1. By: Benedict Gombocz
German federal elections of 1990, 1994, 1998,
2002, 2005, 2009, and 2013

2. German federal election, 1990
 12th German federal election; conducted 2
December 1990 to elect members to the
German parliament (Bundestag) of the Federal
Republic of Germany
 First free German election since federal election
of 1933 that granted Adolf Hitler powers to
make him dictator
 First election conducted after Germany’s
reunification in October; a big number of seats
were added to represent the five states of the
former German Democratic Republic (East
Germany) that were re-established without
decreasing number of Western numbers
 Euphoria following reunification gave governing
CDU/CSU-FDP coalition a striking advantage in
both the west and east of Germany during the
entire campaign
 Chancellor before election was Helmut Kohl of
CDU/CSU; elected Chancellor was Helmut Kohl
of CDU/CSU, who, with his victory, started what
would be the second eight years of being
German Chancellor (he was Chancellor of West
Germany only in what was the first eight years)

3. German federal election, 1994
 13th German federal election; conducted 16
October 1994 to elect members to the
parliament (Bundestag) of the Federal Republic
of Germany
 Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
permitted its members to elect candidate to run
for Chancellor against Helmut Kohl of CDU/CSU
 First candidate out of three (the latter two were
Gerhard Schröder and Heidemarie Wieczorek-
Zeul) was Rudolf Scharping, Minister-President
of Rhineland-Palatinate
 Tensions between Scharping and Oskar
Lafontaine and Gerhard Schröder hindered his
campaign
 For the first time, the Alliance ‘90/The Greens
(Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) seemed to be willing to
participate in a government in the event that an
SPD-Greens coalition would have majority
 Chancellor before election was Helmut Kohl of
CDU/CSU; elected Chancellor was Helmut Kohl
of CDU/CSU

4. German federal election, 1998
 Conducted 27 September 1998 to elect
members to the 14th Bundestag
 Centered on economic and domestic issues the
unified Germany had to battle even as it actively
took part in project of European integration
 Most voters blamed centre-coalition government
of Christian Democratic Union of Germany
(CDU) and Christian Social Union in Bavaria
(CSU) and liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP)
for economic problems
 Campaign of 1998 began with both CDU and
SPD questioning who would lead their parties in
the election
 Chancellor before election was Helmut Kohl of
CDU/CSU; elected Chancellor was Gerhard
Schröder of SPD, ending Helmut Kohl’s
government that had been in power since 1982

5. German federal election, 2002
 15th German federal election; conducted 22
September 2002
 Campaign of 2002 was dominated by several
issues, with opposition CDU/CSU attacking
incumbent Chancellor Gerhard Schröder’s
government’s performance on the German
economy and with campaigning on family values
issues and in opposition to taxes (especially on
fuel)
 The government of the ruling SPD, on the other
hand, was aided by broad support for its
opposition to the George W. Bush
administration’s vote to invade Iraq and Gerhard
Schröder’s personal popularity in relation to
opponent Edmund Stoiber of CDU/CSU
 Chancellor before election was Gerhard
Schröder of SPD; elected Chancellor was
Gerhard Schröder of SPD
 Second election (the first being 1994) in which a
government had been re-elected

6. German federal election, 2005
 Took place 18 September 2005 to elect
members of 16th German Bundestag; became
necessary after motion of no confidence in
incumbent Chancellor Gerhard Schröder failed
to pass on 1 July
 Opposition CDU and CSU (its sister party
represented only in Bavaria, or Bayern) began
federal election campaign with 21% lead over
rival and governing SPD in opinion polls
 Several commentators believed the Christian
Democrats would win clear electoral victory and
Angela Merkel, leader of CDU, would become
Chancellor, forming government coalition with
Free Democratic Party (FDP) and replace ruling
SPD-Greens coalition
 Chancellor before election was Gerhard
Schröder of SPD; elected Chancellor was
Angela Merkel of CDU/CSU, who thus was the
first woman to be elected German Chancellor

7. German federal election, 2009
 Took place 27 September 2009 to elect
members of 17th Bundestag
 Prepatory results showed favor to governing
CDU, CSU, and FDP; the three parties, which
had formed a coalition after victory in previous
election, declared they would form new centre-
right government
 Their principal opponent, Frank-Walter Steinmeir
of SPD, acknowledged defeat
 Christian Democrats previously ruled in coalition
with FDP in most of the governments of West
German Chancellors Konrad Adenauer, Ludwig
Erhard, and Helmut Kohl (1949-1966 and 1982-
1998, respectively)
 Chancellor before election was Angela Merkel of
CDU/CSU; elected Chancellor was Angela
Merkel of CDU/CSU
 Third election (the first two being 1994 and
2002) that re-elected incumbent government

8. German federal election, 2013
 Currently ongoing (22 September 2013), and will
decide the 630 members of 18th Bundestag,
Germany’s major federal legislative house
 Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social
Union (CDU/CSU) alliance of Chancellor Angela
Merkel won with their best result since 1990,
with about 42% of the vote and about 50% of the
seats
 Conversely, CDU/CSU alliance’s coalition
partner, Free Democrats (FDP), lost their seats
in Bundestag
 Merkel will have to turn to opposition Social
Democrats (SPD) for grand coalition, or to the
Greens to create majority government