1961 West German federal election

1961 West German federal election
17 September 1961 (1961-09-17)
All 499 seats in the Bundestag
250 seats needed for a majority
Registered37,440,715 ( 5.8%)
Turnout87.7% ( 0.1pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Candidate Konrad Adenauer Willy Brandt Erich Mende
Party CDU/CSU SPD FDP
Last election 50.2%, 270 seats 31.8%, 169 seats 7.7%, 41 seats
Seats won 242 190 67
Seat change 28 21 26
Popular vote 14,298,372 11,427,355 4,028,766
Percentage 45.3% 36.2% 12.8%
Swing 4.9 pp 4.4 pp 5.1 pp
The left side shows constituency winners of the election by their party colours. The right side shows party list winners of the election for the additional members by their party colours.
Government before election

Third Adenauer cabinet
CDU/CSU

 Government after election

Fourth Adenauer cabinet
CDU/CSU–FDP

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 17 September 1961 to elect the members of the fourth Bundestag. The CDU/CSU remained the largest faction, winning 242 of the 499 seats. However, the loss of its majority and the All-German Party losing all its seats led to the CDU having to negotiate a coalition with the long-term junior coalition partner, the Free Democratic Party, leading to a demand for long-term chancellor Konrad Adenauer to leave office in 1963, halfway through his term.

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