| Election Name: | 1965 West German federal election |
| Country: | West Germany |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1961 West German federal election |
| Previous Year: | 1961 |
| Next Election: | 1969 West German federal election |
| Next Year: | 1969 |
| Outgoing Members: | List of members of the 4th Bundestag |
| Elected Members: | List of members of the 5th Bundestag |
| Seats For Election: | All 496 seats in the Bundestag |
| Majority Seats: | 249 |
| Registered: | 38,510,395 2.9% |
| Turnout: | 33,416,207 (86.8%) 0.9 pp |
| Candidate1: | Ludwig Erhard |
| Party1: | CDU/CSU |
| Last Election1: | 45.3%, 242 seats |
| Seats1: | 245 |
| Seat Change1: | 3 |
| Popular Vote1: | 15,524,068 |
| Percentage1: | 47.6% |
| Swing1: | 2.3 pp |
| Candidate2: | Willy Brandt |
| Party2: | Social Democratic Party of Germany |
| Last Election2: | 36.2%, 190 seats |
| Seats2: | 202 |
| Seat Change2: | 12 |
| Popular Vote2: | 12,813,186 |
| Percentage2: | 39.3% |
| Swing2: | 3.1 pp |
| Candidate3: | Erich Mende |
| Party3: | Free Democratic Party (Germany) |
| Last Election3: | 12.8%, 67 seats |
| Seats3: | 49 |
| Seat Change3: | 18 |
| Popular Vote3: | 3,096,739 |
| Percentage3: | 9.5% |
| Swing3: | 3.3 pp |
| Map Size: | 333px |
| Government | |
| Before Election: | First Erhard cabinet |
| Before Party: | CDU/CSU–FDP |
| Posttitle: | Government after election |
| After Election: | Second Erhard cabinet |
| After Party: | CDU/CSU–FDP |
Federal elections were held in West Germany on 19 September 1965 to elect the members of the 5th Bundestag. The CDU/CSU remained the largest faction, while the Social Democratic Party remained the largest single party in the Bundestag, winning 217 of the 518 seats (including 15 of the 22 non-voting delegates for West Berlin).
Federal Chancellor Ludwig Erhard was initially popular as the acclaimed "father" of West Germany's economic miracle of the 1950s and early 1960s. West Germany's economy still seemed solid in 1965, and thus not enough West German voters wanted to change the party of Federal Chancellor. To ensure his victory in this Bundestag election, Erhard promised to cut income tax and to increase social program spending.[1] [2]
| State | Total seats | Seats won | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDU | SPD | CSU | |||
| Baden-Württemberg | 36 | 30 | 6 | ||
| Bavaria | 44 | 8 | 36 | ||
| Bremen | 3 | 3 | |||
| Hamburg | 8 | 8 | |||
| Hesse | 22 | 5 | 17 | ||
| Lower Saxony | 30 | 20 | 10 | ||
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 73 | 38 | 35 | ||
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 16 | 11 | 5 | ||
| Saarland | 5 | 4 | 1 | ||
| Schleswig-Holstein | 11 | 10 | 1 | ||
| Total | 248 | 118 | 94 | 36 | |
| State | Total seats | Seats won | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPD | CDU | FDP | CSU | |||
| Baden-Württemberg | 32 | 17 | 5 | 10 | ||
| Bavaria | 42 | 22 | 7 | 13 | ||
| Bremen | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Hamburg | 9 | 1 | 7 | 1 | ||
| Hesse | 23 | 4 | 13 | 6 | ||
| Lower Saxony | 32 | 16 | 9 | 7 | ||
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 80 | 31 | 36 | 13 | ||
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 15 | 7 | 5 | 3 | ||
| Saarland | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Schleswig-Holstein | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Total | 248 | 108 | 78 | 49 | 13 | |
The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, with Ludwig Erhard as Chancellor. In 1966, the FDP left the coalition over budget issues, and Erhard resigned. Kurt Georg Kiesinger (also CDU) formed a new grand coalition between the CDU/CSU and the SPD which lasted until the next election.