1903 German Federal Election

16 June 1903 · The Imperial Reichstag · 397 seats, 199 for a majority

Federal elections were held in Germany on 16 June 1903. Despite the Social Democratic Party (SPD) receiving a clear plurality of votes, the Centre Party remained the largest party in the Reichstag after winning 100 of the 397 seats, whilst the SPD won only 81.

Chancellor before

Bernhard von Bülow

Independent

Chancellor (continued)

Bernhard von Bülow

Independent

Largest force

Centre

100 of 397 seats

Turnout

76.1%

The result

Sort by

Centre

Franz von Ballestrem · 19.8% of votes · -2 seats

100

seats

SPD

Paul Singer & · 31.7% of votes · +25 seats

seats

DKP

9.5% of votes · -1 seats

seats

NLP

Ernst Bassermann · 13.7% of votes · +2 seats

seats

FVP

Eugen Richter · 5.7% of votes · -8 seats

seats

DRP

3.5% of votes · -1 seats

seats


Centre	Franz von Ballestrem	100	-2	1.875.292	19.8%	+1.0
SPD	Paul Singer &	81	+25	3.010.771	31.7%	+4.5
DKP	—	52	-1	901.415	9.5%	-1.2
NLP	Ernst Bassermann	50	+2	1.301.473	13.7%	+0.8
FVP	Eugen Richter	21	-8	536.879	5.7%	-1.6
DRP	—	21	-1	336.617	3.5%	-0.8

72 further seats went to parties and independents outside the main contenders listed above.