German Federal Election of 1949

The first election of the Federal Republic narrowly favored the CDU/CSU, and Adenauer became chancellor by a single vote.

Overview

Held on August 14, 1949, months after the Basic Law took effect in the western occupation zones, the first Bundestag election gave the Christian Democrats and their Bavarian sister party CSU 31.0 percent against 29.2 percent for Kurt Schumacher's Social Democrats, with the Free Democrats third. Konrad Adenauer assembled a coalition with the FDP and the German Party, and on September 15 the Bundestag elected him chancellor with 202 votes, exactly the majority required, his own vote included. Adenauer governed until 1963, anchoring West Germany in the Western alliance and presiding over the economic miracle of the 1950s.