1969 West German federal election

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 28 September 1969 to elect the members of the 6th Bundestag. The CDU/CSU remained the largest faction and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) remained the largest single party in the Bundestag, winning 237 of the 518 seats. After the election, the SPD formed a coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the former's leader Willy Brandt became the first Social Democratic Chancellor in West Germany's history, bringing an end to 20 years of CDU/CSU rule.

Campaign

After the resignation of Chancellor Ludwig Erhard on 1 December 1966, a grand coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats had governed West Germany under Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger (CDU), with SPD chairman Willy Brandt as vice-chancellor and foreign minister.

Minister of Economic Affairs Karl Schiller (SPD) had proposed revaluing (increasing the external value of) the Deutsche Mark, West Germany's currency, to reduce the country's inflation rate and the rate of growth of the country's businesses' income. He also sought to reduce West Germany's economic dependence on the exports. However, Finance Minister Franz-Josef Strauss (CSU) rejected the Deutsche Mark's revaluation because Bavarian farmers, an important part of his constituency, opposed it. The European Economic Community's food commodity prices were paid in U.S. dollars, and the Deutsche Mark's revaluation would have made West German exports less competitive (i.e. more expensive for other Western Europeans to buy).

The coalition had already effectively ended before the election because of the revaluation dispute. In addition, enough West German voters were willing to give the Social Democratic leader, Foreign Minister Willy Brandt, a chance to govern West Germany. Brandt, who ran for the third time after 1961 and 1965, had shown sympathy towards groups, including left-wing intellectuals and activists of the German student movement, who had felt ignored by the Christian Democrat-led coalition governments. In addition, his intellect, self-control and reputation for honesty appealed to ordinary West Germans.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Results

Results by state

Constituency seats

State	Total seats	Seats won
		SPD	CDU	CSU
		style="background:Template:Party color;" |	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	style="background:Template:Party color;" |
Baden-Württemberg	36	9	27
Bavaria	44	10		34
Bremen	3	3
Hamburg	8	8
Hesse	22	20	2
Lower Saxony	30	18	12
North Rhine-Westphalia	73	47	26
Rhineland-Palatinate	16	6	10
Saarland	5	2	3
Schleswig-Holstein	11	4	7
Total	248	127	87	34

List seats

State	Total seats	Seats won
		CDU	SPD	FDP	CSU
		style="background:Template:Party color;" |	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	style="background:Template:Party color;" |	style="background:Template:Party color;" |
Baden-Württemberg	34	10	18	6
Bavaria	40		21	4	15
Bremen	2	2
Hamburg	9	6	2	1
Hesse	24	17	4	3
Lower Saxony	33	18	11	4
North Rhine-Westphalia	78	43	26	9
Rhineland-Palatinate	15	6	7	2
Saarland	3	1	2
Schleswig-Holstein	10	3	6	1
Total	248	106	97	30	15

Aftermath

File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F030053-0030, Bonn, Bundestagswahl, Presseerklärung Brandt.jpg

Brandt speaks to the press on election night, 28 September

Willy Brandt, against the will of several party fellows like Herbert Wehner or Helmut Schmidt, chose to leave the grand coalition with the CDU/CSU, forming a social-liberal coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) instead. On 21 October 1969 he was elected Chancellor of Germany, the first SPD chancellor in the postwar period, after the last Social Democrat holding this position had been Hermann Müller from 1928 to 1930. FDP chairman Walter Scheel succeeded Brandt as vice-chancellor and foreign minister. Brandt's government proceeded with the revaluation Schiller had proposed, raising the value of the mark by 9.3% in late October.<ref name="Brenner">Template:Cite book</ref>

Disappointed Kiesinger bitterly complained about the faithless liberals. Though he had again achieved the plurality of votes for the CDU, he had to lead his party into opposition. He was succeeded as chairman by Rainer Barzel in 1971.

However the Cabinet Brandt I could only rely on an absolute majority (Kanzlermehrheit) of twelve votes in the Bundestag. Several party switches in protest against Brandt's Ostpolitik of FDP and SPD members resulted in the snap election of 1972.