| Country: | Weimar Republic |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 1912 German federal election |
| Previous Year: | 1912 |
| Next Election: | 1920 German federal election |
| Next Year: | 1920 |
| Seats For Election: | All 423 seats in the Weimar National Assembly |
| Majority Seats: | 212 |
| Registered: | 36,779,888 (154.7%) |
| Turnout: | 83.0% (1.9pp) |
| Leader1: | Friedrich Ebert &<br> |
| Party1: | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| Seats1: | 165 |
| Popular Vote1: | 11,516,852 |
| Percentage1: | 37.9% |
| Leader2: | Adolf Gröber |
| Party2: | CVP |
| Seats2: | 91 |
| Popular Vote2: | 5,980,259 |
| Percentage2: | 19.7% |
| Leader3: | Friedrich von Payer |
| Party3: | German Democratic Party |
| Seats3: | 75 |
| Popular Vote3: | 5,643,506 |
| Percentage3: | 18.6% |
| Leader4: | Arthur von Posadowsky-Wehner |
| Party4: | German National People's Party |
| Seats4: | 44 |
| Popular Vote4: | 3,121,541 |
| Percentage4: | 10.3% |
| Leader5: | Hugo Haase |
| Party5: | Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| Seats5: | 22 |
| Popular Vote5: | 2,319,235 |
| Percentage5: | 7.6% |
| Leader6: | Rudolf Heinze |
| Party6: | German People's Party |
| Seats6: | 19 |
| Popular Vote6: | 1,345,712 |
| Percentage6: | 4.4% |
| Government | |
| Before Election: | Council of the People's Deputies |
| Before Party: | SPD–USPD |
| Posttitle: | Government after election |
| After Election: | Scheidemann cabinet |
| After Party: | SPD–DDP–Z |
Federal elections were held in Germany on 19 January 1919,[1] although members of the standing army in the east did not vote until 2 February. The elections were the first of the new Weimar Republic, which had been established after World War I and the Revolution of 1918–19, and the first with women's suffrage. The previous constituencies, which heavily overrepresented rural areas, were scrapped, and the elections held using a form of proportional representation.[2] The voting age was also lowered from 25 to 20.[3] Austrian citizens living in Germany were allowed to vote, with German citizens living in Austria being allowed to vote in the February 1919 Constitutional Assembly elections.[4]
From its inaugural session on 6 February, the National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) functioned as both a constituent assembly and unicameral legislature. The supporting parties of the "Weimar Coalition" (SPD, Zentrum and DDP) together won 76.2% of the votes cast; on 13 February, provisional president Friedrich Ebert appointed Philipp Scheidemann, of the SPD, as Minister-President. The office was later renamed Chancellor when the Weimar Constitution came into force in August 1919. The Scheidemann cabinet replaced the revolutionary Rat der Volksbeauftragten (Council of the People's Deputies). Voter turnout was 83.0%.[5]
The 423 seats of the National Constituent Assembly were set to be elected in 38 multi-member constituencies of between six and 17 seats using party-list proportional representation. Two seats were reserved for representatives of standing troops in the east of the country. Apparentment was also in effect, allowing parties to form coalitions in constituencies, using one common list (although a party could only win seats if it put forward candidates in those constituencies). The voting age was set at 20.
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) supported Germany's involvement in World War I. Anti-war members of the party formed the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD). The Council of the People's Deputies was initially made up of members of both parties, but the USPD left following the usage of the Freikorps to suppress the Spartacist uprising.
The Communist Party boycotted the election.
The SPD saw their share of the vote increased compared to the previous election despite the presence of the USPD. The SPD formed a coalition with the Catholic Centre Party and German Democratic Party.
One constituency established by the Electoral Regulations, Elsass–Lothringen, was unable to hold its elections due to having been annexed by France in the aftermath of World War I, and in another, Posen, amidst the Greater Poland uprising, Poles boycotted the vote.