1994 German federal election

16 October 1994 (1994-10-16)

All 672 seats in the Bundestag
337 seats needed for a majority
Registered60,452,009 Increase 0.0%
Turnout47,737,999 (79.0%) Increase 1.2pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Helmut_Kohl_(1996)_cropped_(2).jpg
Bundeswehr-Foto BVM012 Rudolf Scharping.jpg
Marianne Birthler 03 (cropped).jpg
Candidate Helmut Kohl Rudolf Scharping Ludger Volmer &
Marianne Birthler
Party CDU/CSU SPD Greens
Last election 43.8%, 319 seats 33.5%, 239 seats 5.1%, 8 seats[lower-alpha 1]
Seats won 294 252 49
Seat change Decrease 25 Increase 13 Increase 41
Popular vote 19,517,156 17,140,354 3,424,315
Percentage 41.4% 36.4% 7.3%
Swing Decrease 2.4pp Increase 2.9pp Increase 2.2pp

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F063645-0024, Pullach, Besuch Carstens beim BND.jpg
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-0705-333, Dr. Lothar Bisky.jpg
Candidate Klaus Kinkel Lothar Bisky
Party FDP PDS
Last election 11.0%, 79 seats 2.4%, 17 seats
Seats won 47 30
Seat change Decrease 32 Increase 13
Popular vote 3,258,407 2,066,176
Percentage 6.9% 4.4%
Swing Decrease 4.1pp Increase 2.0pp

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

Fourth Kohl cabinet
CDU/CSUFDP

Government after election

Fifth Kohl cabinet
CDU/CSUFDP

Federal elections were held in Germany on 16 October 1994 to elect the members of the 13th Bundestag. The CDU/CSU alliance led by Helmut Kohl remained the largest faction in parliament, with Kohl remaining Chancellor in a narrowly re-elected coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP). This elected Bundestag was the largest in history until 2017, numbering 672 members.

Even though this election did not lead to a switch in government, it saw the election of many people to the Bundestag that would play an important role later. Future CDU leaders Friedrich Merz and Armin Laschet were first elected to the Bundestag in 1994, as were future cabinet ministers Norbert Röttgen and Peter Altmaier. This was the last election until 2009 that a center-right government was elected.

Issues and campaign

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) let its members elect a candidate for chancellor against Helmut Kohl after SPD leader Björn Engholm and chancellor candidate-designate had to resign in 1993 amid scandal. Rudolf Scharping, Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate, beat Gerhard Schröder and Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul in the SPD's internal election. Scharping was only elected with 40 percent of the vote and relied on campaigning with other SPD leaders and rivals such as Oskar Lafontaine and Gerhard Schröder, both self-confident and outspoken, in a "troika". Tension between them greatly hurt his campaign.[1] In addition, Scharping was seen as a weak leader due to his lack of charisma and media skills, and therefore did not induce a lot of enthusiasm.[2]

For the first time in their existence, Alliance 90/The Greens seemed to be willing to join a government in case a centre-left SPD–Greens coalition had a workable majority in the Bundestag.

The election also saw a "red socks" campaign used by the centre-right, including the CDU/CSU and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), to scare off a possible red–red–green coalition (SPD–Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)–Greens). Analysts have stated that such a strategy likely paid off, as it was seen as one of the decisive elements for the narrow victory of Kohl for the CDU/CSU–FDP. The campaign was criticized as an obvious attempt to discredit the whole political left; the PDS reinterpreted it for itself by printing red socks.[3]

Results

PartyParty-listConstituencyTotal
seats
+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Social Democratic Party17,140,35436.3914917,966,81338.27103252+13
Christian Democratic Union16,089,96034.166717,473,32537.22177244−24
Christian Social Union3,427,1967.2863,657,6277.794450−1
Alliance 90/The Greens3,424,3157.27493,037,9026.47049+41
Free Democratic Party3,258,4076.92471,558,1853.32047−32
Party of Democratic Socialism2,066,1764.39261,920,4204.09430+13
The Republicans875,2391.860787,7571.68000
The Grays – Gray Panthers238,6420.510178,4500.38000
Ecological Democratic Party183,7150.390200,1380.43000
Natural Law Party73,1930.16059,0870.1300New
Human Environment Animal Protection71,6430.1500New
Party of Bible-abiding Christians65,6510.14026,8640.0600New
Statt Party63,3540.1307,9270.0200New
Bavaria Party42,4910.0903,3240.01000
Car-drivers' and Citizens' Interests Party21,5330.0501,6540.0000New
Christian Centre19,8870.0403,5590.01000
Party of the Willing to Work and Socially Vulnerable15,0400.0304890.0000New
Marxist–Leninist Party10,0380.0204,9320.01000
Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität8,1030.0208,0320.02000
Christian League5,1950.0103,7880.01000
Centre Party3,7570.0101,4890.00000
Federation of Socialist Workers1,2850.00000
Free Citizens' Union8,1930.0200New
German Social Union2,3950.01000
German Communist Party6930.00000
German People's Party6060.0000New
Free Social Union4670.00000
Communist Party of Germany4260.00000
Independent Workers' Party3020.00000
Liberal Democrats2210.0000New
Federation for a Complete Germany1070.0000New
Democrats1040.0000New
Independents and voter groups34,0800.07000
Total47,105,174100.0034446,949,356100.00328672+10
Valid votes47,105,17498.6746,949,35698.35
Invalid/blank votes632,8251.33788,6431.65
Total votes47,737,999100.0047,737,999100.00
Registered voters/turnout60,452,00978.9760,452,00978.97
Source: Bundeswahlleiter
Seat results – SPD in red, combined Greens in green, PDS in purple, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black

Results by state

Second vote (Zweitstimme, or votes for party list)

State results in % CDU/CSU SPD GRÜNE FDP PDS REP all others
 Baden-Württemberg 43.3 30.7 9.6 9.9 0.8 3.1 2.6
 Bavaria 51.2 29.6 6.3 6.4 0.5 2.8 3.2
 Berlin 31.4 34.0 10.2 5.2 14.8 1.9 2.5
 Brandenburg 28.1 45.1 2.9 2.6 19.3 1.1 0.9
 Bremen 30.2 45.5 11.1 7.2 2.7 1.7 1.6
 Hamburg 34.9 39.7 12.6 7.2 2.2 1.7 1.7
 Hesse 40.7 37.2 9.3 8.1 1.1 2.4 1.2
 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 38.5 28.8 3.6 3.4 23.6 1.2 0.9
 Lower Saxony 41.3 40.6 7.1 7.7 1.0 1.2 1.1
 North Rhine-Westphalia 38.0 43.1 7.4 7.6 1.0 1.3 1.6
 Rhineland-Palatinate 43.8 39.4 6.2 6.9 0.6 1.9 1.2
 Saarland 37.2 48.8 5.8 4.3 0.7 1.6 1.6
 Saxony 48.0 24.3 4.8 3.8 16.7 1.4 1.0
 Saxony-Anhalt 38.8 33.4 3.6 4.1 18.0 1.0 1.1
 Schleswig-Holstein 41.5 39.6 8.3 7.4 1.1 1.0 1.1
 Thuringia 41.0 30.2 4.9 4.1 17.2 1.4 1.2

Constituency seats

State Total
seats
Seats won
CDU SPD CSU PDS
Baden-Württemberg 37 37
Bavaria 45 1 44
Berlin 13 6 3 4
Brandenburg 12 12
Bremen 3 3
Hamburg 7 1 6
Hesse 22 14 8
Lower Saxony 31 17 14
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 9 7 2
North Rhine-Westphalia 71 31 40
Rhineland-Palatinate 16 12 4
Saarland 5 5
Saxony 21 21
Saxony-Anhalt 13 10 3
Schleswig-Holstein 11 9 2
Thuringia 12 12
Total 328 177 103 44 4

List seats

State Total
seats
Seats won
SPD CDU Grüne FDP PDS CSU
Baden-Württemberg 42 25 8 8 1
Bavaria 47 28 6 6 1 6
Berlin 14 6 3 3 2
Brandenburg 11 6 1 4
Bremen 3 2 1
Hamburg 7 4 2 1
Hesse 27 11 6 5 4 1
Lower Saxony 36 14 11 5 5 1
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 6 2 1 3
North Rhine-Westphalia 77 26 27 11 12 1
Rhineland-Palatinate 17 10 3 2 2
Saarland 4 4
Saxony 18 9 2 1 6
Saxony-Anhalt 10 4 1 1 4
Schleswig-Holstein 13 8 1 2 2
Thuringia 12 6 1 1 4
Total 344 149 67 49 47 26 6

Post-election

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP was able to continue in power with Helmut Kohl as chancellor.

The PDS won four constituency seats in its power base of the former East Berlin, qualifying it for proportional representation even though the party won 4.4 percent of the vote, just short of the 5% electoral threshold required for full parliamentary status. Under a longstanding electoral law intended to benefit regional parties, any party that wins at least three constituency seats is entitled to its share of proportionally-elected seats, regardless of vote share.[4]

This was the first time in the history of the Federal Republic that the FDP was not the third-largest party in the chamber.

References

  1. "Das Versagen der SPD" (in German). Tagesspiegel. 2 August 2013. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  2. Vor 20 Jahren: Rudolf Scharping im Wahlkampf (in German). Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  3. Fürstenau, Marcel (24 September 2021). "German election: Could there soon be a left-wing government?". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  4. Dan Hough; Michael Koß; Jonathan Olsen (2007). The Left Party in Contemporary German Politics. Springer. ISBN 978-0230592148.
  1. Combined results of Alliance 90/Green Citizens' Movements and the West German Green Party.

Sources

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