 2
Popular vote 4,192,904 2,839,300 793,628
Percentage 45.6% 30.9% 8.6%
Swing Increase 7.6% Increase 2.7% Decrease 1.6%
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Jakob Fischbacher Karl Eberhardt
Party BP FDP
Seats won 14 8
Seat change Decrease 14 Decrease 5
Popular vote 742,424 512,344
Percentage 8.1% 5.6%
Swing Decrease 5.1% Decrease 1.6%
Results for the single-member constituencies.
Minister-President before election

Hanns Seidel
CSU

 Elected Minister-President

Hanns Seidel
CSU

The 1958 Bavarian state election was held on 23 November 1958 to elect the members of the Fourth Bavarian Landtag, and was notable for being held in the midst of the Casino Affair, which indicted several Bavarian politicians in the previous government on charges of corruption.[1]

Background

Viererkoalition

While the CSU was still suffering from the major upset of the 1950 state elections, it found itself recouping their losses in 1954, gaining back 19 seats out of the total 40 lost in 1950, and the SPD struggled to keep itd upwards momentum. That opened a door to another grand coalition, which had been done twice, or a possible alliance with the declining right-wing parties. However, the SPD pulled a major coup after the election results had come in. Under SPD Landtag Chairman Waldemar von Knoeringen, negotiations were brokered with the BP, GB/BHE and FDP for a Viererkoalition (coalition of four) against the CSU. That was approved, and the SPD politician Wilhelm Hoegner became Minister-President for a second time, with the BP co-founder Joseph Baumgartner as his deputy. That caused internal strife within the CSU, which led to the resignation of Hans Ehard as party chair in January 1955, but he remained in his position as President of Landtag.[2]

Casino Affair

In 1951, the businessman Karl Freisehner had approached the government about casino operating concessions in his name. That was rejected, but several Landtag members had received a bribe of 50,000 marks to vote for it. With enough pressure, the Bavarian government gave the licences in April 1955. Soon afterwards, the CSU had launched a parliamentary investigation into the opening of the casinos. One of the recipients of the 50,000-mark check was a CSU deputy, Franz Michel, who came forwards to his other party members. Later, he claimed that he had burned the check. The crusade against bribery was now led by Friedrich Zimmermann, who reportedly had incriminating evidence on Baumgartner. In 1957, Baumgartner and Interior Minister August Geislhöringer, also a member of the BP, resigned in the face of the allegations.[3]

The Viererkoalition officially collapsed on 8 October 1957 by the Casino Affair and the CDU/CSU victory in the 1957 federal election. The right-wing parties abandoned the SPD in reaction to the election, and Hoegner submitted his resignation on 9 October 1957. The CSU politician Hanns Seidel was chosen as Minister-President and formed a coalition with the FDP and GB/BHE, which would last through the 1958 state elections.[2]

Results

The Casino Affair and the 1958 elections were a major coup for the CSU, which had completely regained the seats lost in 1950 but was now only three off from a Landtag majority. It continued the right-wing coalition government under Seidel, and Zimmerman continued his investigations with vigour. In January 1959, Freisehner came forward with documents detailing payments made to Baumgartner and Geislhöringer. Both were sentenced to jail, with Baumgartner receiving two years and Geislhöringer one-and-a-half years. It would later be revealed that the documents Freisehner had presented were most likely forged, but it no longer mattered since the BP had managed to destroy its own reputation.[3]

The right-wing populists in Bavaria had gone through several ups and downs since the formation of post-war democracy, starting with the rise of the Economic Reconstruction Union and Alfred Loritz's rise to the state cabinet and subsequent escape to Switzerland in 1947 to 1948.[4] The quick rise of the BP and GB/BHE were no different. In the 1952 local elections the BP won 705 seats and 10.2% of the vote; in 1956, it on the eve of the Casino Affair, ot won 519 seats and 7.6% of the vote; and finally in 1960, it won 145 seats and 2.3% of the vote. By 1972, it won only two local seats. In that same 1952-1960 period, the GB/BHE went from 740 seats and 10.1% of the vote to 550 seats and 7.8% of the vote and finally to 464 seats and 6.7% of the vote before it disbanded.[5] The Casino Affair solidified the downward trend of these parties and the integration of the more radical elements of Bavarian politics into the mainstream parties of the CSU and FDP.[6]

The CSU continued on a relative path of prosperity, even with the death of Minister-President Seidel, who was replaced by the formerly-disgraced chairman of the state party, Hans Ehard, who continued forth with essentially the same cabinet.[1]

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the Third Landtag of Bavaria.

Name Ideology Leader(s) 1954 result
Votes (%) Seats
CSU Christian Social Union in Bavaria
Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern		 Christian democracy George Mexiner 38
83 / 204
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands		 Social democracy Waldemar von Knoeringen 28.1
61 / 204
BP Bavaria Party
Bayernpartei		 Bavarian nationalism Joseph Baumgartner 13.2
28 / 204
GB/BHE All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights
Gesamtdeutscher Block/Bund der Heimatvertriebenen und Entrechteten		 German nationalism Willi Guthsmuths 10.2
19 / 204
FDP Free Democratic Party
Freie Demokratische Partei		 Classical liberalism Otto Bezold 7.2
13 / 204
Summary of the 23 November 1958 election results of the Landtag of Bavaria
Party Votes  % +/- Seats +/- Seats %
Christian Social Union (CSU) 4,192,904 45.6 Increase 7.6 101 Increase 18 49.5
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 2,839,300 30.9 Increase 2.7 64 Increase 3 31.4
All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights (GB/BHE) 793,628 8.6 Decrease 1.6 17 Decrease 2 8.3
Bavaria Party 742,424 8.1 Decrease 5.1 14 Decrease 14 6.9
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 512,344 5.6 Decrease 1.6 8 Decrease 5 3.9
Others 123,220 0.9 0 ±0 0
Total 9,203,820 100.0 204
Voter turnout 76.6 Decrease 5.8
Source: Statistik Bayern and Historisches Lexikon Bayerns
Popular Vote
CSU
 
 45.6%
SPD
 
 30.9%
GB/BHE
 
 8.6%
BP
 
 8.1%
FDP
 
 5.6%
Other
 
 0.9%
Landtag seats
CSU
 
 49.5%
SPD
 
 31.4%
GB/BHE
 
 8.3%
BP
 
 6.9%
FDP
 
 3.9%

References

  1. 1 2 Bayerische Staatsregierung, accessed 1 June 2020
  2. 1 2 Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte, accessed 31 May 2020
  3. 1 2 ""Gehandelt wie die sizilianische Mafia"". DER SPIEGEL (in German). 15 August 1988. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  4. ↑ Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed 30 May 2020
  5. ↑ "Kommunalwahlen Bayern 1946 bis 2008" (PDF).
  6. ↑ Historisches Lexikon Bayerns, accessed 1 June 2020.
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