1975 West Berlin state election explained

The election to the Berlin House of Representatives occurred on March 2, 1975. The election campaign was marked by the kidnapping of the CDU top candidate, Peter Lorenz. Lorenz was kidnapped three days before the election by 2 June Movement who demanded the release of six of their comrades. This left incumbent SPD mayor Klaus Schütz in the somewhat awkward position of having to determine, so to speak, the life of his challenger. After the federal government gave in to the demands by the 2 June Movement, Peter Lorenz was released two days after the election.

In the election the SPD lost 7.8 percentage points in the election, and with 42.6% of the vote lost its absolute majority that it had held since 1954. The election results gave the power of determining the governing coalition to the FDP. After negotiations, incumbent SPD mayor Klaus Schütz was able to be re-elected at the head of an SPD-FDP government.

Election Date:2 March 1975
Election Name:1975 West Berlin state election
Type:legislative
Country:West Berlin
Party Name:yes
Previous Election:1971 West Berlin state election
Previous Year:1971
Next Election:1979 West Berlin state election
Next Year:1979
Party1:Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Leader1:Peter Lorenz
Last Election1:54 seats, 38.2%
Seats Before1:54
Seats After1:69
Leader2:Klaus Schütz
Party2:Social Democratic Party of Germany
Last Election2:73 seats, 50.4%
Seats Before2:73
Seats After2:67
Seat Change2: 6
Seat Change1: 15
Party3:Free Democratic Party (Germany)
Last Election3:11 seats, 8.4%
Seats Before3:11
Seats After3:11
Majority Seats:74
Seats For Election:All 147 seats in the House of Representatives
Popular Vote1:604,007
Popular Vote2:585,605
Popular Vote3:97,969
Percentage1:43.9%
Percentage2:42.6%
Percentage3:7.1%
Swing1: 5.7%
Swing2: 7.8%
Swing3: 1.3%
Mayor
Before Election:Klaus Schütz
Before Party:Social Democratic Party of Germany
After Election:Klaus Schütz
After Party:Social Democratic Party of Germany