State election in Schleswig-Holstein in 1947
The state election in Schleswig-Holstein in 1947 was the first free election to the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament . It took place on April 20, 1947. As the clear winner of the election, the SPD was able to provide a sole government.
prehistory
After the local elections in Schleswig-Holstein on October 13, 1946 , the allocation of seats in the appointed Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein was adjusted by the occupation authorities . The local elections had the following result:
| Political party | be right | Voting share in% |
|---|---|---|
| SPD | 1,168,863 | 41.1 |
| CDU | 1,062,225 | 37.2 |
| FDP | 172.102 | 6.1 |
| KPD | 145.703 | 5.1 |
| SSF | 207,465 | 1.4 |
| SPF | 29,729 | 1.4 |
| DKP | 38,318 | 1.3 |
| center | 1,515 | 0.1 |
As a result of this election result, the appointed Landtag was formed as follows: 39 MPs were appointed by the military government and 21 MPs were elected by the district assemblies:
- SPD: 25 seats
- CDU: 23 seats
- FDP: 4 seats
- SSF: 4 seats
- KPD: 3 seats
- DKP: 1 seat
As Prime Minister was by the British occupation power Theodor Steltzer used (CDU), which is a All Party cabinet ( cabinet Steltzer I ) formed, from which, after the municipal the KPD eliminated.
Shortly before the election , there was a serious government crisis . The occasion was a draft law by Minister Franz Rybas (CDU) to set up a separate refugee administration . Andreas Gayk (SPD) spoke of an " enabling law " and requested that the state parliament withdraw confidence from Minister Ryba. This motion was accepted on February 28, 1947 in the Lübeck council chamber with 29 votes to 18 with two abstentions and plunged the government into a serious crisis. CDU parliamentary group leader Carl Schröter announced that he would withdraw the CDU ministers from the government. In the CDU, however, Theodor Steltzer prevailed, who advocated continuation of government work. For the CDU, Paul Pagel took the ministerial office instead of Franz Ryba.
Election campaign and suffrage
The election campaign was shaped by the displaced persons issue. Schleswig-Holstein had taken in the highest proportion of displaced persons , who now make up 35% of the population . In view of the supply situation, the SPD started with the slogan “Get out of misery!”. She became the clear winner.
The Schleswig-Holstein suffrage, which the strongest party clearly preferred, was decisive for the distribution of seats. According to the electoral law, 60% of the MPs (42) should be elected in constituencies and 40% (28) via the state list , whereby only a partial compensation took place: When distributing the mandates to the state lists, the votes of the unsuccessful constituency applicants were taken into account as well as the votes ahead of successful and runner-up applicants. The right to vote thus had the character of majority voting rather than proportional representation . In order to prevent party fragmentation, only those parties that had won at least one constituency mandate could enter parliament via the state list. This arrangement made electoral success for the smaller parties impossible from the start.
Election result
| Political party | be right | Voting share in% | Constituencies | Total seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPD | 469.994 | 43.8 | 34 | 43 |
| CDU | 365,534 | 34.0 | 6th | 21st |
| SSF | 99,500 | 9.3 | 2 | 6th |
| FDP | 53,359 | 5.0 | ||
| KPD | 50,398 | 4.7 | ||
| DKP | 32,848 | 3.1 | ||
| center | 1,082 | 0.1 | ||
| Individual applicants | 489 | 0.0 |
Of the 1,594,794 eligible voters , a total of 1,113,005 votes were cast, making the turnout 69.8%. 96.4% of the votes cast were valid. The SPD was able to form a sole government due to the absolute majority in parliament . Hermann Lüdemann became Prime Minister .
See also
literature
- Franz Osterroth: 100 years of social democracy in Schleswig-Holstein. Kiel 1963, pp. 125-127.
- Ian Connor: German Refugees and the SPD in Schleswig-Holstein, 1945-50. In: European History Quarterly 2006, 36; P. 173, online.
Web links
- Digitized edition of the magazine Der Landtag. Parliamentary newspaper for Schleswig-Holstein (PDF; 292 kB), May 1947, on a website of the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament.
- Digitized edition by Holger Martens : 50 years ago: Social democratic victory in the first state election on April 20, 1947 (PDF; 2.8 MB). In: The history of the Social Democratic Party of Germany in Schleswig-Holstein 1945 to 1959, dissertation, Hamburg 1997, on a website of the Advisory Board for History in the Society for Politics and Education Schleswig-Holstein.
Individual evidence
- ^ Erich Maletzke, Klaus Volquartz: Der Schleswig-Holsteinische Landtag, 1983, p. 7
- ↑ http://www.wahlen-in-deutschland.de/blSchleho.htm
