1890 German Federal Election
20 February 1890 · The Imperial Reichstag · 397 seats, 199 for a majority
A federal election for the eighth Reichstag of the German Empire was held on 20 February 1890. It was an early election called after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck requested that the Reichstag elected in February 1887 be dissolved because it had refused to extend the Anti-Socialist Laws.
Chancellor before
Otto von Bismarck
Independent
Chancellor after
Leo von Caprivi
Independent
Largest force
Centre
107 of 397 seats
Turnout
71.6%
The result
| Share of the chamber | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centre | Ludwig Windthorst | 107 | +9 | 1.340.688 | 18.6% | -1.4 | |
| DKP | Otto von Helldorff | 71 | -9 | 882.820 | 12.2% | -3.0 | |
| DFP | Rudolf Virchow | 67 | +35 | 1.148.468 | 15.9% | +3.3 | |
| NLP | Rudolf von Bennigsen | 38 | -60 | 1.130.842 | 15.6% | -6.3 | |
| SPD | Paul Singer | 35 | +24 | 1.427.323 | 19.8% | +9.6 | |
| DRP | — | 19 | -22 | 461.307 | 6.4% | -3.4 |
60 further seats went to parties and independents outside the main contenders listed above.