1919 Prussian state election

State elections were held in the Free State of Prussia on 26 January 1919.[1] The elections were held a week after the elections to the federal National Assembly, and were the first elections of Prussian institutions held using proportional representation and with women's suffrage. The election was also the first truly free and fair Prussian election, as it was the first election held after the abolition of the Prussian three-class franchise, which grouped voters by the amount of taxes paid and gave disproportionate weight to the wealthy.

1919 Prussian state election
Kingdom of Prussia
26 January 1919
All 401 seats in the State Assembly
201 seats needed for a majority
Turnout74.79%
PartyLeader % Seats
SPD 36.38% 145
Centre 22.22% 93
DDP 16.20% 65
DNVP 11.22% 48
USPD 7.42% 24
DVP 5.69% 23
DHP 0.49% 2
SHBLD 0.36% 1
Top: results by constituency. Bottom: winning party in each constituency.
Minister-President before Minister-President after
Paul Hirsch
SPD		 Paul Hirsch
SPD

The State Assembly (Landesversammlung) functioned as both a constituent assembly and legislature. The parties of the "Weimar Coalition", the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Centre Party (Zentrum), and German Democratic Party (DDP), won a sweeping majority. Together they won 74.8% of the votes cast.[2] SPD politician Paul Hirsch, who had been appointed Minister-President of Prussia in November 1918, continued in office, and was succeeded by Otto Braun in early 1920.

Results
Party Votes  % Seats
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 6,278,29136.38145
Centre Party/Christian People's Party[lower-alpha 1] (Zentrum) 3,834,95322.2293
German Democratic Party (DDP) 2,796,359[lower-alpha 2] 16.2065
German National People's Party (DNVP) 1,936,939[lower-alpha 3] 11.2248
Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD) 1,280,8037.4224
German People's Party (DVP) 981,665[lower-alpha 4] 5.6923
German-Hanoverian Party (DHP) 84,9750.492
Schleswig-Holstein Farmers and Farmworkers Democracy (SHBLD) 61,5650.361
Christian Social Party 1.2110.010
Protestant People's Party 5520.000
Social Reform Party 310.000
Invalid/blank votes [lower-alpha 5]0.37[lower-alpha 5]–
Total 17,257,344[lower-alpha 5]100401
Registered voters/turnout [lower-alpha 5]74.79[lower-alpha 5]–
Gonschior.de
Popular Vote
SPD
 
 36.38%
Zentrum
 
 22.22%
DDP
 
 16.20%
DNVP
 
 11.22%
USPD
 
 7.42%
DVP
 
 5.69%
DHP
 
 0.49%
SHBLD
 
 0.36%
Other
 
 0.02%
State Assembly seats
SPD
 
 36.16%
Zentrum
 
 23.19%
DDP
 
 16.21%
DNVP
 
 11.97%
USPD
 
 5.99%
DVP
 
 5.74%
DHP
 
 0.50%
SHBLD
 
 0.25%

Results by constituency
Constituency SPD Z DDP DNVP USPD DVP DHP SHBLD
1. East Prussia 45.6 11.4 17.1 14.4 3.6 7.8 – –
2. West Prussia 28.4 15.2 26.4 25.5 4.5 – – –
3. Berlin 35.1 5.5 15.3 10.4 28.2 5.5 – –
4. Potsdam I 41.4 2.4 20.1 13.9 14.6 7.7 – –
5. Potsdam II 35.2 4.0 20.4 15.0 15.0 10.4 – –
6. Frankfurt-Oder 51.8 1.7 21.6 20.8 0.7 3.3 – –
7. Pomerania 41.9 0.6 19.3 26.6 1.4 10.2 – –
8. Posen 15.9 9.7 19.3 39.5 – 15.7 – –
9. Breslau 47.0 22.2 14.6 16.1 0.1 – – –
10. Oppeln 29.7 49.3 5.5 7.4 – 8.2 – –
11. Liegnitz 50.4 9.7 25.7 14.1 – – – –
12. Magdeburg 57.9 1.7 23.8 9.9 3.3 3.3 – –
13. Merseburg-Erfurt 16.3 5.9 23.4 13.6 39.5 1.4 – –
14. Schleswig-Holstein 46.2 1.0 26.7 7.7 2.8 7.1 – 8.5
15. Aurich-Stade-Osnabrück 31.5 18.2 18.9 4.3 – 9.7 17.5 –
16. Hannover-Hildesheim-Lüneburg 46.8 [lower-alpha 6] 9.4 2.6 1.2 8.6 31.5 –
17. Münster-Minden-Kreis Schaumburg 28.0 48.0 7.7 8.1 1.8 6.2 – –
18. Arnsberg 40.9 29.9 9.3 [lower-alpha 7] 4.6 15.2 – –
19. Hesse-Nassau 40.2 18.9 21.6 9.6 3.5 6.2 – –
20. Cologne/Aachen 25.0 61.3 7.4 2.9 3.4 0.0 – –
21. Koblenz/Trier 21.3 60.6 14.9 3.2 – [lower-alpha 8] – –
22. Düsseldorf 1–5 27.2 28.9 11.2 15.4 17.3 [lower-alpha 9] – –
23. Düsseldorf 6–12 27.0 51.5 6.8 6.1 – 8.6 – –
24. Sigmaringen[lower-alpha 10] – 99.8 – – – – – –

See also

Notes
  1. Zentrum used the name Christliche Volkspartei along with Zentrumspartei around this time.
  2. Including 111,663 votes in constituency #21 (Koblenz/Trier) for the list "German Democratic Party and German People's Party".
  3. Including 131,950 votes in constituency #22 (Düsseldorf 1–5) for the list "German National People's Party, German People's Party and National Association Essen".
  4. Including 164,687 votes in constituency #18 (Arnsberg) for the list "German People's Party and German National People's Party".
  5. Note: data is incomplete for Pomerania, Posen, the district of Merseburg and Schmalkalden, and Schleswig-Holstein. Accurate totals therefore cannot be given for registered voters, voter turnout, and valid/invalid votes.
  6. Zentrum ran a joint list with the DHP in constituency #16 (Hannover-Hildesheim-Lüneburg). Five DHP members and two Zentrum members were elected on this list.
  7. The DNVP ran on a joint list with the DVP in constituency #18 (Arnsberg). Four DVP members and no DNVP members were elected on this list.
  8. The DVP ran on a joint list with the DDP in constituency #21 (Koblenz/Trier). Two DDP members and no DVP members were elected on this list.
  9. The DVP ran on a joint list with the DNVP in constituency #22 (Düsseldorf 1–5). Three DNVP members and no DVP members were elected on this list.
  10. Zentrum was the only party that fielded a list in constituency #24 (Sigmaringen).

References
  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p762 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p776
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