German election, 1930

German federal election, 1930

← 1928 14 September 1930 July 1932 →
All 577 seats in the Reichstag 289 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	82.0%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Otto Wels Adolf Hitler Ernst Thälmann Party SPD NSDAP KPD Leader since 1919 28 July 1921 October 1925 Last election 153 seats, 29.8% 12 seats, 2.6% 54 seats, 10.6% Seats won 143 107 77 Seat change 10 95 23 Popular vote 8,575,244 6,379,672 4,590,160 Percentage 24.53% 18.25% 13.13% Swing 5.23% 15.69% 2.51%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Ludwig Kaas Alfred Hugenberg Ernst Scholz Party Centre DNVP DVP Leader since September 1928 1928 1929 Last election 61 seats, 12.1% 73 seats, 14.2% 45 seats, 8.7% Seats won 68 41 30 Seat change 7 32 15 Popular vote 4,127,000 2,457,686 1,577,365 Percentage 11.81% 7.03% 4.51% Swing 0.26% 7.22% 3.97%
Seats in the Reichstag after 1930 federal election.
Chancellor before election Heinrich Brüning Centre Elected Chancellor None (Brüning remained unelected Chancellor)

Heinrich Brüning
Centre

None (Brüning remained unelected Chancellor)

The German federal election occurred on 14 September 1930. Despite losing 10 seats, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) remained the largest party in the Reichstag, winning 143 of the 577 seats, whilst the Nazi Party (NSDAP) dramatically increased its number of seats from 12 to 107.

The two major parties of the Weimar Coalition, the SPD and Zentrum (Centre Party) had no high gains or losses – in contrast to their partner DVP, but the two results of the elections seen as dramatic were the NSDAP reaching more than 100 seats, and big gains for the Communists (KPD) – an additional 23 seats.

The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) had won the most votes and had led the ruling coalition in every previous post-World War I election before the election of 1930.

In the 1924 elections, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) received 26% of the popular vote, securing 131 parliamentary seats, an increase of 31 seats over the previous election. In the 1928 election, the SPD secured 29.8% of the vote and 153 seats, up 22 from the 1924 federal election. In 1928 the only other party that gained seats was the Communist Party, led by Ernst Thalmann, which received 10.6% of the vote count while securing 54 seats, up nine from the previous election. The National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) won just 2.6% of the vote, which equated to a loss of 2 seats.

In 1930 the German government was a Multi-Party Parliamentary Democracy, led by Paul von Hindenburg (1925-1933). The parliamentary democracy awarded one seat in the Reichstag per 60,000 votes. All citizens over 21 could vote, and through a system of proportional representation, a new parliament was elected every four years to deal with issues related to taxes, trade, defense, etc. The Executive was elected every seven years and was primarily in control of the armed forces, however, they also had significant powers to dissolve the Reichstag, nominate a Chancellor, veto laws, and utilize article 48.