1953 German Federal Election
6 September 1953 · The Bonn Republic · 487 seats, 244 for a majority
The CDU/CSU formed a center-right coalition government with the FDP, DP and GB/BHE, leaving the SPD as the main opposition. In comparison to the 1949 election where ten parties won seats, only six parties won seats in the 1953 election, thus entailing a consolidation of the party system.
Chancellor before
Konrad Adenauer
CDU
Chancellor (continued)
Konrad Adenauer
CDU
Largest force
CDU/CSU
243 of 487 seats
Turnout
86.0%
The result
CDU/CSU
Konrad Adenauer · 45.2% of votes · +104 seats
243
seats
SPD
Erich Ollenhauer · 28.8% of votes · +20 seats
151
seats
FDP
Franz Blücher · 9.5% of votes · -4 seats
48
seats
GB/BHE
Waldemar Kraft · 5.9% of votes
27
seats
DP
Heinrich Hellwege · 3.3% of votes · -2 seats
15
seats
Centre
Johannes Brockmann · 0.8% of votes · -7 seats
3
seats