Election to the Berlin House of Representatives in 1981

← 1979Election to the
House of Representatives in 19811985 →

(Second votes in%)

 %

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

48.0

38.3

7.2

5.6

0.9

CDU

SPD

AL

FDP

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 1979

 % p

   4th

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

  -6

+3.6

-4.4

+3.5

-2.5

-0.3

CDU

SPD

AL

FDP

Otherwise.

    

A total of 132 seats

• AL : 9
• SPD : 51
• FDP : 7
• CDU : 65

Advertising poster for the CDU signature collection for the early election

Richard von Weizsäcker on an election poster for the election to the Berlin House of Representatives in 1981

The early elections for the Berlin House of Representatives on May 10, 1981 were a deep turning point in the post-war history of Berlin. For the first time, the SPD was voted out of government responsibility.

The main topic of the election was the Garski affair . The building contractor Dietrich Garski had received a national guarantee for more than 100 million Deutschmarks for projects in Saudi Arabia. When Garski became insolvent at the end of 1980 and went into hiding, Berlin had to pay as surety. The previous ruling mayor Dietrich Stobbe (SPD) resigned on January 15, 1981 after a proposed reshuffle of the Senate in the House of Representatives failed to find a majority and four of the five proposed senators failed despite a social liberal majority. The previous Federal Minister of Justice, Hans-Jochen Vogel, was elected as his successor on January 23, 1981. After his election, he announced that he wanted to run new elections as soon as possible , so that the House of Representatives dissolved itself two years after the last election. It came before a referendum run by the CDU and AL to dissolve the House of Representatives. In addition, the issue of squatting was formative for the election campaign. While the CDU placed the restoration of the rule of law in the foreground, the AL openly sympathized with the "repair occupants".

The CDU scored with Richard von Weizsacker at the top with 48.0% (+3.6 percentage points) you still best result in Berlin. The SPD dropped to 38.3% (–4.4 percentage points), the FDP under top candidate Guido Brunner to 5.6% (–2.5 percentage points). The Alternative List (AL) was represented in parliament for the first time with 7.2% of the vote. Majorities were no longer sufficient for a new SPD-FDP coalition, and the CDU did not have a majority in mandate. Against the background of the fact that it together with the SPD put the federal government under Chancellor Helmut Schmidt , the FDP refused to enter into a coalition with the CDU.

Von Weizsäcker then formed a minority senate based on parts of the FDP parliamentary group. He was elected the new governing mayor on June 11, 1981.

After the change of government at federal level and the election of Helmut Kohl as Federal Chancellor, the FDP joined the Weizsäcker Senate in March 1983 .

See also : List of members of the Berlin House of Representatives (9th electoral term)

Election on May 10, 1981
Eligible voters	1,514,642
voter turnout	1,291,842	85.3%
CDU	605.265	48.0%	65 mand.
SPD	483.778	38.3%	51 mand.
AL	90,653	7.2%	9 mand.
FDP	70,529	5.6%	7 mand.
SEW	8,176	0.6%	- Mand.
GLB	3,765	0.3%	- Mand.
to hum		100.0%	132 mand.

Web links

Commons : House of Representatives from Berlin election 1981  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Election to the Berlin House of Representatives on May 10, 1981 , Office for Statistics Berlin-Brandenburg
2. ^ Election to the Berlin House of Representatives on March 18, 1979 , Office for Statistics Berlin-Brandenburg