1928 German federal election

1928 German federal election

20 May 1928 (1928-05-20)
All 491 seats in the Reichstag 246 seats needed for a majority
Registered	41,224,678 5.7%
Turnout	31,165,789 (75.6%) 3.2pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Hermann Müller Otto Wels Arthur Crispien Kuno von Westarp Wilhelm Marx Party SPD DNVP Centre Leader since 1919 1924 1922 Last election 26.0%, 131 seats 20.5%, 103 seats 13.6%, 69 seats Seats won 153 73 61 Seat change 22 30 8 Popular vote 9,152,979 4,381,563 3,712,152 Percentage 29.8% 14.3% 12.1% Swing 3.8pp 6.2pp 1.5pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Ernst Thälmann & Philipp Dengel Gustav Stresemann Erich Koch-Weser Party KPD DVP DDP Leader since October 1925 1919 1924 Last election 8.9%, 45 seats 10.1%, 51 seats 6.3%, 32 seats Seats won 54 45 25 Seat change 9 6 7 Popular vote 3,264,793 2,679,703 1,479,374 Percentage 10.6% 8.7% 4.8% Swing 1.7pp 1.4pp 1.5pp
Winning party by electoral constituency.
Chancellor before election Wilhelm Marx Centre Chancellor after election Hermann Müller SPD

Federal elections were held in Germany on 20 May 1928. The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) remained the largest party in the Reichstag after winning 153 of the 491 seats. Voter turnout was 75.6%.

The only two parties to gain significantly were the SPD, which received almost a third of the vote, and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), which completed a thorough victory of the left wing. However, the SPD still failed to win a clear majority, resulting in another coalition government, led by Hermann Müller. Following his appointment as Chancellor, Müller, who had previously held the post for four months in 1920, created a grand coalition of members of the SPD, the German Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the German People's Party. However, the coalition was plagued by internal divisions right from the beginning, with each party more concerned with their own interests than the interests of the government. As a result, Müller asked German President Paul von Hindenburg for emergency powers, but when Hindenburg refused, he resigned, marking the end of the "last genuinely democratic government of the Weimar Republic" on 27 March 1930.

The recently reformed Nazi Party contested the elections after the ban on the party had been lifted in 1925. However, the party received less than 3% of the vote and won only 12 seats in the Reichstag. Adolf Hitler, who had been incarcerated in Landsberg prison for his involvement in the Beer Hall Putsch until Christmas 1924, had concentrated on re-establishing himself as the leader of the Nazi Party after his release rather than on his party's electability.

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	9,152,979	29.76	+3.74	153	+22
	German National People's Party	4,381,563	14.25	−6.24	73	−30
	Centre Party	3,712,152	12.07	−1.53	61	−8
	Communist Party of Germany	3,264,793	10.62	+1.68	54	+9
	German People's Party	2,679,703	8.71	−1.36	45	−6
	German Democratic Party	1,479,374	4.81	−1.53	25	−7
	Reich Party of the German Middle Class	1,387,602	4.51	+2.22	23	+11
	Bavarian People's Party	945,644	3.07	−0.67	17	−2
	Nazi Party	810,127	2.63	−0.37	12	−2
	Christian-National Peasants' and Farmers' Party	571,891	1.86	New	9	New
	Reich Party for Civil Rights and Deflation	509,471	1.66	New	2	New
	German Farmers' Party	481,254	1.56	New	8	New
	Völkisch-National Bloc	266,370	0.87	New	0	New
	Agricultural League	199,548	0.65	−1.00	3	−5
	German-Hanoverian Party	195,555	0.64	−0.22	4	0
	Saxon Peasants	127,700	0.42	New	2	New
	Christian Social Reich Party	110,704	0.36	New	0	New
	Left Communists	80,405	0.26	New	0	New
	Old Social Democratic Party of Germany	65,775	0.21	New	0	New
	Polish People's Party	64,753	0.21	−0.06	0	0
	Evangelical Party of Germany	52,488	0.17	New	0	New
	German Social Party	46,047	0.15	−0.38	0	0
	General People's Party	37,373	0.12	New	0	New
	German House and Property Owners' Party	35,846	0.12	New	0	New
	Independent Social Democratic Party	20,815	0.07	−0.26	0	0
	Evangelical Community Spirit	10,709	0.03	New	0	New
	Christian National Middle Class Party	9,957	0.03	New	0	New
	Pastor Greber Party	9,527	0.03	New	0	New
	Revaluation and Construction Party	8,562	0.03	New	0	New
	German Reich Bloc of the Injured	7,437	0.02	New	0	New
	Reich Party for Crafts, Trade and Business	6,614	0.02	New	0	New
	People's Welfare Party	6,071	0.02	New	0	New
	Franconian Peasants	3,417	0.01	New	0	New
	Wendish People's Party	3,111	0.01	−0.01	0	0
	Party for Justice and Tenant Protection	2,831	0.01	New	0	New
	Schleswig Club	2,435	0.01	−0.01	0	0
	German Christian Folk Party	901	0.00	New	0	New
	Vital Interests of the Unmarried	873	0.00	New	0	New
	Masurian People's Party	295	0.00	New	0	New
	Lithuanian People's Party	289	0.00	New	0	New
	Friesland	286	0.00	New	0	New
Total		30,753,247	100.00	–	491	–2
Valid votes		30,753,247	98.68
Invalid/blank votes		412,542	1.32
Total votes		31,165,789	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		41,224,678	75.60
Source: Gonschior.de

See also

• Members of the 4th German Reichstag (Weimar Republic)