An indirect presidential election (officially the 5th Federal Convention) was held in West Germany on 5 March 1969. The incumbent President, Heinrich Lübke had served two terms and was therefore ineligible for a third. The Christian Democratic Union nominated defense minister Gerhard Schröder. Schröder was a controversial choice, even within his own party, since he had been a member of the NSDAP and the SA under Hitler. Other potential candidates included Helmut Kohl and Richard von Weizsäcker, relatively unknown names at the time, who would go on to serve as Chancellor and President respectively. Justice Minister Gustav Heinemann was nominated by the Social Democratic Party and supported by the opposition Free Democratic Party. With neither candidate able to win an absolute majority, Heinemann won the election on the third ballot by only 6 votes.

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1969 West German presidential election

← 1964 5 March 1969 1974 →

Nominee Gustav Heinemann Gerhard Schröder Party SPD CDU Electoral vote 514 (1st round) 511 (2nd round) 512 (3rd round) 501 (1st round) 507 (2nd round) 506 (3rd round)

President before election Heinrich Lübke CDU Elected President Gustav Heinemann SPD

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Gustav Heinemann became the first Social Democrat to be elected German President in 50 years.

The President is elected by the Federal Convention consisting of all the members of the Bundestag and an equal number of delegates representing the states. These are divided proportionally by population to each state, and each state's delegation is divided among the political parties represented in its parliament so as to reflect the partisan proportions in the parliament.

Source: Eine Dokumentation aus Anlass der Wahl des Bundespräsidenten am 18. März 2012