1987 West German federal election

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 25 January 1987 to elect the members of the 11th Bundestag. This was the last federal election held in West Germany before German reunification.

1987 West German federal election

← 1983 25 January 1987 (1987-01-25) 1990 (reunification) →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 497 seats in the Bundestag[a] 249 seats needed for a majority
Registered	45,327,982 2.8%
Turnout	38,225,294 (84.3%) 4.8pp
First party Second party   Candidate Helmut Kohl Johannes Rau Party CDU/CSU SPD Last election 48.8%, 244 seats 38.2%, 193 seats Seats won 223[b] 186[c] Seat change 21 7 Popular vote 16,761,572 14,025,763 Percentage 44.3% 37.0% Swing 4.5pp 1.2pp   Third party Fourth party   Candidate Martin Bangemann Petra Kelly Party FDP Greens Last election 6.9%, 34 seats 5.6%, 27 seats Seats won 46[d] 42[e] Seat change 12 15 Popular vote 3,440,911 3,126,256 Percentage 9.1% 8.3% Swing 2.2pp 2.7pp
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 Kohl cabinet CDU/CSU–FDP Government after election Third Kohl cabinet CDU/CSU–FDP

Issues and campaign

The SPD nominated Johannes Rau, their vice chairman and the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, as their candidate for Chancellor. However, the SPD suffered from internal divisions and competition with the Greens.^{[citation needed]} It was also unclear as to how they would form a government, as the Greens were divided over whether to take part in governments.^{[citation needed]}

One of the major issues in this election was the environment, after the Chernobyl disaster and other accidents.^{[citation needed]}

Results

Party		Party-list			Constituency			Seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Elected	West Berlin	Total	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	14,025,763	37.04	107	14,787,953	39.18	79	186	7	193	–9
	Christian Democratic Union	13,045,745	34.45	50	14,168,527	37.54	124	174	11	185	–17
	Christian Social Union	3,715,827	9.81	4	3,859,244	10.23	45	49	0	49	–4
	Free Democratic Party	3,440,911	9.09	46	1,760,496	4.66	0	46	2	48	+13
	The Greens	3,126,256	8.26	42	2,649,459	7.02	0	42	2	44	+16
	National Democratic Party	227,054	0.60	0	182,880	0.48	0	0	0	0	0
	Ecological Democratic Party	109,152	0.29	0	40,765	0.11	0	0	0	0	0
	The Women	62,904	0.17	0				0	0	0	New
	Bavaria Party	26,367	0.07	0	8,024	0.02	0	0	0	0	0
	Responsible Citizens	24,630	0.07	0	611	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Patriots for Germany	22,732	0.06	0	27,352	0.07	0	0	0	0	New
	Centre Party	19,035	0.05	0	4,020	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany	13,422	0.04	0	596	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Christian Bavarian People's Party	5,282	0.01	0	741	0.00	0	0	0	0	0
	All Social Insurants and Pensioners	1,834	0.00	0	3,151	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	Free German Workers' Party	405	0.00	0	349	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Humanist Party				788	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Solidarity				754	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Independent Workers' Party				352	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Family Party				130	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Free Social Union				110	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Independents and voter groups				246,511	0.65	0	0	0	0	0
Total		37,867,319	100.00	249	37,742,813	100.00	248	497	22	519	–1
Valid votes		37,867,319	99.06		37,742,813	98.74
Invalid/blank votes		357,975	0.94		482,481	1.26
Total votes		38,225,294	100.00		38,225,294	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		45,327,982	84.33		45,327,982	84.33
Source: Bundeswahlleiter

Seat results – SPD in red, Greens in green, FDP in yellow, CDU/CSU in black

Results by state

Constituency seats

State	Total seats	Seats won
		CDU	SPD	CSU
Baden-Württemberg	37	36	1
Bavaria	45			45
Bremen	3		3
Hamburg	7	2	5
Hesse	22	14	8
Lower Saxony	31	18	13
North Rhine-Westphalia	71	33	38
Rhineland-Palatinate	16	11	5
Saarland	5	2	3
Schleswig-Holstein	11	8	3
Total	248	124	79	45

List seats

State	Total seats	Seats won
		SPD	CDU	FDP	Grüne	CSU
Baden-Württemberg	37	21		9	7
Bavaria	42	24		7	7	4
Bremen	4		2	1	1
Hamburg	7	1	3	1	2
Hesse	23	10	5	4	4
Lower Saxony	32	13	8	6	5
North Rhine-Westphalia	72	24	25	12	11
Rhineland-Palatinate	16	7	4	3	2
Saarland	5	1	2	1	1
Schleswig-Holstein	11	6	1	2	2
Total	249	107	50	46	42	4

Aftermath

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, with Helmut Kohl as Chancellor. The Greens came into parliament for the second time and seemed to be established on federal level.

Co-option of East German Volkskammer after reunification

Co-optation of Volkskammer members into the Bundestag

← 1987 3 October 1990 (1990-10-03) 1990 →

All 641 seats in the Bundestag 321 seats needed for a majority

Party Leader Seats +/– CDU Helmut Kohl 248 +63 CSU Theodor Waigel 49 0 SPD Hans-Jochen Vogel 226 +40 FDP Otto Graf Lambsdorff 57 +11 Greens Petra Kelly 51 +9 PDS Gregor Gysi 23 New DSU Hansjoachim Walther 8 New United Left Thomas Klein 1 New This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Government before Government after election Third Kohl cabinet CDU/CSU–FDP Third Kohl cabinet CDU/CSU–FDP–DSU

In order to determine the composition of the East German representatives in the Bundestag between German reunification and the first post-reunification elections in December 1990, the results of the 1990 East German general election were recounted, using the new states of Germany as constituencies. This was possible since the original election results were declared on the Kreis level, and the states were re-established by simply amalgamating Kreise together. The results in each Kreis forming a state were summed up to determine the statewide result. The recount fixed the number of Volkskammer members from each party who would be co-opted into the Bundestag elected in 1987.^[1] The 22 Non-voting representatives of West Berlin already became full voting members on 8 June 1990, in advance of unification.

Co-optation results

Seats

State		Total seats	Seats won
			CDU	SPD	PDS	FDP	DSU	B90/G	VL
Brandenburg		22	8	7	4	1	1	1
Berlin	Total	33	13	11	2	3		1	1
	East	11	2	4	2	1		1	1
	West	22	11	7		2		2
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern		17	7	4	4	1		1
Saxony		43	20	7	6	3	5	2
Saxony-Anhalt		27	12	7	4	2	1	1
Thuringia		24	14	4	3	1	1	1
Total (East Germany Only)		144	63	33	23	9	8	7	1
Total (Including West Berlin)		166	74	40	23	11	8	9	1

Notes

1. As well as 22 non-voting delegates for West Berlin, elected by the West Berlin Legislature.
2. As well as 11 non-voting delegates for West Berlin.
3. As well as 7 non-voting delegates for West Berlin.
4. As well as 2 non-voting delegates for West Berlin.
5. As well as 2 non-voting delegates for West Berlin.

References

1. Mandatsverteilung der ehemaligen Volkskammerabgeordneten im XI. Bundestag am 03.10.1990 Archived 2022-10-03 at the Wayback Machine Wahlen in Deutschland

Sources

• The Federal Returning Officer
• Psephos