1907 German federal election

1907 German federal election

← 1903 25 January 1907 (1907-01-25) 1912 →

All 397 seats in the Reichstag
199 seats needed for a majority
Registered13,352,880 Increase 6.56%
Turnout11,303,537 (84.65%) Increase 8.57pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Franz von Ballestrem Otto von Manteuffel Ernst Bassermann
Party Centre DKP NlP
Last election 19.75%, 100 seats 9.49%, 52 seats 13.71%, 50 seats
Seats won 101 59 56
Seat change Increase 1 Increase 7 Increase 6
Popular vote 2,116,246 1,060,209 1,666,705
Percentage 18.79% 9.41% 14.80%
Swing Decrease 0.96pp Decrease 0.08pp Increase 1.10pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
DRP
Leader Paul Singer &
August Bebel
Hermann
Müller-Sagan
Party SPD FVP DRP
Last election 31.71%, 81 seats 5.65%, 21 seats 3.54%, 21 seats
Seats won 43 29 24
Seat change Decrease 38 Increase 8 Increase 3
Popular vote 3,259,029 737,220 471,863
Percentage 28.94% 6.55% 4.19%
Swing Decrease 2.77pp Increase 0.90pp Increase 0.65pp

Map of results (by constituencies)

President of the Reichstag before election

Franz von Ballestrem
Centre

President of the Reichstag after election

Udo zu Stolberg-Wernigerode
Independent

Federal elections were held in Germany on 25 January 1907.[1] Despite the Social Democratic Party (SPD) receiving a clear plurality of votes, they were hampered by the unequal constituency sizes that favoured rural seats.[2] As a result, the Centre Party remained the largest party in the Reichstag after winning 101 of the 397 seats, whilst the SPD won only 43.[3] Voter turnout was 84.7%.[4]

This election was known as the "Hottentot Election" due to the scandal over the ongoing genocide of the Khoisan people in German South West Africa.[5]

  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p762 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p747
  3. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p789
  4. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p775
  5. ^ "Hottentot election [German Empire federal elections of 1907]". dict.cc. TU Chemnitz. Retrieved 20 August 2020.