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The '1st German federal election, 1949', was conducted on August 14 1949, to elect members to the Bundestag (lower house) of West Germany. This was the first free election conducted in Germany after the Nazi period.

Contents

Issues and Campaign

Results

Post-election

Sources

Issues and Campaign

Results

A number of members (2 CDU, 5 SPD, 1 FDP) indirectly elected by the Berlin legislature are not included in the totals below. The Saarland did not participate in this election.

Party	Party List votes	Vote percentage	Total Seats	Seat percentage
Social Democratic Party (SPD)	6,934,975	29.2%	131	32.6%
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) ★	5,978,636	25.2%	115	28.6%
Free Democratic Party (FDP) ★	2,829,920	11.9%	52	12.9%
Christian Social Union (CSU) ★	1,380,448	5.8%	24	6.0%
Communist Party	1,361,706	5.7%	15	3.7%
Bavaria Party	986,478	4.2%	17	4.2%
German Party (DP) ★	939,934	4.0%	17	4.2%
German Center Party (DZP)	727,505	3.1%	10	2.5%
Coalition for Economic Reconstruction	681,888	2.9%	12	3.0%
German Empire Party	391,127	1.8%	5	1.2%
All Others	1,519,781	6.2%	4	1.0%
'Totals'	23,732,398	100.0%	402	100.0%

★ These parties formed a coalition after the election.

Post-election

Konrad Adenauer became the first Chancellor, forming a coalition between the CDU/CSU, FDP, and DP.

Sources

★ The Federal Returning Officer

★ Psephos