✶ Germany · 1949–2025
Twenty-one
Bundestage.
From Bonn to Berlin: two big parties that once shared nine votes in ten, the arrival of the Greens, the east's parties after 1990, and a parliament that grew to 736 before it was capped.
Seats at each election, as a share of the house
From two blocs
to seven parties.
- Linke
- SPD
- Grüne
- SSW
- FDP
- CDU
- CSU
- AfD
Turnout
91,1 % in 1972,
70,8 % in 2009.
Turnout peaked in Willy Brandt's 1972 election, fell to its low in 2009 and rose again to 82,5 % in 2025.
Chancellors
Ten
chancellors.
- Konrad AdenauerCDU · 1949–1963
- Ludwig ErhardCDU · 1963–1966
- Kurt Georg KiesingerCDU · 1966–1969
- Willy BrandtSPD · 1969–1974
- Helmut SchmidtSPD · 1974–1982
- Helmut KohlCDU · 1982–1998
- Gerhard SchröderSPD · 1998–2005
- Angela MerkelCDU · 2005–2021
- Olaf ScholzSPD · 2021–2025
- Friedrich MerzCDU · 2025–
Federal Presidents
Twelve
presidents.
- Theodor Heuss1949–1959
- Heinrich Lübke1959–1969
- Gustav Heinemann1969–1974
- Walter Scheel1974–1979
- Karl Carstens1979–1984
- Richard von Weizsäcker1984–1994
- Roman Herzog1994–1999
- Johannes Rau1999–2004
- Horst Köhler2004–2010
- Christian Wulff2010–2012
- Joachim Gauck2012–2017
- Frank-Walter Steinmeier2017–2027
How the rules changed
A law rewritten
again and again.
- 1918Women vote
The Council of People's Deputies grants universal suffrage from age 20; women vote in January 1919 for the National Assembly in Weimar.
- 1949One cross
The first Bundestag: one vote counted for both the constituency and the party; 5 % or one constituency per Land.
- 1953Two votes
Separate Erst- and Zweitstimme; the 5 % threshold applies nationwide.
- 1956Three constituencies
The exemption from the threshold now needs three constituency wins (the Grundmandatsklausel).
- 1970Voting at 18
The voting age drops from 21 to 18 (Art. 38(2) GG).
- 1985Hare–Niemeyer
Largest remainders replace D'Hondt for the 1987 to 2005 elections.
- 1990Reunification
For one election the threshold applied separately in east and west (BVerfG); 662 seats.
- 2008Sainte-Laguë
Sainte-Laguë/Schepers from 2009; the Court strikes down negative vote weight the same year.
- 2013Balancing seats
Overhang seats are fully balanced: the house grows to 631, then 709 (2017) and 736 (2021).
- 2023Capped at 630
No overhang, no balancing: constituency winners must be covered by second votes; the three-constituency rule abolished.
- 2024Karlsruhe
The Court upholds the cap but restores the three-constituency rule while the 5 % threshold stands (30 July).
| Year | Seats | Turnout |
|---|---|---|
| 1949 | 410 | 78,5 % |
| 1953 | 509 | 86,0 % |
| 1957 | 519 | 87,8 % |
| 1961 | 521 | 87,7 % |
| 1965 | 518 | 86,8 % |
| 1969 | 518 | 86,7 % |
| 1972 | 518 | 91,1 % |
| 1976 | 518 | 90,7 % |
| 1980 | 519 | 88,6 % |
| 1983 | 520 | 89,1 % |
| 1987 | 519 | 84,3 % |
| 1990 | 662 | 77,8 % |
| 1994 | 672 | 79,0 % |
| 1998 | 669 | 82,2 % |
| 2002 | 603 | 79,1 % |
| 2005 | 614 | 77,7 % |
| 2009 | 622 | 70,8 % |
| 2013 | 631 | 71,5 % |
| 2017 | 709 | 76,2 % |
| 2021 | 736 | 76,4 % |
| 2025 | 630 | 82,5 % |