On 7 November 1961 the Bundestag elected
Konrad Adenauer as
federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany on the first ballot with 258 yes votes, 206 no votes and 16 abstentions. After Adenauer resigned on 15 October 1963
Ludwig Erhard (
CDU) was elected as his successor on 16 October 1963.
Robert Pferdmenges of the CDU served as Alterspräsident (
Father of the House), after Konrad Adneuauer (CDU) who should have had this role, had rejected it, because he considered it inappropriate for the incumbent federal chancellor to serve as Alterspräsident. He presided over the Konstituierende Sitzung [
de] of the Bundestag, the first session of a new legislative Term, until Eugen Gerstenmeier was elected as President of the Bundestag.[1]
The Members of the Bundestag
Carlo Schmid,
Erwin Schoettle (both from the
SPD),
Richard Jeager (
CSU) and
Thomas Dehler (
FDP) were nominated to serve as
vice-presidents of the Bundestag. All of the candidates except for Schoettle had held this office during the previous legislative term, the
3rd German Bundestag. Before the election arose a short discussion over the fact that the SPD parliamentary caucaus demanded to vice-presidents. All of the candidates were elected with a large majority in a non-secret ballot. All of the candidates participated in the election.[1]
Although the
CDU/CSU lost their
absolute majority, they still remained the largest party. They won a total of 242 seats as well as 9 non-voting delegates from
West Berlin. The
SPD increased their seats winning 190 and 13 non-voting delegates from West Berlin. It was the first time that the SPD did not nominate their chairman as Chancellor candidate. Instead they chose
Willy Brandt who was
Governing Mayor of Berlin at that time and who would later become the first SPD Chancellor in the Federla Republic of Germany. With 67 seats the
FDP had also won more seats than they had won in the previous
election.[2][3][4][5][6]
Summary
This summary includes changes in the numbers of the three caucuses (
CDU/
CSU,
SPD,
FDP):
Time
Reason of change
CDU/CSU
SPD
FDP
Others
Total number
1961
First meeting
242
190
67
499
20 September 1962
Wilhelm Gontrum leaves the CDU/CSU caucus and becomes unaffiliated
On 7 November 1961 the Bundestag elected
Konrad Adenauer as
federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany on the first ballot with 258 yes votes, 206 no votes and 16 abstentions. After Adenauer resigned on 15 October 1963
Ludwig Erhard (
CDU) was elected as his successor on 16 October 1963.
Robert Pferdmenges of the CDU served as Alterspräsident (
Father of the House), after Konrad Adneuauer (CDU) who should have had this role, had rejected it, because he considered it inappropriate for the incumbent federal chancellor to serve as Alterspräsident. He presided over the Konstituierende Sitzung [
de] of the Bundestag, the first session of a new legislative Term, until Eugen Gerstenmeier was elected as President of the Bundestag.[1]
The Members of the Bundestag
Carlo Schmid,
Erwin Schoettle (both from the
SPD),
Richard Jeager (
CSU) and
Thomas Dehler (
FDP) were nominated to serve as
vice-presidents of the Bundestag. All of the candidates except for Schoettle had held this office during the previous legislative term, the
3rd German Bundestag. Before the election arose a short discussion over the fact that the SPD parliamentary caucaus demanded to vice-presidents. All of the candidates were elected with a large majority in a non-secret ballot. All of the candidates participated in the election.[1]
Although the
CDU/CSU lost their
absolute majority, they still remained the largest party. They won a total of 242 seats as well as 9 non-voting delegates from
West Berlin. The
SPD increased their seats winning 190 and 13 non-voting delegates from West Berlin. It was the first time that the SPD did not nominate their chairman as Chancellor candidate. Instead they chose
Willy Brandt who was
Governing Mayor of Berlin at that time and who would later become the first SPD Chancellor in the Federla Republic of Germany. With 67 seats the
FDP had also won more seats than they had won in the previous
election.[2][3][4][5][6]
Summary
This summary includes changes in the numbers of the three caucuses (
CDU/
CSU,
SPD,
FDP):
Time
Reason of change
CDU/CSU
SPD
FDP
Others
Total number
1961
First meeting
242
190
67
499
20 September 1962
Wilhelm Gontrum leaves the CDU/CSU caucus and becomes unaffiliated