1953 West German federal election
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox election
Federal elections were held in West Germany on 6 September 1953 to elect the members of the second Bundestag. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) emerged as the largest party.
This was the last election before Saarland joined West Germany in 1957. It had been a separate entity, Saar protectorate, under French control since 1946.
The CDU/CSU formed a center-right coalition government with the FDP, DP and GB/BHE, leaving the SPD as the main opposition.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> In comparison to the 1949 election where ten parties won seats, only six parties won seats in the 1953 election, thus entailing a consolidation of the party system.<ref name=":0" />
Campaign
Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (who was also CDU leader) campaigned on his policies of economic reconstruction and growth, moderate conservatism or Christian democracy, and close relations with the United States. During the campaign he attacked the Social Democratic Party (SPD) ferociously. His staff had a comfortable coach on a train previously used only by Hermann Göring and behind that a dining car with sleeping berths for journalists.<ref name=CW>Charles Williams (2000) Adenauer: The Father of the New Germany, p407</ref> The new SPD leader (Kurt Schumacher had died in 1952) was Erich Ollenhauer, who was more moderate in his policies than Schumacher had been. He did not oppose, in principle, the United States' military presence in Western Europe. He later – in 1957 – supported a military alliance of most European countries, including Germany.<ref>Erling Bjöl, Grimberg's History of the Nations, volume 23: The Rich West, "A Giant Dwarf: West Germany," Helsinki: WSOY, 1985</ref><ref>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</ref> On 3 September American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles said that "A defeat for Adenauer would have catastrophic consequences for the prospects for German reunification and the restoration of sovereignty" and that it would "trigger off such confusion in Germany that further delays in German efforts for reunification and freedom would be unavoidable."<ref name=CW/> Adenauer managed to convince clearly more West German voters of his leadership abilities and economic and political success to easily win a second term, although he had to form a coalition government with the Free Democratic Party and the conservative German Party to gain a majority in the Bundestag.
Opinion polls
| Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size |
Union | SPD | FDP | GB/BHE | DP | Others | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="background:Template:Party color;"| | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | style="background:Template:Party color;"| | |||||
| 1953 federal election | 6 Sep 1953 | – | 45.2 | 28.8 | 9.5 | 5.9 | 3.3 | 7.3 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;"| 16.4 |
| HICOG | 22 Aug–3 Sep 1953 | 664 | 50.3 | 29.5 | 11.0 | 4.3 | 4.9 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="20.8"| 20.8 | |
| UNESCO | 4 Jul–30 Aug 1953 | 1,694 | 44.4 | 30.6 | 18.1 | 6.9 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="13.8"| 13.8 | ||
| Emnid | 20–28 Aug 1953 | 2,000 | 40.7 | 25.9 | 25.9 | 7.4 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="14.8"| 14.8 | ||
| Emnid | 11–16 Aug 1953 | 2,000 | 38.2 | 29.0 | 25.0 | 7.9 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="9.2"| 9.2 | ||
| HICOG | Aug 1953 | N/A | 46 | 34 | 9 | 10 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="12"| 12 | ||
| Emnid | 3–10 Jul 1953 | 2,000 | 41.8 | 25.3 | 27.9 | 5.1 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="16.5"| 16.5 | ||
| HICOG | Jul 1953 | N/A | 41 | 38 | 6 | 15 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="3"| 3 | ||
| HICOG | Jun 1953 | N/A | 45 | 35 | 7 | 12 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="10"| 10 | ||
| HICOG | Apr 1953 | N/A | 46 | 36 | 7 | 11 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="10"| 10 | ||
| HICOG | Jan 1953 | N/A | 39 | 40 | 10 | 10 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-1"| 1 | ||
| HICOG | Dec 1952 | N/A | 37 | 38 | 10 | 15 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-1"| 1 | ||
| HICOG | Aug 1952 | N/A | 38 | 39 | 9 | 14 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-1"| 1 | ||
| HICOG | Jul 1952 | N/A | 34 | 40 | 14 | 12 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-6"| 6 | ||
| HICOG | Jun 1952 | N/A | 35 | 41 | 11 | 13 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-6"| 6 | ||
| HICOG | May 1952 | N/A | 35 | 41 | 12 | 12 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-6"| 6 | ||
| HICOG | Apr 1952 | N/A | 35 | 43 | 12 | 10 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-8"| 8 | ||
| HICOG | Feb 1952 | N/A | 34 | 41 | 11 | 14 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-7"| 7 | ||
| HICOG | Jan 1952 | N/A | 35 | 43 | 11 | 11 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-8"| 8 | ||
| HICOG | Oct 1951 | N/A | 32 | 42 | 11 | 15 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-10"| 10 | ||
| HICOG | Sep 1951 | N/A | 34 | 42 | 10 | 14 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-8"| 8 | ||
| HICOG | Aug 1951 | N/A | 31 | 45 | 10 | 14 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-14"| 14 | ||
| HICOG | Jul 1951 | N/A | 36 | 41 | 10 | 13 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-5"| 5 | ||
| HICOG | Apr 1951 | N/A | 35 | 38 | 11 | 17 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-3"| 3 | ||
| HICOG | Mar 1951 | N/A | 31 | 42 | 10 | 17 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="-11"| 11 | ||
| 1949 federal election | 14 Aug 1949 | – | 31.0 | 29.2 | 11.9 | — | 4.0 | 23.9 | style="background:Template:Party color;color:#FFFFFF;" data-sort-value="1.8"| 1.8 |
Results
Results by state
Constituency seats
| State | Total seats |
Seats won | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDU | SPD | CSU | FDP | DP | DZP | ||
| style="background:Template:Party color;" | | style="background:Template:Party color;" | | style="background:Template:Party color;" | | style="background:Template:Party color;" | | style="background:Template:Party color;" | | style="background:Template:Party color;" | | ||
| Baden-Württemberg | 33 | 29 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Bavaria | 47 | 3 | 42 | 2 | |||
| Bremen | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Hamburg | 8 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Hesse | 22 | 7 | 10 | 5 | |||
| Lower Saxony | 34 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 8 | ||
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 66 | 51 | 13 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 15 | 13 | 2 | ||||
| Schleswig-Holstein | 14 | 14 | |||||
| Total | 242 | 130 | 59 | 42 | 14 | 10 | 1 |
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List seats
| State | Total seats |
Seats won | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPD | CDU | FDP | GB/ BHE |
CSU | DP | DZP | ||
| style="background:Template:Party color;" | | style="background:Template:Party color;" | | style="background:Template:Party color;" | | style="background:Template:Party color;" | | style="background:Template:Party color;" | | style="background:Template:Party color;" | | style="background:Template:Party color;" | | ||
| Baden-Württemberg | 34 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 1 | ||
| Bavaria | 44 | 22 | 4 | 8 | 10 | |||
| Bremen | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Hamburg | 10 | 6 | 4 | |||||
| Hesse | 22 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | ||
| Lower Saxony | 32 | 10 | 12 | 3 | 7 | |||
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 72 | 34 | 21 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | ||||
| Schleswig-Holstein | 12 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||
| Total | 245 | 106 | 61 | 34 | 27 | 10 | 5 | 2 |
Aftermath
Konrad Adenauer remained Chancellor, governing in a broad coalition (two-thirds majority) with most of the minor parties except for the SPD and Centre Party.