June 1946 Bavarian state election

1946 Bavarian state election

← 1932

30 June 1946

December 1946 →

All 180 seats in the Bavarian Constituent Assembly
91 seats needed for a majority

Turnout

3,048,337 (72.1%)

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Alois Hundhammer	Jean Stock	Hermann Schirmer
Party	CSU	SPD	KPD
Seats won	109	51	9
Popular vote	1,587,595	786,045	145,749
Percentage	58.3%	28.8%	5.3%

	Fourth party	Fifth party

Leader	Alfred Loritz	Thomas Dehler
Party	WAV	FDP
Seats won	8	3
Popular vote	137,765	68,417
Percentage	5.1%	2.5%

Minister-President before election

Wilhelm Hoegner
SPD

Elected Minister-President

Wilhelm Hoegner
SPD

The June 1946 Bavarian state election was held on 30 June 1946 to elect the members of the Bavarian Constituent Assembly. It was the first election held in Bavaria since 1932. The constituent assembly was tasked with drafting and passing a new constitution for the Bavarian state. After the passage of the constitution, the Constituent Assembly was dissolved and new elections called for December.

Background

Bavaria was completely occupied by American troops at the end of April 1945. General George S. Patton appointed Christian democrat Fritz Schäffer as interim Minister-President on 28 May 1945, before being dismissed by General Dwight D. Eisenhower on 28 September 1945 due to Schäffer's past anti-Semitic positions, and hiring of ex-Nazis within his administration.

The Ministry was then handed over to social democrat Wilhelm Hoegner, who oversaw the creation of a new Bavarian constitution in the spring and summer of 1946. To aid him, the Advisory State Committee was formed, with its members being appointed by the political parties or the state. The body was eventually dissolved, with direct elections being called for a Constituent State Assembly to oversee the passage of the Constitution. Thus, the first democratic elections were held in Bavaria since 1932.

Election result

Summary of the election results for the Landtag of Bavaria
Party		Votes	%	Seats	Seats %
	Christian Social Union (CSU)	1,587,595	58.3	109	60.6
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	786,045	28.8	51	28.3
	Communist Party (KPD)	145,749	5.3	9	5
	Economic Reconstruction Union (WAV)	137,765	5.1	8	4.4
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	68,417	2.5	3	1.7
Total		3,048,337	100.0	180
Voter turnout			72.1

Popular Vote

CSU			58.3%
SPD			28.8%
KPD			5.3%
WUV			5.1%
FDP			2.5%

Landtag seats

CSU			60.6%
SPD			28.3%
KPD			5%
WUV			4.4%
FDP			1.7%

References

Power Grabber Time Magazine, 20 February 1956, accessed: 27 May 2020
Haus der Bayerischen Geschichte, accessed 27 May 2020

External links

v t e Elections and referendums in Bavaria
State elections	1818 1824 1830 1836 1839 1845 1848 1849 1855 1858 1863 1869 (May) 1869 (Nov) 1875 1881 1887 1893 1899 1905 1907 1912 1919 1920 1924 1928 1932 1946 (Jun) 1946 (Dec) 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2003 2008 2013 2018 2023 2028
Local elections	1946 1948 1952 1956 1960 1966 1972 1978 1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 2014 2020 2026
Referendums	1924 1946 1968 1970 1973 1984 1991 1995 1998 2003 2010 2013 2014 2019
See also: Elections and referendums in Germany

Categories: