Christian-Social Union in Bavaria

CSU is a redirect to this article. Further meanings are listed under CSU (disambiguation) .

Christian Social Union in Bavaria V.
Party leader	Markus Söder
Secretary General	Markus Blume
vice-chairman	Martin Sailer Angelika Niebler Dorothee Bär Manfred Weber Melanie Huml
Treasurer	Thomas Bauer Katrin Albsteiger
Chief Executive	Tobias Schmid
Honorary Chairwoman	Edmund Stoiber Theo Waigel Horst Seehofer
founding	October 13, 1945 (Bavarian founding assembly )
Place of foundation	Munich and Würzburg
Headquarters	"Franz-Josef-Strauss-Haus" Mies-van-der-Rohe-Strasse 1 80807 Munich
Youth organization	Young Union (JU)
newspaper	Bayernkurier
Affiliate foundation	Hanns Seidel Foundation
Alignment	Christian Democracy Conservatism Federalism Social Market Economy Economic Liberalism
Colours)	blue and light blue black ( union color )
Bundestag seats	46/709
Seats in state parliaments	85/205
Chief administrative officer at the district level	64/401
Government grants	14,695,344.40 euros (2019) (as of April 30, 2020)
Number of members	140,876 (as of December 9, 2019)
Minimum age	16 years
Average age	59 years old (as of December 31, 2016)
Proportion of women	20 percent (as of December 31, 2016)
International connections	International Democratic Union (IDU)
MEPs	6/96
European party	European People's Party (EPP)
EP Group	European People's Party (EPP)
Website	csu.de

The Christian Social Union in Bavaria e. V. ( short name : CSU ) is the third largest political party in Germany and dominated as a state party , the Bavarian politics .

The CSU and its sister party , the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), are referred to as Union Parties or Union for short. The CDU does not run in Bavaria , the CSU does not participate in the elections in the rest of Germany. Both parties form a parliamentary group in the Bundestag , the CDU / CSU parliamentary group . At the European level , the CSU is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and, with Manfred Weber, is its group chairman in the European Parliament .

The CSU was founded in 1945. It is divided into 10 district and 105 district associations. The CSU has provided the Bavarian Prime Minister without interruption since 1957 . This is currently their current chairman, Markus Söder . It is also the strongest party in Bavaria at the municipal level. It includes 40% of the district councils and city councils in independent cities and 52 of 77 mayors or district administrators.

In the 2017 federal election , the CSU won all 46 direct mandates in Bavaria despite double-digit losses . It is involved in the grand coalition with the CDU and SPD and thus supports the federal government ( Merkel IV cabinet ). At the federal level, the Union has been in government for longer than any other German party since the Federal Republic was founded. The longest time, the CSU formed a coalition alongside the CDU with the FDP in black-yellow coalition . In the years 1969–1982 and 1998–2005, the Union parties were in the opposition .

profile

tradition

The CSU conditionally continues the tradition of the Bavarian People's Party (BVP) . It is true that it split off from the Center Party in 1918 in protest against the Unitarianist course pursued by the Center Party and from then on emphasized the Bavarian special interests. However, the strongly right-wing conservative and restorative positions of the BVP can only be found very sporadically in the CSU. Another important difference is that the CSU saw itself from the beginning as a party for Protestant Christians, while the BVP was an exclusively Catholic party , which also radically rejected any socialist conception, whereas in the CSU in its early years there were definitely tendencies towards socialist demands ( Nationalization , land reform ) existed.

The continuing supremacy of the CSU in Bavaria is essentially based on the fact that after the ousting of the Bavarian party and the decline of the GB / BHE in the 1960s, it was also able to capture parts of the liberal and social democratic electorate.

Principles

Three basic values ​​can be found in all of the basic programs: the conservative attitude , the Christian orientation and the emphasis on federalism . In domestic politics, the CSU relies on a strong state that has to protect the rights and freedom of its citizens. The CSU is fundamentally skeptical of social liberalization such as the reform of citizenship law . Social and economic policy positions are characterized by socially acceptable regulations. Programmatic differences to the CDU lie mainly in the fact that the CSU is more conservative in domestic, legal and social policy and more welfare state -oriented in economic and social policy .

The basic program adopted in 2007 with the title “Opportunities for All! Shaping the future together in freedom and responsibility ”was replaced at the 2016 party conference by the new basic program“ The Order ”, developed under the leadership of Markus Blume . In it, the CSU emphasizes its claim as a people's party and the peculiarity of appearing exclusively in Bavaria. The social model is subsidiarity - “personal responsibility over common tasks” and “priority of the smaller unit over the larger one”. The new program emphasizes the Christian-social, conservative and liberal orientation of the party and focuses on “order in a world of disorder”. Both a socio-political and an economic-political component are addressed under the keywords Christian conception of man and the social market economy .

Program

Bayern plan

On July 19, 2013, a CSU party congress decided on the “Bayernplan” election program for the upcoming elections (state, federal, Europe). The party chairman Horst Seehofer highlighted some major goals: full employment in Bavaria, equal life opportunities in all parts of Bavaria, no new debts, no tax increases, "paragraph brake" and a primary school guarantee and expansion of the all-day offer. Overall, Seehofer and the CSU want a "policy of dialogue based on the principle: listen - understand - act".

Society and social policy

Marriage and the family are seen as the foundation of society and a natural way of life. Therefore, the CSU speaks out in favor of maintaining its constitutional protection.

The CSU is no longer opposed to the upgrading of other family models and ways of life ( single parents , stepfamilies and registered civil partnerships ) in its family policy part of the 2007 basic program. As a concept of reconciling family and employment, the CSU relies on the freedom of choice, according to which women and men are free to decide whether they want to devote themselves exclusively to work in the family or at work, or whether they want to combine both.

In this context, the introduction of a childcare allowance is advocated, but at the same time the party supports the establishment of crèche places. The childcare allowance is primarily intended to be paid to parents who do not send their children to a day-care center, but instead either look after their children at home or take care of their private care. Since, in the opinion of the CSU, “every human being is a creature of God”, the state is obliged to protect the right to life - both for people born and for disabled people and unborn children; Terminations of pregnancy are rejected in principle, but allowed with impunity in “serious emergencies or conflict situations” .

Furthermore, it is a concern of the CSU to upgrade child rearing for births before 1992, since three years of child rearing have been credited for the pension for children born after 1992, but only one for children born before. In the opinion of the CSU, three years of child-rearing per child are generally to be taken into account for future pensioners, regardless of whether the children were born before or after 1992.

Social policy should basically be based on the principles of justice and humanity. In view of the current problems of the social systems , the CSU wants to focus more on the individual responsibility in structural reforms of the social security systems, reduce "irrelevant tasks" of the social systems and severely punish abuse of social security systems . This is intended to secure the social market economy as an economic model in the age of globalization .

When it comes to immigration, the CSU relies on integration policy. The order of values ​​from the Basic Law, the Bavarian Constitution and the Christian-Occidental tradition are decisive for this. Parallel societies within Germany should be prevented. At the same time, the Bavarian identity should be preserved. In October 2012, Federal Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich called for asylum seekers who come from a safe country of origin to lower the cash benefits granted by the German state.

In contrast to the FDP and the Greens , the CSU is calling for the blasphemy paragraph to be tightened .

At the CSU party congress in November 2015, the delegates passed the call for a statutory full veil ban .

Education and Research

The CSU relies on the tripartite school system and justifies it in the dispute about the comprehensive schools with the good results of Bavaria in the PISA study . The multi-tier school system in Bavaria is viewed as flexible, since all secondary Bavarian schools enable their students to graduate from school and the Bavarian school system is viewed as permeable despite its multi-tier structure. The introduction of comprehensive schools in the Free State is rejected because, in the opinion of Bavaria's Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs Ludwig Spaenle (CSU), they do not sufficiently challenge high-performing students and do not sufficiently empower low-performing students. The high school was largely at the beginning of the school year 2011/2012 in Bavaria for middle school expanded. The middle schools must offer all-day courses, offer a 10th grade and give students from the 8th grade the opportunity to choose one of the three branches “Technology”, “Business” or “Social”. The opportunities for participation for children with social disadvantages and those with a migration background are to be improved. In general, the CSU strives to expand all-day offers and mobile reserves for all types of schools.

The shortening of grammar school education by one year, which was newly introduced in the 2004/2005 school year, enabled savings to be made in the education system. However, the eight-year high school is facing popular resistance, as is the reform of higher education. At Bavarian universities, tuition fees have already been due for a first degree since the summer semester 2007 . These were abolished after a referendum in 2013. The universities are to become more flexible and more efficient through the contributions, paired with a new higher education law and the introduction of the bachelor and master degrees . At the same time, the financial resources for engineering training at universities of applied sciences were noticeably reduced after the state elections in 2003. The CSU pays special attention to promoting Bavaria as a technology location ( high-tech offensive Bavaria ).

For a long time, the CSU advocated charging tuition fees , but parts of the CSU, in particular CSU chairman Horst Seehofer, were already considering their abolition in October 2012. In April 2013, the Bavarian State Parliament decided to abolish tuition fees.

European politics

The European policy of the CSU is in a tradition comparable to that of the European-friendly sister party CDU. As early as in the basic program of 1946, the CSU spoke of a “European confederation for the preservation and continuation of Christian-Western culture”. In 1957 the CSU spoke out in favor of the United States of Europe . In 1976 the CSU demanded a European federal state . The positioning of European policy in the last basic program is more general: “Commitment to the EU while maintaining transparency of decisions, efficiency in cooperation between institutions and democratization of decision-making processes”. Constants of the European policy of the CSU are, besides the emphasis on the Christian heritage, the demand for a Europe of the regions and the strengthening of the subsidiarity principle . Edmund Stoiber's departure from the federal principle brought about an open conflict , which contradicted the then Federal Minister of Finance Theo Waigel . The “realistic European course” propagated by Stoiber continues today in a continuous criticism of Europe, which is also directed against its own sister party. In the literature it is discussed whether these positions primarily serve to delimit oneself domestically or to depict an actual programmatic change in values.

With regard to Greece remaining in the euro zone , the Bavarian Finance Minister Markus Söder (CSU) demanded that Greece leave the euro zone by the end of 2012. The then CSU General Secretary Alexander Dobrindt expressed himself with the words: “I am convinced that there is no way around Greece's exit from the Eurozone.” On this issue there is also a conflict with the sister party CDU, which favors Greece remaining in the Eurozone . At the CSU party congress on 7./8. In October 2011 in Nuremberg, the CSU position decided that euro states that do not adhere to the common rules of budget discipline and thereby cause difficulties for themselves and the monetary union must expect to leave the monetary union. However, as EU states, they should receive help with financial restructuring. The mutualisation of the debts of the euro states through so-called euro bonds and the creation of a community of liability is rejected. The party also advocates consistent implementation of the debt brake and full implementation of the Lisbon Treaty . The CSU also advocates a reform of voting rights in the European Central Bank . In this context, an increase in Germany's voting weight is called for.

Administration and public service

With a comprehensive administrative reform called "Verwaltung 21", the CSU wants to streamline the state administration and make it more efficient. This should relieve the budget by around 300 million euros annually in the long term and use the resulting financial leeway for future investments. Practically all parts of the state administration are affected by the administrative reform and are partially reorganized. By dismantling regulations, the state is supposed to be less bureaucratic and thus also to save personnel in the long term. The CSU has a positive view of the planned reform of civil service law (simplification of pay, opportunities for lateral entry, performance-related salary components).

Environmental and consumer protection

As a ruling party, the CSU set up Europe's first environment ministry in the Bavarian state government in 1970. In terms of environmental policy, the CSU follows the so-called "Bavarian way" of cooperative environmental protection. a. is reflected in the “Bavarian Environment Pact”.

Up until the beginning of 2011, the CSU refused to phase out nuclear power and advocated the use of nuclear power ; In 2010, in the Black-Yellow coalition, it helped to extend the service life of German nuclear power plants . After the Fukushima nuclear disaster , this longstanding position was given up. The CSU is now striving to end the use of nuclear power “as quickly as reasonably possible”. The phase out from the use of nuclear energy is to be achieved by 2022 at the latest. The party is also aiming for 50% of electricity in Bavaria to come from renewable energy sources by 2020 . The accelerated phase-out of nuclear energy is seen as a great challenge, but the party also emphasizes that the CSU believes the future belongs to ecological technologies. The ecological tax is rejected in principle, but the demand for abolition has been dispensed with since the 2005 election program. Bavaria has been investing increasingly in flood and climate policy for several years.

In drug policy , the CSU speaks out against the release of illegal drugs and advocates a repressive-prohibitionist approach.

Budgetary policy

In the 2006 budget year, the CSU was the first federal state in Bavaria to submit a budget without new debt. This has been achieved primarily through rigorous spending cuts by all ministries. 2003/2004 was u. a. a comprehensive structural reform of the Bavarian state administration and an extension of working hours in the public service decided. There is a demand for a reform of the state financial equalization system , which the CSU has often been able to correct in favor of Bavaria through constitutional complaints from the state of Bavaria.

Transport policy

The CSU rejects the introduction of a general speed limit on German motorways.

In May 2013, the party demanded the introduction of a car toll in Germany for travelers from abroad, which led to a conflict with the CDU, which rejected the proposal. It was finally introduced under the name of the infrastructure charge on January 1, 2016, but will only be levied when the technical prerequisites are in place (probably 2020/2021).

Domestic politics

In the border security regime, the CSU advocates the hypothesis of limiting illegal migration through a nominal upper limit for the open system according to the Schengen agreements .

Party politics

Coalitions

At the federal level, the CSU is a member of the coalition of CDU, CSU and SPD and supports the positions that were negotiated in the coalition agreement.

Relationship to the CDU

→ Main article : Union parties

After the Second World War , Christian social and Christian democratic groups formed throughout Germany. Many of them joined together to form state associations, which in all countries except Bavaria were eventually given the name Christian Democratic Union. Even when the CDU federal party was founded in 1950, the CSU did not join in, but remained organizationally independent and active in federal politics.

The relationship between the CDU and CSU was not always unproblematic. As part of the idea of ​​a fourth party , so-called CSU circles of friends were founded outside Bavaria in the mid-1970s , which could have quickly set up local associations if a decision had been made to expand the CSU as the fourth party to the entire Federal Republic. In 1975 the Action Group Fourth Party was founded without the participation of the CSU . After the federal election in 1976 , the confrontation culminated in the Kreuther decision to break up , which was ultimately not carried out . After Strauss's election defeat and the change of government in 1982, the idea of ​​the Fourth Party was finally abandoned, as the change in power had become possible through cooperation with the FDP and the circles of friends largely dissolved.

A new conflict arose in the context of the refugee crisis in Germany in 2015/2016 and the dispute over an upper limit for refugees, which the CSU demanded but was rejected by the CDU federal chairman Angela Merkel. Therefore, the debate about a nationwide expansion of the CSU flared up again. In 2016, Merkel stayed away from the CSU party congress for the first time in years.

Relationship to the DSU

After the fall of the Berlin Wall on January 20, 1990, around a dozen liberal-conservative and Christian parties in Leipzig formed the German Social Union (DSU). The CSU supported this establishment and worked with it, as it was interested in another regionally anchored sister party in East Germany. One reason for this was the positioning of the East German CDU in the ecclesiastical and confessional area, which the CSU viewed as being further left politically. For the Volkskammer election on March 18, 1990 , she entered the Alliance for Germany together with the CDU and the Democratic Awakening and won the elections. However, under pressure from the CDU, the CSU ended its cooperation with the DSU when it was planning to expand to all of Germany.

European connections

Together with ten other European Christian-Democratic and conservative-bourgeois parties, the CSU founded the European People's Party (EPP) on July 8, 1976 . The CSU is also a member of the European Movement Network .

International connections

Together with 18 other parties from the bourgeois spectrum, the CSU founded the International Democratic Union on June 24, 1983 . Franz Josef Strauss was one of its founding signatories and founding vice-presidents.

organization

The CSU is only organized in the Free State of Bavaria and only stands for election there. At the federal level, it forms a parliamentary group in the German Bundestag with its sister party, the CDU .

Party congress and party committee

→ Main article : List of CSU party conventions

Party conference 2014 in Nuremberg

The highest organ at the state level is the party congress (state assembly until 1968). The party congress meets at least once a year and consists of the delegates from the district and district associations. There is one delegate for every 170 members, which is comparatively low in a German comparison of parties.

The tasks of the party congress are in particular to pass resolutions on the basic lines of party politics, the party program and the statutes, as well as the election and control of functionaries at state level.

Between 1955 and 1999, the CSU held its party congresses mainly in Munich. Since then, they have mostly alternated between Munich ( Old Bavaria ) and Nuremberg ( Franconia ), and occasionally also in Augsburg ( Swabia ).

The party committee as a “small party congress” usually meets once a year in spring.

Party executive

The 50-member executive committee, headed by the chairman, is responsible for representing the party externally and dealing with urgent political problems and organizational issues. The board continues to have five deputy chairmen, two treasurers and two secretaries. In addition, 32 other elected members and seven members by virtue of office are on the party executive committee. Then there are the three honorary chairmen.

Chairman	Markus Söder
vice-chairman	Dorothee Bär , Martin Sailer , Melanie Huml , Angelika Niebler , Manfred Weber
Treasurer	Thomas Bauer , Angelika Schorer
Secretary	Franz Meyer , Susanne Plank
Chair of the district associations	Ilse Aigner , Gerhard Eck , Markus Ferber , Hans-Peter Friedrich , Albert Füracker , Joachim Herrmann , Johannes Hintersberger , Andreas Scheuer , Ludwig Spaenle
Other members	Katrin Albsteiger , Gabriele Bauer , Winfried Bausback , Reinhard Brandl , Matthias Dießl , Florian Herrmann , Barbara Lanzinger , Silke Launert , Paul Linsmaier , Franz Löffler , Daniela Ludwig , Stephan Mayer , Beate Merk , Marlene Mortler , Gerd Müller , Franz Josef Pschierer , Christian Schmidt , Martin Schöffel , Sylvia Stierstorfer , Siegfried Walch , Anja Weisgerber , Emmi Zeulner , Gudrun Zollner
Members by virtue of office	Markus Blume (General Secretary), Alexander Dobrindt (Chairman of the CSU regional group in the German Bundestag), Thomas Kreuzer (Chairman of the CSU parliamentary group in the Bavarian State Parliament), Thomas Goppel (regional chairman of the Seniors' Union), Franz Josef Pschierer (regional chairman of the SME Union), Bernd Posselt (state chairman of the Union of Expellees), Hans Reichhart (state chairman of the Junge Union), Stefan Rößle (state chairman of the local government association), Tobias Schmid (chief executive), Volker Ullrich (state chairman of the workers' union)
Honorary Chairwoman	Horst Seehofer , Edmund Stoiber , Theo Waigel

Bureau

The handling of current business and questions of economic activity of the party is the task of the presidium of the party, which includes the party chairman and his deputies, the general secretary, the treasurers and secretaries as well as the general manager and the chairman of the finance commission, seven members elected by the board. The presidium is considered to be the closest leadership circle of the CSU.

Country management

The party-internal administration and organization is incumbent on the so-called state management, which has its seat in the Franz-Josef-Strauss-Haus in Munich. It is led by the General Secretary (since March 14, 2018 Markus Blume ), his deputy (since January 2019 Florian Hahn ) and the General Manager (since January 2019 Carolin Schumacher ).

The Christian Social Union in Bavaria e. V. is the publisher of the monthly magazine Bayernkurier . The Hanns Seidel Foundation is close to the CSU.

Regional breakdown

Regionally, the CSU is subdivided into ten district associations, 105 district associations and almost 3,000 local associations.

District Association	Chairman		Taking office
augsburg		Volker Ullrich	2019
Middle Franconia		Joachim Herrmann	2001
Munich		Ludwig Spaenle	2011
Lower Bavaria		Andreas Scheuer	2016
Nuremberg - Fürth - Schwabach		Michael Frieser	2018
Upper Bavaria		Ilse Aigner	2011
Upper Franconia		Hans-Peter Friedrich	2011
Upper Palatinate		Albert Füracker	2015
Swabia		Markus Ferber	2005
Lower Franconia		Gerhard Eck	2011

Content classification

Eight working groups, twelve working groups, four commissions and three forums develop content-related and strategic positions on CSU policy. In addition, there are structures in place with the CSU academy and the PR academy that serve to promote young political talents and disseminate knowledge for marketing the party on site.

Outside of the party are the Student Union (SU) and the Ring of Christian Democratic Students (RCDS), an association of university groups closely related to the Union .

Working group	State Presidency
Young Union (JU)	Christian Doleschal
Women's Union (FU)	Ulrike Scharf
Workers Union (CSA)	Volker Ullrich
Food, Agriculture and Forestry (ELF)	Marlene Mortler
Local Political Association (KPV)	Stefan Roessle
Mittelstands-Union (MU)	Franz Josef Pschierer
Union of Displaced Persons (UdV)	Bernd Posselt
Seniors Union (SEN)	Thomas Goppel

Working group	State Presidency
Foreign and Security Policy (ASP)	Florian Hahn
Environmental protection and regional development (AKU)	Martin Huber
School, Education and Sport (AKS)	Otto Lederer
University and Culture (AKH)	Oliver Jörg
Evangelical Working Group (EAK)	Christian Schmidt
Police and Internal Security (POL)	Gerhard Eck
Public Service (OeD)	Gerhard Waschler
Lawyers (AKJ)	Thomas Kreuzer
Health Policy Working Group (GPA)	Christian Alex
Energy transition (AKE)	Martin Ehrenhuber
CSUnet	Dorothee Bear
Migration and Integration (AK MIG)	Ozan Iyibas

Commission	Chair
Media commission	Florian Herrmann
Family Commission	Thomas Huber
Film commission	Judith Gerlach
Transport Commission	Daniela Ludwig

Forum	speaker
Discussion group Christ Social Catholics (CSK)	Thomas Goppel
Jewish Forum in the Union	André Freud and Ludwig Spaenle
People with disabilities	Benedict Lika

Members

With around 140,000 members, the CSU is the third largest party in Germany and has more than twice as many members as the smaller parties Greens, FDP or Die Linke (as of the end of 2017). In 1953 the party still had fewer than 33,000 members, compared to 186,000 in 1990. Since then, it has lost almost a quarter of its members.

At the end of 2016, 1.3% of the Bavarian population over the age of 16 were members of the party. Only the Saarland state associations of the CDU and SPD achieve a higher ability to recruit. The proportion of women is 20%. Three quarters of the members are Catholic.

Finances

Income of the CSU in 2017	Amount in euros	Share in percent
State funds	11,779,090.46	27.16
Membership fees	10,332,618.00	23.82
Mandate holder contributions and similar regular contributions	3,672,742.36	8.47
Donations from natural persons	5,440,941.90	12.55
Events, distribution of pamphlets and publications and other income-related activities	6,266,935.69	14.45
Donations from legal entities	4,406,871.48	10.16
Income from other property	1,221,150.10	2.82
Other revenue	248,543.95	0.57
Income from business activities and investments	0.00	0.00
total	≈ 43,368,894	100

In 2017, the CSU had revenues of 43.4 million euros, 23 percent of which came from donations, 24 percent from membership fees and 27 percent from state funds. (see also: party financing )

Donations from Substantia AG

The CSU has received large donations from Substantia AG on several occasions, including in 2008, the Finck family of which is also the majority owner of the hotel-operating Mövenpick Group. Critics made a connection to the VAT reduction for the accommodation industry as part of the Growth Acceleration Act 2009.

history

Foundation and years of development

In the summer of 1945, Christian conservative groups formed at the municipal level that wanted to create a counterweight to the SPD and KPD . The new Christian, interdenominational party was supposed to remedy the shortcomings of the Catholic-dominated Center Party and, in Bavaria from 1920, of the independent Bavarian People's Party, as with the entire Union .

The centers of the unification of the regional groupings to form an all-Bavarian party were the Munich group around Karl Scharnagl , "Ochsensepp" Josef Müller and Joseph Baumgartner, and the Würzburg group around District President Adam Stegerwald .

Alois Hundhammer , first CSU parliamentary group leader, with his grandson

It is difficult to give a founding date of the party. August 21, 1945, the day Adam Stegerwald gave his speech in Würzburg, Where are we? Had kept. On September 12, 1945, a decision was made to found a "Bavarian Christian Social Union" in Munich, which was formally carried out on October 11. The CSU was founded on October 12, 1945 in Coburg, and on October 13 (licensed on November 3), 1945 in Würzburg . On December 17, 1945, the provisional state committee elected Josef Müller as acting chairman. The Bavarian founding assembly took place on January 8, 1946; On December 14th and 15th, 1946, the second state assembly passed the first basic program and confirmed the hitherto provisional party chairman Josef Müller in his office. Unlike the Christian conservative parties in the other federal states, which merged to form the CDU in 1950, the CSU remained independent and organizationally limited to Bavaria, analogous to the Bavarian People's Party in the Weimar Republic. It rejected the all-German claim to leadership first of the Berlin CDU, then the CDU in the British zone of occupation under Konrad Adenauer .

The founding years were marked by the struggle for the party's programmatic direction. A Christian-liberal group around Müller and Scharnagl faced Catholic-conservative members from the former BVP ( Fritz Schäffer , Alois Hundhammer ). Initially, the separatist Bavarian party competed for the same electorate as the CSU, as both parties saw and presented themselves as successors to the BVP. The CSU was ultimately able to win this power struggle. On the one hand, the CSU succeeded in bringing the reconciliatory wing of the BP back to the CSU through a pragmatic course between tradition and modernization. On the other hand, at the end of the 1950s, BP was involved in the " casino affair " under dubious circumstances and, among other things, lost a lot of its reputation and votes. In the state elections in 1966 she left the state parliament for good.

History of the CSU in Bavaria

In the election for the Bavarian State Constituent Assembly on June 30, 1946, the first state-wide post-war election , the CSU received 58.3 percent of the vote and thus won 109 of the 180 seats in the assembly. Since the first state election in Bavaria in December 1946, the party has appointed the state's prime minister except for the reign of Wilhelm Hoegner ( SPD , 1954–1957) . With the exception of the state elections on November 26, 1950 , the CSU was always the party with the highest number of votes.

The Bavarian Prime Minister Hans Ehard (right) in the Bonn State Representation in 1962

In the 1946 state election , the CSU won an absolute majority with 52.3 percent. Nevertheless, it formed a coalition with the SPD and WAV , as it was believed that a viable majority was not secured due to the ongoing fighting within the party. Hans Ehard became prime minister (and not the party chairman Josef Müller); a candidate acceptable to both wings was thus elected to office. The coalition broke up again in September 1947, as the CSU and SPD were increasingly alienating each other ideologically and politically. The CSU continued to run the government on its own, but suffered a serious defeat in the state elections of November 26, 1950 : it only achieved 27.4 percent and only one seat more than the SPD, which won 28 percent more votes. The background to this was the dispute between the CSU and the Bavarian Party , which was running for the first time and won 17.9 percent of the votes that had previously been mainly attributable to the CSU - as well as the BHE's first candidacy . However, Hans Ehard, who formed a coalition of CSU, SPD and BHE, remained Prime Minister.

After the election of November 28, 1954 , the CSU had to join the opposition for the first time and to date only. Although she was able to increase her result by 38 percent, the negotiations with the previous SPD coalition partner failed, who then took over the leadership of a four-party coalition made up of the SPD, BP, BHE and FDP and elected Wilhelm Hoegner as prime minister. The CSU tried out of the opposition to break up the coalition and finally achieved the withdrawal of the FDP and the BHE from the coalition in 1957. As a result, the CSU chairman Hanns Seidel formed a coalition of the CSU, BHE and FDP, which was confirmed in the state elections in 1958 .

In 1959, the CSU hit a decisive blow against the rival Bavarian party . On August 8, in the so-called " casino affair ", high-ranking officials of the BP were sentenced to considerable penal sentences for making false statements on oath . Even the former CSU Prime Minister and CSU Justice Minister Hans Ehard later called this judgment “a barbaric judgment”. Because: “The two politicians in the committee of inquiry were made to swear by them on trivial matters. In comparison, it doesn't really matter whether someone wore yellow boots or red ones. ”The CSU had previously collected incriminating material against the BP and was involved in the opaque and, for the CSU, favorable exposure of the case. The witness Lorenz Rainer reported under oath about a conversation between the casino candidate Karl Freisehner and the then CSU general secretary Friedrich Zimmermann, which he overheard in a Salzburg hotel in 1958: Zimmermann had promised the freeman at that time roulette concessions, if he had one Voluntary disclosure burden the Bavarian party leaders. The then CSU general secretary Friedrich Zimmermann was also convicted of perjury in the first instance a short time later , but this judgment was overturned in the second instance because Zimmermann had a blackout due to hypoglycaemia in the decisive phase of his testimony against the Bavarian party, according to an expert who was added later . In its overall assessment of the hearing, however, the court stated: "There can be no question of the defendant's innocence being proven ...". According to SPIEGEL, Zimmermann himself commented on the expert: "He was named by my defense, I saw him for the first time in the courtroom." Zimmermann was therefore nicknamed "Old Oath Hand", which haunted him all his life.

In 1960, Hanns Seidel for health reasons and his successor Hans Ehard was re-elected, then his office after winning an absolute majority in the elections of November 25, 1962 at Alfons Goppel gave. From 1962 to 2008 the CSU held the absolute majority of the seats in the Bavarian state parliament . Numerous affairs such as B. the Spiegel affair or the Munich CSU affair could not do anything to the popularity of the CSU. In the election of October 27, 1974 , Goppel achieved 62.1 percent of the vote, the CSU's best result in state elections to date.

Franz Josef Strauss 1987

In 1978, Franz Josef Strauss moved from Bonn to Munich as Prime Minister and stayed that way until his death in 1988.

After Strauss's death, a double leadership followed within the party: Max Streibl was elected Bavarian Prime Minister, Theo Waigel was elected the new party chairman. German reunification took place during Streibl's reign, followed by the “Munich Declaration” in 1990: At the first conference of prime ministers of all 16 German states since 1947, the prime ministers spoke out clearly in favor of the federalist principle of the Federal Republic. On May 27, 1993, Streibl resigned because of the so-called " Amigo Affair " , pushed by leading CSU members . The new Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber , who prevailed over Theo Waigel in the struggle for successor, received 52.8 percent of the vote in the state elections in September 1994 . In the 1990s, the CSU under Stoiber pursued the goal of using the extensive privatization proceeds to develop Bavaria into a so-called “high-tech location” in the “Future Bavaria Offensive” and the “High-Tech-Offensive Bavaria” .

In the state elections in 2003 , the CSU was the only party in the Federal Republic of Germany to win a two-thirds majority of the seats with 60.7 percent of the vote . A rigorous austerity policy, the introduction of the eight-year grammar school (shortened education course - G8) and a reform of the higher education law with the associated introduction of tuition fees were key points of the CSU policy at the time and sometimes led to massive protests in Bavaria.

In the state elections in Bavaria on September 28, 2008 , the CSU lost 17.3 percent of the vote and for the first time since 1962 no longer achieved an absolute majority in a state election. The CSU chairman Erwin Huber announced on September 30, 2008 that he would resign on October 25, 2008. In the absence of support from the CSU parliamentary group, Prime Minister Beckstein resigned the following day . At the special party convention of the CSU on October 25, 2008, Horst Seehofer was elected to succeed Erwin Huber. Seehofer was also elected Prime Minister in the Bavarian state parliament on October 27th, who subsequently headed a coalition of CSU and FDP. In autumn 2012, as a result of the CSU media affair in 2012, party spokesman Hans Michael Strepp resigned after he had previously tried to influence ZDF reporting . A little later it became known that Markus Söder had also intervened several times at ZDF during his time as General Secretary. His spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Environment, Ulrike Strauss, did the same for Bayerischer Rundfunk in 2011 .

In the state elections in Bavaria in 2013 , the CSU again achieved an absolute majority of the seats with 47.7 percent of the vote.

The CSU at the federal level

The history of the CSU at federal level is shaped by its striving for independence within the framework of the Union parties. Already in the first post-war years it became clear that the Bavarian Union Party did not want to fit into a Germany-wide organizational structure and claimed a strong role beyond Bavaria.

At a meeting of Union politicians on April 3, 1946 in Stuttgart, the CSU, represented by Josef Müller , rejected the CDU's claim to leadership, and at the Union's first federal party conference on October 20, 1950 in Goslar, the CSU did not join as it did the other Christian-Democratic state parties of West Germany and West Berlin merged to form the CDU of Germany. It thus stood in the tradition of the Bavarian People's Party , which had broken away from the mother party, the Center , in 1918 , and remained limited to Bavaria until its dissolution and acted independently at the Reich level.

From the beginning, the CSU worked in the “Working Group CDU / CSU Germany” and also asserted claims beyond Bavaria: In the newly established head office of the Bizone , it filled the two director posts for postal and telecommunications ( Hans Schuberth ) and economics ( Johannes Semler ). The CSU politician Anton Pfeiffer took over the chairmanship of the Constitutional Convention of Herrenchiemsee and the Union faction in the Parliamentary Council . Although the CSU had a massive impact on the federal basis of the Basic Law through the Bavarian state government , after a 15-hour debate, the Bavarian state parliament was the only state parliament to reject the Basic Law as too federal and hindering the states with 101: 63 votes and 9 abstentions. In a separate resolution, the legally binding nature of the Basic Law was recognized with 97: 6 votes with 70 abstentions, if two thirds of the federal states accepted it.

The first federal election in 1949 ended in a fiasco for the CSU. It received only 29.2 percent of the vote in Bavaria and had to give up a large part of its supporters to the BP. Nevertheless, the CSU was represented in the first cabinet of Adenauer with the three ministers Fritz Schäffer (finance), Wilhelm Niklas (agriculture and nutrition) and Hans Schuberth (post and telecommunications) . The members of the CSU together with the members of the CDU formed a parliamentary group , the still existing CDU / CSU parliamentary group . One day before the Union parliamentary group was constituted, the 24 MPs founded the CSU regional group to represent Bavarian interests. As in the state elections, the CSU again gained votes from 1953 and was able to regularly win an absolute majority in federal elections in Bavaria. The CSU was represented by federal ministers, sometimes disproportionately, at all federal governments led by the Union.

Formative for the history of the CSU at the federal level was Franz Josef Strauss , deputy chairman of the regional group since 1949 and from 1953 in various ministerial offices ( special tasks , nuclear issues, defense). Strauss was finance minister in the grand coalition of Kurt Georg Kiesinger . After the change of government in 1969, the CSU distinguished itself under his leadership as the more conservative wing within the Union faction. Visible expression of this was the lawsuit initiated by the Free State of Bavaria against the basic treaty and the decision to separate from Wildbad Kreuth : the CSU regional group decided on November 19, 1976 not to continue the faction community with the CDU. Official reasons for this were more effective opposition work and more speaking time in parliament.

Bundestag election campaign 1976: Rally in Munich with Franz Josef Strauss (at the microphone), on the left the Bavarian Prime Minister Alfons Goppel

Behind the scenes, however, the CSU was annoyed that the Union could not replace the SPD in the recent Bundestag election despite a 60% result for the CSU in Bavaria. The relationship with the FDP and considerations about a strategic reorganization of the party landscape also led to tensions: In order to secure a majority for the bourgeois camp again in the medium term, the CSU in particular (again) was considering organizing the CSU nationwide . As a “ fourth party ”, a conservative CSU would address a different potential of voters in the Federal Republic than a more liberal CDU. The CDU, on the other hand, opposed these plans for fear of losing votes. After tough negotiations, the CSU withdrew the Kreuther decision on December 12, but emerged significantly stronger from the conflict and won the nomination of its chairman Strauss as candidate for chancellor for the 1980 federal election . Strauss, who was highly controversial because of his conservative views and political past, was unable to prevail against incumbent Helmut Schmidt in a highly polarizing election campaign , although the Union was again the strongest force despite losses. While the CSU was able to maintain its result of 1976, the CDU lost almost four percentage points.

From 1982 to 1998, the CSU was always represented in Helmut Kohl's cabinets by four to six federal ministers, including Friedrich Zimmermann , Theo Waigel and Horst Seehofer. After the defeat in the 1998 Bundestag election , in which the CSU in Bavaria fell below 50 percent of the vote for the first time since 1953, Theo Waigel resigned as chairman and the Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber was elected as his successor as party chairman. In 1999 the CSU and CDU initiated a signature campaign against the reform of German citizenship law , in which the right of descent should be supplemented by elements of the ius soli , and with this vehemently criticized action achieved the first election victory in Hesse after the lost federal election.

Edmund Stoiber at an election campaign event in Würzburg (2005)

Under the chairmanship of Edmund Stoiber , the influence of the CSU in the Union increased sharply again and in 2002 Stoiber was nominated as the Union's candidate for Chancellor. Unlike Strauss in 1980, Stoiber had the entire Union behind him, but failed despite a gain in votes for the Union against Gerhard Schröder because, like Strauss, he had difficulties mobilizing the voters in eastern and northern Germany.

Michael Glos (2005)

In the early federal elections in 2005 , the CSU in Bavaria had to accept significant losses, which, however, are primarily due to a high proportion of loan votes for the FDP , which more than doubled its election result in Bavaria. It lost 9.3 percent and came to 49.3 percent. In order to maintain the weight of the CSU in the planned grand coalition under Angela Merkel and to signal the support of the CSU, Edmund Stoiber should move to Berlin as Federal Minister of a newly created Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology . Interior Minister Günther Beckstein and State Chancellor Erwin Huber applied for his successor in Bavaria.

Former Federal Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (2006)

Edmund Stoiber took the announcement of the SPD party chairman Franz Müntefering that he no longer wanted to run for the SPD chairmanship as an opportunity to withdraw his commitment as minister in the federal cabinet under Merkel and thus trigger a temporary internal party crisis. The focus of the criticism was the demand for a more intensive internal party discussion of central issues. Stoiber reacted to this, among other things, with the plan to "update" the basic program from 1993. The post of Federal Minister for Economics and Technology originally intended for Stoiber has now been filled by the long-standing CSU regional group leader Michael Glos. Horst Seehofer became Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection .

On January 18, 2007, Edmund Stoiber announced his resignation from the offices of CSU party chairman and Bavarian Prime Minister for the beginning of October 2007. His former deputy Günther Beckstein succeeded him as Prime Minister , while Erwin Huber , Horst Seehofer and Gabriele Pauli were candidates for party chairmanship . The favorite, Erwin Huber, won the election at the party congress on September 29, 2007 with 58.19 percent.

The loss of the absolute majority of the CSU in the state elections in Bavaria in 2008 caused both Erwin Huber and Günther Beckstein to resign from their offices. Horst Seehofer subsequently took over the chairmanship of the CSU and was elected Bavarian Prime Minister. His successor in the office of Minister of Agriculture was Ilse Aigner. After Michael Glos resigned as Federal Minister of Economics, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg became his successor on February 10, 2009 .

One of the main campaign topics of the CSU for the 2009 Bundestag election was the lowering of the VAT rate for overnight stays in hotels. Horst Seehofer promised to only sign a coalition agreement in which the hotel tax would be reduced.

After the federal election in 2009 , the Union parties formed a coalition with the FDP, in which three ministries were taken over by the CSU. Since the Federal Ministry of Economics went to the FDP, Guttenberg took over the Federal Ministry of Defense . As defense minister, he initiated a series of measures aimed at reforming the German armed forces, including the suspension of compulsory military service, voluntary military service and a reduction in the number of troops. However, Guttenberg resigned from the office of Federal Defense Minister on March 1, 2011 because of the plagiarism affair surrounding his doctoral thesis . On March 3, 2011 Guttenberg was dismissed by Federal President Christian Wulff . While the office of Federal Defense Minister was taken over by the CDU politician Thomas de Maizière , the CSU provided the Federal Minister of the Interior with the former CSU regional group leader Hans-Peter Friedrich until the end of the legislative period .

The CSU top candidate Gerda Hasselfeldt (2013)

In the 2013 federal election , Gerda Hasselfeldt was the first woman to be a top candidate for the CSU.

In 2016 it was discussed again whether the CSU should compete nationwide. Christoph Schwennicke wrote for Cicero that if the CSU could no longer support Angela Merkel's course in refugee policy, it should leave the coalition or join nationwide. After the three state elections on March 13, 2016 ( Baden-Württemberg , Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt ), party leader Horst Seehofer rejected this to the Passauer Neue Presse in principle, but not forever: “It is still 'right if we do do not expand nationwide, but instead have an impact on the CDU [...]. That remains our strategy. But nobody can give eternity guarantees. '"

In the 2017 federal election, the CSU achieved the worst result since 1949 and lost more than ten percentage points. She lost the majority of the votes against the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) founded in 2013 , which positioned itself to the right of the CSU. The AfD also moved into the Bundestag with 12.6%, which is the first time since 1949 that a right-wing party is represented in the Bundestag. Horst Seehofer announced on the evening of the election that the CSU would again concentrate more on conservative values ​​in order to be able to close the "right flank" that was caused by the AfD.

Current federal cabinet members of the CSU

Surname		Office		Beginning of the term of office	Parl. State Secretary or Minister of State
	Horst Seehofer		Federal Minister of the Interior, for Building and Home Affairs	March 14, 2018	Günter Krings (CDU) Marco Wanderwitz (CDU) Stephan Mayer (CSU)
	Andreas Scheuer		Federal Minister for Transport and Digital Infrastructure	March 14, 2018	Steffen Bilger (CDU) Enak Ferlemann (CDU)
	Gerd Müller		Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development	17th December 2013	Norbert Barthle (CDU) Maria Flachsbarth (CDU)

European group

Ingo Friedrich (2008), former Deputy CSU Chairman and former Vice President of the European Parliament

Since the first direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979, the CSU has always been represented by five to ten members and, except in 1989, always achieved an absolute majority in Bavaria. From 1987 to 1995 Peter Schmidhuber was a member of three European commissions (Delors I- III ) under Jacques Delors , responsible for regional policy and market economy and, since January 1989, also for budgetary control.

In order to adequately secure the influence of the federal states, the CSU and with it the Bavarian state government campaigned massively in 1992 to create the later Committee of the Regions and appointed its general secretary. In the 2004 European elections , she and her top candidate Ingo Friedrich , Vice President of the European Parliament , won 57.4% of the vote and provided nine of eleven Bavarian MEPs. One of the main campaign topics was Turkey's rejection of full EU membership . Also in 2004, Edmund Stoiber was brought up for discussion by Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schröder as the successor to EU Commission President Romano Prodi . However, Stoiber decided against moving to Brussels.

As one of the ten largest groups, the CSU, together with the CDU, exerts a strong influence in the EPP parliamentary group. With Manfred Weber, she provides the parliamentary group chairman and top candidate for the 2019 European elections and with Albert Deß the spokesman for agricultural policy. Angelika Niebler is the chairwoman of the CSU Europe group in the European Parliament.

CSU groups outside of Bavaria

Saarland

In the mid-fifties, in Saarland, which was not yet part of the Federal Republic of Germany, an association called CSU-Saar (CSU-S) was formed without the participation of Bavaria . In the state elections in 1955, it only reached 0.6 percent.

After the integration of the Saarland into the Federal Republic of Germany, the Christian People's Party of the Saarland (CVP), which had spoken out against accession, started negotiations with the Bavarian CSU. As a result, on July 6, 1957, a kind of CSU regional association was formed from the CVP and the CSU Saar. In the Bundestag election in 1957 , the Saarland CSU achieved 21%, which led to two seats in the German Bundestag through a list connection with the Bavarian CSU . The CVP parliamentary group in the Saarland state parliament renamed itself the CSU parliamentary group.

At the end of 1959 the CSU / CVP was dissolved. After a framework agreement with the CDU-Saar on November 30, 1958, the members could change to the CDU-Saar until September 1959. A minority founded the Saarland People's Party (SVP) because they did not want to join the CDU Saar.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

In the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 1990 , a CSU association that was independent of the Bavarian CSU ran. With a result of 1.1%, he did not succeed in entering the state parliament.

Personalities

Party leader

• 

  Josef Müller
  1945 to 1949

• 

  Hans Ehard
  1949 to 1955

• 

  Hanns Seidel
  1955 to 1961

• 

  Franz Josef Strauss
  1961 to 1988

• 

  Theo Waigel
  1988 to 1999

• 

  Edmund Stoiber
  1999 to 2007

• 

  Erwin Huber
  2007 to 2008

• 

  Horst Seehofer
  2008 to 2019

• 

  Markus Söder
  since 2019

General Secretaries

• 

  Franz Josef Strauss
  1949 to 1952

• 

  Josef Brunner
  1952 to 1954

• 

  Heinz Lechmann
  1954 to 1955
  (provisional)

• 

  Friedrich Zimmermann
  1956 to 1963

• 

  Anton Jaumann
  1963 to 1967

• 

  Max Streibl
  1967 to 1971

• 

  Gerold Tandler
  1971 to 1978 and
  1983 to 1988

• 

  Edmund Stoiber
  1978 to 1983

• 

  Otto Wiesheu
  1983

• 

  Erwin Huber
  1988 to 1994

• 

  Bernd Protzner
  1995 to 1998

• 

  Thomas Goppel
  1999 to 2003

• 

  Markus Söder
  2003 to 2007

• 

  Christine Haderthauer
  2007 to 2008

• 

  Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg
  2008 to 2009

• 

  Alexander Dobrindt
  2009 to 2013

• 

  Andreas Scheuer
  2013 to 2018

• 

  Markus Blume
  since 2018

Chairmen of parliamentary groups

Chairwoman of the parliamentary group in the Bavarian state parliament Surname Beginning of the term of office Term expires Alois Hundhammer July 17, 1946 August 8, 1951 Georg Meixner August 8, 1951 3rd December 1958 Franz Heubl 3rd December 1958 December 10, 1962 Ludwig Huber December 10, 1962 March 15, 1972 Alfred Seidl March 15, 1972 November 1974 August Lang November 1974 October 1982 Gerold Tandler October 1982 17th June 1988 Alois luck 17th June 1988 October 6, 2003 Joachim Herrmann October 6, 2003 October 17, 2007 Georg Schmid October 17, 2007 April 25, 2013 Christa Stewens April 26, 2013 2nd October 2013 Thomas Kreuzer 2nd October 2013 officiating

Chair of the regional group in the German Bundestag Surname Beginning of the term of office Term expires Fritz Schäffer August 30, 1949 September 13, 1953 Franz Josef Strauss September 13, 1953 October 9, 1957 Hermann Höcherl October 29, 1957 November 14, 1961 Werner Dollinger November 14, 1961 January 22, 1963 Franz Josef Strauss January 22, 1963 January 19, 1967 Richard Stücklen January 19, 1967 November 15, 1976 Friedrich Zimmermann November 15, 1976 4th October 1982 Theo Waigel 4th October 1982 April 25, 1989 Wolfgang Bötsch April 25, 1989 January 22, 1993 Michael Glos January 22, 1993 November 21, 2005 Peter Ramsauer November 21, 2005 October 28, 2009 Hans-Peter Friedrich October 28, 2009 March 3, 2011 Gerda Hasselfeldt March 14, 2011 26th September 2017 Alexander Dobrindt 26th September 2017 officiating

Chair of the group in the European Parliament Surname Term of office Alfons Goppel 1979-1984 Fritz Pirkl 1984-1992 Ingo Friedrich 1992-1999 Markus Ferber 1999-2014 Angelika Niebler since 2014

Election results

Bundestag elections since 1949

Nationwide CSU second vote results in federal elections. The fall of 1990 is due to reunification.

Bundestag election results
year	Number of votes	Share of votes in the federal territory	Share of votes in Bavaria	Seats	Top candidate
1949	1,380,448	5.8%	29.2%	24/402	Hanns Seidel
1953	2,427,387	8.8%	47.8%	52/487	Fritz Schäffer
1957	3,133,060 1	10.5%	57.2%	55/497
1961	3,014,471	9.6%	54.9%	50/499	Franz Josef Strauss 2
1965	3,136,506	9.6%	55.6%	49/496
1969	3,115,652	9.5%	54.4%	49/496
1972	3,615,183	9.7%	55.1%	48/496
1976	4,027,499	10.6%	60.0%	53/496
1980	3,908,459	10.3%	57.6%	52/497
1983	4,140,865	10.6%	59.5%	53/498
1987	3,715,827	9.8%	55.1%	49/497
1990	3,302,980	7.1%	51.9%	51/662	Theo Waigel
1994	3,427,196	7.3%	51.2%	50/672
1998	3,324,480	6.7%	47.7%	47/669
2002	4,315,080	9.0%	58.6%	58/603	Edmund Stoiber 2
2005	3,494,309	7.4%	49.2%	46/614
2009	2,830,238	6.5%	42.5%	45/622	Peter Ramsauer
2013	3,243,569	7.4%	49.3%	56/631	Gerda Hasselfeldt
2017	2,869,744	6.2%	38.8%	46/709	Joachim Herrmann

¹ Of these, 3,015,892 votes in Bavaria and 117,168 for the CSU / CVP in Saarland

² 1980 and 2002 CSU top candidate at the same time candidate for chancellor of the Union parties

European elections since 1979

Nationwide (dark) and Bavaria (light) CSU results 1979 to 2014 in the elections to the EU Parliament

European election results
year	Number of votes	Share of votes in the federal territory	Share of votes in Bavaria	Seats	Top candidate
1979	2,817,120	10.1%	62.5%	8/78	Alfons Goppel
1984	2.109.130	8.5%	57.2%	7/78	Fritz Pirkl
1989	2,326,277	8.2%	45.4%	7/78
1994	2,393,374	6.8%	48.9%	8/99	Ingo Friedrich
1999	2,540,007	9.4%	64.0%	10/99
2004	2,063,900	8.0%	57.4%	9/99
2009	1,896,762	7.2%	48.1%	8/99	Markus Ferber
2014	1,567,448	5.3%	40.5%	5/96
2019	2,354,817	6.3%	40.7%	6/96	Manfred Weber

State elections since 1946

State election of Bavaria (results in%)

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

46

50

54

58

62

66

70

74

78

82

86

90

94

98

03

08

13

18th

State election results
year	Number of votes	Share of votes	Seats	Top candidate
1946	1,593,908	52.3%	104/180	Hans Ehard
1950	1,262,377	27.4%	64/180
1954	1,835,959	38.0%	83/204
1958	2,091,259	45.6%	101/204	Hanns Seidel
1962	2,320,359	47.5%	108/204	Alfons Goppel
1966	2,524,732	48.1%	110/204
1970	3,139,429	56.4%	124/204
1974	3,481,486	62.1%	132/204
1978	3,387,995	59.1%	129/204	Franz Josef Strauss
1982	3,534,375	58.3%	133/204
1986	3,191,640	55.8%	128/204
1990	3,085,948	54.9%	127/204	Max Streibl
1994	3,100,253	52.8%	120/204	Edmund Stoiber
1998	3,278,768	52.9%	123/204
2003	3,167,408	60.7%	124/180
2008	2,336,439	43.4%	92/187	Günther Beckstein
2013	2,879,067	47.7%	101/180	Horst Seehofer
2018	2,551,046	37.2%	85/205	Markus Söder

literature

• Burkhard Haneke: History of a People's Party. 50 years of the CSU 1945–1995. Atwerb-Verlag, Grünwald 1995, ISBN 3-88795-220-0 .
• Gerhard Hopp , Martin Sebaldt , Benjamin Zeitler (eds.): The CSU. Structural change, modernization and challenges of a people's party. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-17275-0 .
• Andreas Kießling: The CSU. Preservation of power and renewal of power. Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 3-531-14380-8 .
• Michael Salbaum: The history of the CSU. Augsburg 1998.

Web links

Commons : Christian Social Union in Bavaria  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikiquote: CSU  - Quotes

 Wikinews: Portal: CSU  - in the news

• Official website of the CSU
• CSU parliamentary group in the Bavarian state parliament
• CSU regional group
• CSU European group
• the current party platform Opportunities for everyone! Shaping the future together in freedom and responsibility (PDF; 336 kB)
• Hanns Seidel Foundation (party-affiliated foundation with extensive online publications on the CSU)
• Dossier parties in Germany: Christian Social Union in Bavaria e. V. (CSU) (Federal Agency for Political Education)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ dpa / lby: CSU is happy about the increasing number of members. December 9, 2019, accessed February 5, 2020 . 
2. ↑ CSU: Clear line. Design of promotional communication. Colour. December 2016, p. 15 , accessed on March 28, 2019 . 
3. ^ Final result of the 2013 federal election . The Federal Returning Officer. Archived from the original on September 25, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
4. ↑ Determination of state funds for 2019 (PDF), as of April 30, 2020
5. ↑ Average age of the members of the political parties in Germany on December 31, 2016 . Statista. December 31, 2016. Accessed February 8, 2018.
6. ↑ Frank Decker for the Federal Agency for Civic Education : Stages in the CSU's party history, 2017, accessed on June 8, 2018.
7. ↑ Frank Decker (2018): election results and electorate of the CSU ( bpb.de )
8. ↑ Kreuzer: One-two is an obstacle to integration , message on the CSU website, April 20, 2017
9. ^ "The order, basic program of the Christian-Social Union" , on the website of the CSU, accessed on June 8, 2018.
10. ↑ Deutschlandfunk : The CSU and the new "order", November 5, 2016, accessed on June 8, 2018.
11. ↑ The Bayernplan (PDF) CSU. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
12. ^ "Seehofer Direkt" in Munich . CSU. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
13. ↑ More tolerance for gays . Munich Mercury. October 19, 2006. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
14. ↑ Milestone for the freedom of choice for families ( Memento from July 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
15. ↑ CSU regional group insists on childcare allowance . Rheinische Post. October 28, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
16. ↑ Basic program . CSU. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
17. ↑ Mothers pension is necessary ( Memento of April 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
18. ↑ "7-point integration plan" - For social interaction and common values ​​in Germany . CSU. October 30, 2010. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
19. ↑ Friedrich wants to pay asylum seekers less money . Mirror online. October 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
20. ↑ afp: CSU wants to punish blasphemy harder. In: handelsblatt .com. January 13, 2015, accessed February 11, 2015 . 
21. ↑ n-tv: With reference to France, CSU calls for a ban on the burqa and niqab
22. ↑ Bavaria is the land of the educational climbers ( Memento from September 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
23. ↑ Spaenle fights against community school . Munich Mercury. September 1, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
24. ↑ Minister of Education Dr. Ludwig Spaenle clearly rejects Ude's wishes to introduce a single school with the label “community school” . bildungsklick.de. January 20, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
25. ↑ Mainly middle school . Southgerman newspaper. May 10, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
26. ↑ Diversity of Talents, Diversity of Education (PDF; 265 kB) ( Memento from May 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
27. ↑ CSU is considering abolishing tuition fees . Mirror online. October 24, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
28. ↑ CSU boss Seehofer is considering abolishing tuition fees . Focus Online. October 24, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
29. ↑ Landtag resolves the end of tuition fees in Bavaria . Time online. April 24, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
30. ^ Basic program of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria 1946 (PDF; 1.5 MB) Hanns Seidel Foundation. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
31. ^ Basic program of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria 1957 (PDF; 2.2 MB) Hanns Seidel Foundation. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
32. ^ Basic program of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria 1976 (PDF; 3.5 MB) Hanns Seidel Foundation. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
33. ^ Basic program of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria 2007 (PDF; 341 kB) Hanns Seidel Foundation. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 10, 2014. 
34. ↑ Martina Schöfbeck: A bastion of conservative basic ideas? The programmatic development lines of the CSU European policy . In: Gerhard Hopp, Martin Sebaldt, Benjamin Zeitler (eds.): The CSU: Structural change, modernization and challenges of a people's party . Springer Fachmedien , Wiesbaden 2010, p. 219 ff . ( Google Books ).
35. ↑ Schäuble wants political union in Europe - criticism from the CSU . Focus Online. October 1, 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
36. ↑ Söder (CSU) demands: Greece out of the Eurozone in 2012! Germany no longer paymaster! . Spaniens-Allgemeine-Zeitung. August 5, 2012. Archived from the original on May 5, 2013. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 10, 2014. 
37. ↑ CSU: Greece has to get out of the euro . Focus online. August 24, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
38. ↑ CDU admonishes CSU . The daily mirror. August 6, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
39. ↑ CSU favors euro zone without Greece . Handelsblatt. October 2, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
40. ↑ European unification and the euro (PDF; 332 kB) ( Memento from May 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
41. ↑ CSU forgets intimate enemy Greece . Financial Times Germany. October 20, 2012. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved on February 10, 2014.
42. ^ Administration 21 - Reform for a modern Bavaria (PDF; 135 kB).
43. ↑ CSU for nuclear phase-out by 2022 at the latest . Focus Online. May 18, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
44. ↑ Modern energy for a modern country ( Memento from April 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
45. ↑ CSU outraged about drug legalization . Focus Online. October 22, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
46. ↑ No speed limit on German autobahns . CDU / CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag. May 15, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
47. ↑ CSU wants fairness towards German drivers ( memento from June 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
48. ↑ Zoff in the Union: parliamentary group leader Kauder rejects Seehofer's toll plans . Mirror online. August 12, 2013. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
49. ↑ Ticket marketer Eventim to collect car toll , faz.net, accessed on April 11, 2019.
50. ↑ Union: Angela Merkel apparently does not go to the CSU party congress. Spiegel Online , October 29, 2016, accessed April 19, 2017 . 
51. ↑ Uwe Andersen, Wichard Woyke (Hrsg.): Concise dictionary of the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany. 5th edition. Leske + Budrich, Opladen 2003, ISBN 3-8100-3865-2 .
52. ↑ History | International Democrat Union. Retrieved April 11, 2019 (American English). 
53. ^ Associations. CSU, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
54. ↑ Herrmann, Joachim . Bavarian State Parliament. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
55. ↑ About us. CSU BV Nürnberg-Fürth-Schwabach, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
56. ↑ Emilia Müller gives up CSU district chairmanship . Central Bavarian Newspaper. June 6, 2015. Accessed April 30, 2016.
57. ↑ No farewell. . Katrin Albsteiger. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
58. ↑ Katrin Albsteiger: About me . Katrin Albsteiger. 2014. Accessed February 8, 2018.
59. ↑ State Chairman Hans Reichhart . Young Union Bavaria. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
60. ↑ In the women's union . Angelika Niebler. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
61. ↑ State Chairman of the Workers' Union (CSA) . CSU. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
62. ↑ About us. Working Group for Food, Agriculture and Forestry, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
63. ^ State chairman of the Association for Local Political Affairs (KPV) . CSU. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
64. ^ State chairman of the Mittelstands-Union (MU) . CSU. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
65. ^ Regional chairman of the Union of Expellees (UdV) . CSU. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
66. ^ Curriculum vitae of Konrad Weckerle, csu.de ( Memento from May 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
67. ↑ State Chairman of the Seniors Union . CSU. Archived from the original on February 9, 2018. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 8, 2018. 
68. ↑ Information. Working Group on Foreign and Security Policy, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
69. ↑ About us. Working group on environmental protection and regional development, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
70. ↑ About us. Working group on school, education and sport, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
71. ↑ About us. University and Culture Working Group, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
72. ↑ About us. Evangelical working group, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
73. ↑ About us. Police and Internal Security Working Group, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
74. ↑ About us. Public Service Working Group, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
75. ↑ About us. Jurists working group, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
76. ↑ About us. Health policy working group, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
77. ↑ About us. Energy transition working group, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
78. ↑ About us. CSUnet working group, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
79. ↑ About us. Migration and Integration Working Group, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
80. ↑ The media commission introduces itself. Retrieved March 22, 2019 . 
81. ↑ Family Commission of the CSU. Retrieved March 22, 2019 . 
82. ↑ CSU Film Commission: About us. Retrieved March 22, 2019 . 
83. ↑ About us. CSU Transport Commission, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
84. ↑ About us. Christian Social Catholics discussion group, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
85. ↑ About us. Jewish Forum, accessed March 22, 2019 . 
86. ↑ About us. Forum People with Disabilities, accessed on March 22, 2019 . 
87. ↑ Study: SPD gained members for the first time since 1990 in 2017 and remains Germany's strongest party / All opposition parties also increased / Total number of party members increased significantly for the first time since 1990 , accessed on April 7, 2019.
88. ^ Oskar Niedermayer: Membership Development of the Parties , bpb.de, accessed on April 8, 2019.
89. ^ Oskar Niedermayer: Recruiting ability of the parties , bpb.de, accessed on April 8, 2019.
90. ^ Oskar Niedermayer: The social composition of the party memberships , bpb.de, accessed on April 8, 2019.
91. ↑ Printed matter 19/7000: Announcement of statements of accounts of political parties for the calendar year 2017 (1st part - Bundestag parties) (PDF), page 327. (PDF) In: Deutscher Bundestag . January 14, 2019, accessed May 30, 2019 . 
92. ↑ Big gifts: Entrepreneurs donated 1.1 million euros to the FDP. In: Spiegel Online . January 16, 2010, accessed February 11, 2015 . 
93. ↑ Rolf-Ulrich Kunze : Würzburg 1945-2004. Reconstruction, modern city. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. 4 volumes, Volume I-III / 2 (I: From the beginnings to the outbreak of the Peasant War. 2001, ISBN 3-8062-1465-4 ; II: From the Peasant War 1525 to the transition to the Kingdom of Bavaria 1814. 2004, ISBN 3 -8062-1477-8 ; III / 1–2: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 ), Theiss, Stuttgart 2001–2007, Volume III (2007), Pp. 318-346 and 1292-1295; here: p. 330.
94. ^ Richard Dlouhy: Mosaic Stone of Democracy . In: CSU Coburg (ed.): Supplement to the Coburger Tagblatt . Coburg October 28, 1995, p. 1 to 6 (anniversary supplement to the daily newspaper for the 50th anniversary of the party).
95. ↑ Rolf-Ulrich Kunze: Würzburg 1945-2004. Reconstruction, modern city. 2007, p. 330.
96. ^ History of the CSU 1945–1949 , Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern e. V.
97. ↑ Acted like the Sicilian Mafia . The mirror. August 15, 1988. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
98. ↑ Fools eaten . The mirror. September 21, 1970. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
99. ↑ Lothar Altmann: From New to Modern Bavaria, accompanying volume for the exhibition of the same name by the Bavarian State Government (PDF; 2.8 MB) ( Memento from January 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
100. ↑ Died: Max Streibl . In: Der Spiegel . No. 51 , 1998 ( online ).
101. ↑ after 54.9 percent in 1990; this was the lowest CSU state election result since 1966.
102. ↑ slightly lower number of votes; overcompensated by a significantly lower voter turnout.
103. ↑ Huber resigns as head of the CSU , Spiegel online from September 30, 2008.
104. ↑ Seehofer elected Prime Minister . Southgerman newspaper. May 17, 2010. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
105. ↑ The helpful ladies and gentlemen from the CSU . Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. October 28, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
106. ↑ Söder intervened several times with ZDF . Mirror online. November 3, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
107. ↑ CSU gets an absolute majority . Time online. September 15, 2013. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
108. ↑ see also Klaus-Dietmar Henke , Hans Woller (ed.): Apprenticeship years of the CSU: A post-war party in the mirror of confidential reports to the American military government , p. 41 ff. ( Online )
109. ^ Constituent meeting of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group. Konrad Adenauer is elected 1st chairman. . Konrad Adenauer Foundation. September 1, 1949. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
110. ↑ Seehofer becomes Minister of Agriculture . rp-online. October 16, 2005. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
111. ↑ CSU makes new election promises. In: Hamburger Abendblatt . September 21, 2009, accessed February 11, 2015 . 
112. ↑ CSU intensifies pressure in VAT debate . Hannoversche Allgemeine. March 15, 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
113. ↑ Seehofer takes the side of the landlords . General hotel and gastronomy newspaper. July 16, 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
114. ↑ Guttenberg resigns - Merkel is initially silent. In: welt.de . March 1, 2011, accessed February 11, 2015 . 
115. ↑ Lena Jakat: Change of ministers in the Bendler block - office and burden. In: sueddeutsche.de . March 10, 2011, accessed February 11, 2015 . 
116. ↑ CSU takes the lead with women , merkur-online.de
117. ↑ Christoph Schwennicke : The CSU should compete nationwide. Cicero (magazine) , January 4, 2016, accessed March 19, 2016 . 
118. ↑ PNP interview: Seehofer does not want to compete with CSU nationwide. Passauer Neue Presse , March 17, 2016, accessed on March 19, 2016 . 
119. ↑ Mike Szymanski: The Quiet Influential. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of October 5, 2010, p. 13; Dirk Walter: The Bavarian MPs in Europe. In: Münchner Merkur of June 8, 2009, p. 3.
120. ↑ The Fat Comes Again , Spiegel Online , article of April 10, 1957.
121. ^ Result of the election to the 3rd German Bundestag on September 15, 1957 by country ( Memento from June 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (XLS; 34 kB)
122. ↑ Seats of the parties on September 15, 1957 by country ( Memento of June 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (XLS; 23 kB)
123. ↑ State election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania 1990, tagesschau.de ( Memento from May 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
124. ^ Hundhammer was parliamentary group leader in the state constitutional assembly until December 1946.
125. ^ For Schäffer, who was also Federal Minister of Finance, Strauss ran the business.
126. ↑ Stücklen ran the business for Strauss, who was also Federal Minister of Atomic Energy
127. ^ Results of the federal elections. ( Memento of the original from July 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
128. ↑ The top candidates of the CSU in elections ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 37 kB). 
129. ↑ Results of the European elections. ( Memento of the original from July 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
130. ^ Results of the state elections in Bavaria
131. ↑ Elections to the Bavarian State Parliament 1946 to 2008 - voter turnout and total votes (graphics) (PDF; 455 kB)
132. ↑ Allocation of seats in the Bavarian Parliament since 1946 (graphics) (PDF; 432 kB)
133. ↑ State elections in Bavaria since 1946 (table).

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on April 30, 2006 .

Coordinates: 48 ° 10 '37.42 "  N , 11 ° 35' 29.61"  O