1957 West German federal election

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 15 September 1957 to elect the members of the third Bundestag. The Christian Democratic Union and its longtime ally, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, won a sweeping victory, taking 270 seats in the Bundestag to win the first – and to date, only – absolute majority for a single German parliamentary group in a free election.

1957 West German federal election

15 September 1957 (1957-09-15)

All 497 seats in the Bundestag
249 seats needed for a majority
Registered35,400,923 6.9%
Turnout31,072,894 (87.8%) 1.8pp
  First party Second party
 
Candidate Konrad Adenauer Erich Ollenhauer
Party CDU/CSU SPD
Last election 45.2%, 243 seats 28.8%, 151 seats
Seats won 270 169
Seat change 27 18
Popular vote 15,008,399 9,495,571
Percentage 50.2% 31.8%
Swing 5.0pp 3.0pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Candidate Reinhold Maier Heinrich Hellwege
Party FDP DP
Last election 9.5%, 48 seats 3.3%, 15 seats
Seats won 41 17
Seat change 7 2
Popular vote 2,307,135 1,007,282
Percentage 7.7% 3.4%
Swing 1.8pp 0.1pp

The left side shows the winning party vote in the constituencies, the right side shows the seats won by parties in each of the states. The pie chart over West Berlin shows the partisan composition of its legislature.

Government before election

Second Adenauer cabinet
CDU/CSUFDPDP

Government after election

Third Adenauer cabinet
CDU/CSUDP

This was the first West German federal election to take place in the Saarland, which – as Saar protectorate – had been a separate entity under French control between 1946 and 1956.

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