Reich presidential election 1932

Election advertising in front of a Berlin polling station on April 10, 1932

Police in the government district during the presidential election; in the background a propaganda vehicle for Hindenburg

The presidential election of 1932 was the second and last presidential election in the Weimar Republic in which the Reich president was directly elected by the people. It took place on March 13th and April 10th, 1932. In the second ballot, Paul von Hindenburg (independent), Adolf Hitler ( NSDAP ) and Ernst Thälmann ( KPD ) ran. In order to prevent Hitler from being President of the Reich , the SPD , left-wing liberals (since 1930 German state party ) and the Center Party , the parties of the so-called Weimar coalition , supported Hindenburg - unlike in 1925 . He emerged as the winner in the second ballot. Winning votes for Hitler showed that the NSDAP's upswing was by no means broken.

prehistory

The regular term of office of Paul von Hindenburg , who was elected on April 26, 1925, ended on May 5, 1932. Reich Chancellor Heinrich Brüning of the Center Party tried from autumn 1931 to pave the way for Hindenburg's re-election. First he wanted to prevent a popular election and instead let the Reichstag decide to extend Hindenburg's term of office. This would have required a two-thirds majority to change the constitution. Brüning therefore also needed the consent of the political right, especially the DNVP and the NSDAP, and therefore made extensive concessions to Hitler. Nevertheless, Alfred Hugenberg ( DNVP ) and Hitler rejected his proposals. Hitler could even exploit these processes politically by styling himself as the guardian of the constitution. Ultimately, only a regular popular election remained.

Candidates

Hindenburg's nomination

Paul von Hindenburg (1932)

Hitler's speech in the Berlin Lustgarten; v. l. No. Wilhelm Brückner , Wolf-Heinrich von Helldorff , Joseph Goebbels , Hitler (April 4, 1932)

Ernst Thälmann (left) and Willy Leow at the Reich Meeting of the RFB in Berlin (1927)

Election campaign of the Stahlhelm in Berlin: "Whoever wants the real national community , chooses Duesterberg, the German man"

The 84-year-old Hindenburg himself had initially not yet declared himself ready to run again. Brüning hoped that his sense of duty would prevail at Hindenburg and that Hindenburg also wanted to prevent a Reich President Hitler. For Brüning, given the likely majority, it was clear that Hindenburg only had a chance for re-election if the SPD supported him. In order for Hindenburg not to renounce his candidacy in the face of this constellation, voices had to come from the more right-wing political camp that urged Hindenburg to take this step.

In fact, the so-called "Hindenburg Committee" was formed on February 1, 1932, headed by the Mayor of Berlin, Heinrich Sahm . This committee issued an appeal in the spirit of the political right. In it Hindenburg was stylized as "the first in war, the first in peace and the first in the hearts of his fellow citizens" . Hindenburg stands for “overcoming the party spirit” and is “a symbol of the national community ”. The appeal was signed by, among others, Gerhart Hauptmann , Max Liebermann , the Grand Master of the Young German Order , Artur Mahraun , the Chairman of the Reich Association of German Industry , Carl Duisberg , the General Secretary of the liberal Hirsch-Duncker trade unions Ernst Lemmer and the former Reichswehr Minister Otto Geßler ( DStP) and Gustav Noske (SPD). Brüning and Sahm did not succeed in getting well-known representatives of the large landowners or right-wing associations such as the Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten “on board”. However, the Kyffhäuserbund confessed to Hindenburg. Against this background, Hindenburg declared himself ready to run again. The German People's Party , German State Party , Center and Bavarian People's Party now also declared themselves in favor of Hindenburg.

Brüning was one of the most active supporters of Hindenburg during the election campaign. He saw the political and intellectual deficits of the 84-year-old. But this one seemed to be the only one who could beat Hitler. He ended a campaign speech with the exclamation: “Hindenburg has to win because Germany has to live!” Hindenburg himself only made a radio speech as a candidate. He emphasized that he had started to "spare the fatherland the shocks that would be caused by the election of an extreme party man." He emphasized his non-partisanship and appealed to the "spirit of 1914." He promised, as in the war now "to persevere in loyalty and to serve the German people in loyalty."

Attitude of the SPD

The party leadership tried early on to prepare members and voters for possible support from Hindenburg. Ernst Heilmann wrote: "The mortal danger for the entire German working class is fascism, and the current death threat against all freedom is the fascist Reich President." Despite all the contradictions, Heilmann said that Hindenburg, unlike a President Hitler, would not break the constitution. The social democracy “has to do everything to prevent the election of a Nazi president, an election that meant the downfall for Germany as well as for the working class, and to do everything possible to have a constitutional president in office on Wilhelmstrasse. That is the goal and everything else is secondary. ”This position was not without controversy in the party. The left wing called for its own candidate, at least for the first round of voting.

Heinrich Brüning did not make the decision for Hindenburg easy for the SPD, but defamed the party on various occasions. This did not prevent the SPD from sticking to the course of support for Hindenburg decided by the party executive. They went public with an appeal entitled Beat Hitler . The party pointed out that Hindenburg - contrary to what he feared before the presidential election of 1925 - had not taken an anti-constitutional course in his first term of office. With regard to Thälmann's candidacy, she made it clear that every vote that was not cast for Hindenburg strengthens Hitler. Otto Braun , who had also stood as a candidate in 1925, addressed the voters in a personal statement, praising Hindenburg despite all the criticism as the "embodiment of calm and steadfastness, of loyalty to the man and devoted fulfillment of duties for the people as a whole."

The election campaign was the first practical test for the functionality of the Iron Front from Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold , the free trade unions ( ADGB , AfA-Bund ), the Arbeiter-Gym- und Sportbund and the SPD. After the party had decided to support Hindenburg, critics within the party also adopted this course. The party and the Iron Front managed to mobilize their supporters for large meetings.

Nomination of further candidates

The Harzburg Front broke up. The DNVP and the Stahlhelm did not want to help Hitler to the presidency and put up with Theodor Duesterberg their own candidate. During the election campaign, Duesterberg was defamed by the NSDAP as a "quarter Jew".

It was clear from the start that the NSDAP would nominate Hitler, and Joseph Goebbels announced this in a speech in the Berlin Sportpalast . However, there was still a formal obstacle. In order to be able to run in the election, it was necessary for Hitler, who had been stateless since 1925 , to receive German citizenship . It was not until the end of February 1932, but just in time for the Reich presidential election, that Hitler received it, when the Free State of Braunschweig, governed by an NSDAP-DNVP coalition, appointed him to be an envoy of Braunschweig to the state representation in Berlin and thus a state official. German citizenship was automatically associated with this.

Ernst Thälmann as a candidate in the 1932 presidential election.

81 years later: In Weimar in 2013, the original campaign advertisement “Vote Thälmann ” for the KPD candidate for the 1932 presidential election can still be read.

Ernst Thalmann stood for the Communist Party . Both the party leadership and the Comintern hoped that Thälmann would be able to win over a large number of SPD supporters for Hindenburg if the SPD was expected to support him. In fact, many SPD supporters had to seem absurd to support the declared monarchist Hindenburg. One of the KPD's slogans was: "Whoever votes Hindenburg votes Hitler, whoever votes Hitler chooses war." Despite all the reservations that still existed, the KPD succeeded in gaining the support of the small left-wing organizations, the Socialist Workers' Party and the International Socialist Combat League, for Thälmann . Thälmann also received approval from left-wing intellectuals like Carl von Ossietzky because he was the only left-wing candidate.

Gerhart Hauptmann and Heinrich Mann were the talk of the town for a nomination .

Ballots

1st ballot

Ballot for the 1st ballot

Voting for Hindenburg in the first ballot

Five candidates ran in the first ballot . In addition to those already mentioned, Gustav A. Winter also applied for the inflation victims.

A curiosity of this election campaign were the loudspeaker planes developed by Joseph Sablatnig , which broadcast election advertising from the air.

The ballot took place on March 13, 1932. The turnout was 86.2%. In order to win, an absolute majority of the votes cast was necessary in the first ballot , which none of the candidates achieved. With 49.5%, Hindenburg just missed the absolute majority. Hitler came off significantly weaker with 30.1%, followed by Thälmann with 13.2% and Duesterberg with 6.8%. Winter remained completely insignificant at 0.3%. In addition, several thousand split votes were cast.

49.5%	30.1%	13.2%	6.8%	0.3%
Paul von Hindenburg	Adolf Hitler	Ernst Thalmann	Theodor Duesterberg	Gustav A. Winter

A closer look reveals that the parties that supported Hindenburg had lost power compared to the last Reichstag election . If all former voters had voted for Hindenburg this time, he would have had 61.3% of the vote.

In contrast to the 1925 election, Hindenburg was able to achieve a particularly large share of the vote in areas that belonged to the strongholds of the SPD and the center. Hindenburg received an absolute majority in all of southern Germany, in the province of Westphalia , in the Rhine Province , in the constituencies of Hamburg , Weser-Ems, Hessen-Darmstadt, Dresden-Bautzen, Leipzig and Opole . In rural and Protestant areas, which had been Hindenburg's strongholds in 1925, this time he performed below average. In three constituencies, Hitler was able to outstrip Hindenburg. These were Pomerania, Schleswig-Holstein and Chemnitz-Zwickau.

The parties that supported Hindenburg were relieved despite the narrowly missed victory. The SPD executive committee particularly emphasized the defeat of the NSDAP. The danger posed by this party became clear once more after the Prussian Interior Minister Carl Severing had the Party and SA search facilities. The officials came across evidence that the SA had been prepared to take violent measures on election day. Evidence of treason and treason plans was also secured. After long political disputes at the level of the Reich, the result was tougher action against the SA.

Compared to the Reichstag election of 1930, the NSDAP had gained five million votes. An early end to the National Socialist triumph was not in sight. But its own propaganda had raised the expectations of party members so high that the result was perceived as a severe defeat. Hitler himself continued to be confident of victory and called for efforts to be stepped up for the second ballot.

The KPD was also able to gain 400,000 votes compared to the last Reichstag election. The increase was thus significantly lower than in the previous state elections. The gain compared to the Reichstag election was an insignificant 0.1%. In the big cities of Berlin and Hamburg , the party even suffered considerable losses. She had to admit that it had not been possible to tear many workers from the influence of "social fascism". Regardless of this, the party held on to Thälmann's candidacy for the second ballot. According to Stalin's will , the party should concentrate in the election campaign above all on the SPD as the “moderate wing of fascism and the twin brother of Hitler’s fascism” .

2nd ballot

rising swastika balloons as election advertising of the NSDAP in the second ballot

Election campaign of the NSDAP for the second ballot

Ballot for the 2nd ballot

The campaign for the second round was short but intense. An emergency ordinance banned all public election events during Easter. The public disputes are therefore concentrated on the days from April 4th to 9th. Duesterberg had declared after the first ballot that he did not want to run again. Gustav A. Winter had also withdrawn his candidacy. That left only the three candidates Hindenburg, Hitler and Thälmann. The Stahlhelm urged its members to abstain from voting and the DNVP remained indifferent. The Reichslandbund spoke out in favor of the election of Hitler. The major industrial associations did not give any election recommendations. Only a few large entrepreneurs spoke out in favor of Hindenburg. On the other hand, Fritz Thyssen , who supported Hitler, remained an exception.

The second ballot took place on April 10, 1932. In order to win, a relative majority of the votes cast was necessary in the second ballot .

53.1%	36.8%	10.2%
Paul von Hindenburg	Adolf Hitler	Ernst Thalmann

The election ended with a victory for Hindenburg, who received 53.1% of the vote. Hitler had 36.8% and Thälmann 10.2%. The turnout in the second round of voting was 83.5%, slightly lower than in the first round.

This was a success for the parties that supported Hindenburg, but on closer inspection you can see that Hitler was able to benefit much more from Duesterberg's departure than Hindenburg. Hindenburg was able to win 700,000 votes, Hitler won over 2 million votes. Thälmann, on the other hand, lost almost 1.3 million votes. The falling number of votes for Thälmann was mainly due to the fact that it was not possible to mobilize all previous supporters again. But in some constituencies, direct voter migration from the KPD to the NSDAP is also likely. This happened for example in the constituency of Chemnitz-Zwickau.

With regard to the voting behavior of men and women, it can be seen that in the constituencies where the votes were taken according to gender, more women than men tended to vote for Hindenburg. It was the other way around with Hitler; this was chosen more by men. Thälmann came off worst with women.

Results overview

The results were as follows:

Candidate (party)	1st ballot (March 13, 1932)		2nd ballot (April 10, 1932)
Paul von Hindenburg ( Weimar coalition )	18,651,497	49.5%	19,359,983	53.1%
Adolf Hitler ( NSDAP )	11,339,446	30.1%	13,418,547	36.8%
Ernst Thälmann ( KPD )	4,983,341	13.2%	3,706,759	10.2%
Theodor Duesterberg ( steel helmet )	2,557,729	6.8%	-	-
Gustav A. Winter (inflation victims)	111,423	0.3%	-	-
Others	4,881	0.0%	5,472	0.0%
Percentages relate to the number of valid votes cast.
Eligible voters	43,949,681	100.0%	44,063,958	100.0%
Votes cast	37.890.451	86.2%	36,771,787	83.5%
Valid votes	37,648,317	99.4%	36,490,761	99.2%
Invalid votes	242.134	0.6%	281.016	0.8%

• Majorities in the first and second ballot according to constituencies (with percentage of the vote of the leading candidate)
• 

  First ballot

• 

  Second ballot

consequences

The SPD recorded Hindenburg's success for itself. Ernst Heilmann judged that the re-election was “a great victory for the party, a triumph for democracy” . But in a way it also exacerbated the political crisis. Hindenburg could not gain much from the circumstances of the second ballot, as he owed the victory primarily to the unloved Social Democrats and Catholics. Immediately thereafter, Hindenburg began to lose confidence in Brüning, who had been his most active advocate during the election. Brüning's dismissal on May 29 was followed by Franz von Papen, a chancellor who rejected the republic. On January 30, 1933, Hindenburg appointed Hitler Reich Chancellor and allowed him to dissolve the Reichstag for new elections. On February 4, Hindenburg issued the President's Ordinance for the Protection of the German People , which initially repealed freedom of expression and assembly, and on February 28, the President's Ordinance for the Protection of the People and State , with which the other basic rights were suspended were. Hindenburg died on August 2, 1934, the day before Adolf Hitler had united the offices of Reich Chancellor and Reich President by law. On August 19, 1934, the National Socialist government let the people vote on this amalgamation of offices in a referendum on the head of state of the German Reich , which meant that the 1932 election was the last presidential election in the German Reich.

literature

• ***: Who will be President of the Reich? The election process, the candidates and their prospects , Oldenburg iO: Stalling [1931].

Web links

Commons : Reich presidential election 1932  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• The presidential election in 1932 (exact result by numbers)
• Election posters for the 1932 presidential election

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Heinrich August Winkler: Weimar 1918–1933. The history of the first German democracy. Beck, Munich 1993, p. 444
2. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: Weimar 1918–1933. The history of the first German democracy. Beck, Munich 1993, pp. 444f.
3. ^ ^{A b} Heinrich August Winkler: Weimar 1918–1933. The history of the first German democracy. Beck, Munich 1993, p. 448
4. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: The way into the disaster. Workers and the labor movement in the Weimar Republic 1930 to 1933. 2nd edition, Berlin and Bonn 1990, p. 511.
5. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: The way into the disaster. Workers and the labor movement in the Weimar Republic 1930 to 1933. 2nd edition, Berlin and Bonn 1990, pp. 511f.
6. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: Weimar 1918–1933. The history of the first German democracy. Beck, Munich 1993, p. 447.
7. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: The way into the disaster. Workers and the labor movement in the Weimar Republic 1930 to 1933. 2nd edition, Berlin and Bonn 1990, p. 514.
8. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: The way into the disaster. Workers and the labor movement in the Weimar Republic 1930 to 1933. 2nd edition, Berlin and Bonn 1990, p. 516.
9. ^ ^{A b c} Heinrich August Winkler: Weimar 1918–1933. The history of the first German democracy. Beck, Munich 1993, p. 445
10. ↑ ^{a b} Heinrich August Winkler: The way into the disaster. Workers and the labor movement in the Weimar Republic 1930 to 1933. 2nd edition, Berlin and Bonn 1990, p. 518
11. ^ Heinrich Mann: An age is visited, Fischer, 3rd edition 2001, p. 468f.
12. ↑ ^{a b} Heinrich August Winkler: The way into the disaster. Workers and the labor movement in the Weimar Republic 1930 to 1933. 2nd edition, Berlin and Bonn 1990, p. 519
13. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: Weimar 1918–1933. The history of the first German democracy. Beck, Munich 1993, pp. 448f.
14. ↑ ^{a b} Heinrich August Winkler: The way into the disaster. Workers and the labor movement in the Weimar Republic 1930 to 1933. 2nd edition, Berlin and Bonn 1990, p. 520
15. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: Weimar 1918–1933. The history of the first German democracy. Beck, Munich 1993, pp. 449f.
16. ^ ^{A b} Heinrich August Winkler: Weimar 1918–1933. The history of the first German democracy. Beck, Munich 1993, p. 449
17. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: Weimar 1918–1933. The history of the first German democracy. Beck, Munich 1993, pp. 451-453
18. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: The way into the disaster. Workers and the labor movement in the Weimar Republic 1930 to 1933. 2nd edition, Berlin and Bonn 1990, p. 528
19. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: The way into the disaster. Workers and the labor movement in the Weimar Republic 1930 to 1933. 2nd edition, Berlin and Bonn 1990, p. 529
20. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: The way into the disaster. Workers and the labor movement in the Weimar Republic 1930 to 1933. 2nd edition, Berlin and Bonn 1990, p. 530
21. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: Weimar 1918–1933. The history of the first German democracy. Beck, Munich 1993, p. 453
22. ^ Heinrich August Winkler: Weimar 1918–1933. The history of the first German democracy. Beck, Munich 1993, p. 454
23. ↑ Law on the Head of State of the German Reich , August 1, 1934:
    Ҥ 1. The office of Reich President is combined with that of Reich Chancellor. As a result, the previous powers of the Reich President are transferred to the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler. He appoints his deputy.
    § 2. This law comes into effect on the date of the death of the Reich President von Hindenburg. "( PDF )