Federal elections were held in Germany on 2 December 1990 to elect the members of the 12th Bundestag. This was the first all-German election since the Nazi show election in April 1938, the first multi-party all-German election since that of March 1933, which was held after the Nazi seizure of power and was subject to widespread suppression, and the first free and fair all-German election since November 1932. The result was a comprehensive victory for the governing coalition of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), which was reelected to a third term. The second vote result of the CDU/CSU, 20,358,096 votes, remains the highest ever total vote count in a democratic German election.

Quick Facts All 662 seats in the Bundestag 332 seats needed for a majority, Registered ...

1990 German federal election

← West 1987 ← East 1990 2 December 1990 (1990-12-02) 1994 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 662 seats in the Bundestag 332 seats needed for a majority
Registered	60,436,560 33.3%
Turnout	46,995,915 (77.8%) 6.5pp
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Helmut Kohl Oskar Lafontaine Otto Graf Lambsdorff Party CDU/CSU SPD FDP Last election 44.3%, 223 seats 37.0%, 186 seats 9.1%, 46 seats Seats before 297[lower-alpha 1] 226 57 Seats won 319 239 79 Seat change 14 13 22 Popular vote 20,358,096 15,545,366 5,123,233 Percentage 43.8% 33.5% 11.0% Swing 0.5pp 3.5pp 1.9pp   Fourth party Fifth party   B90 Candidate Gregor Gysi None Party PDS Greens (East)[lower-alpha 2] Last election Did not exist Did not exist Seats before 24 7 Seats won 17 8 Seat change 7 1 Popular vote 1,129,578 559,207 Percentage 2.4%[lower-alpha 3] 1.2%[lower-alpha 4] Swing New party New party
The left side shows constituency winners of the election by their party colours. The right side shows party list winners of the election for the additional members by their party colours.
Government before election Third Kohl cabinet CDU/CSU–FDP Government after election Fourth Kohl cabinet CDU/CSU–FDP

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The elections marked the first since 1957 that a party other than CDU/CSU and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) won a constituency seat, and the first (and only) time since 1957 that FDP won a constituency seat (Halle).

This was the first election conducted after German reunification which took place on 3 October. Previously, the Volkskammer had selected 144 of its members which were then co-opted as Members of the German Bundestag and served until the end of the 11th Bundestag.

Almost 150 seats had been added to represent the re-established eastern states of Germany, without reducing the number of western members. The euphoria following the reunification gave the ruling CDU/CSU–FDP coalition a dramatic advantage in both Western and Eastern Germany throughout the campaign.

It was the one election for which the 5% threshold was applied not nationwide but separately for the former East Germany (including East Berlin) and former West Germany (including West Berlin). As a result, while the Western Greens did not gain representation, their ideologically-similar Eastern Alliance 90 did, with both merging to form Alliance 90/The Greens in 1993. The combined vote of the two lists totals over 5%, but as the two lists would not merge until 1993, it thus did not entitle the East German party to any elected members from the former West Germany, unlike the PDS, who managed to elect Ulla Jelpke in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The German Social Union (DSU) under leader Hansjoachim Walther, a right-wing party modeled after the Bavarian CSU running only in former East Germany, failed to achieve the separate 5% threshold, only receiving around 1% of the vote in the eastern states, mostly in the southeast. As part of the co-option, the DSU had previously had eight Members of the Bundestag, who sat as guests in the CDU/CSU caucus. The CSU, which had heavily supported the DSU financially, severed its ties in 1993 and the party fell into irrelevancy. After a law allowing a linkage of the lists of the CSU and DSU was overturned by the Federal Constitutional Court, the CSU tried to convince the CDU to stand down in several single-member constituencies to enable the DSU to enter the Bundestag separate from the 5% threshold, but Kohl adamantly refused.

All change figures are relative to the pre-existing West German Bundestag.

Results by state

Second vote (Zweitstimme, or votes for party list)

More information State, CDU/CSU ...

State	CDU/CSU	SPD	FDP	Grüne	PDS	REP	Others
Baden-Württemberg	46.5	29.1	12.3	5.7	0.3	3.2	2.9
Bavaria	51.9	26.7	8.7	4.6	0.2	5.0	2.9
Berlin	39.4	30.6	9.1	7.2[lower-alpha 5]	9.7	2.5	0.7
Brandenburg	36.3	32.9	9.7	6.6	11.0	1.7	1.8
Bremen	30.9	42.5	12.8	8.3	1.1	2.1	2.3
Hamburg	36.6	41.0	12.0	5.8	1.1	1.7	1.8
Hesse	41.3	38.0	10.9	5.6	0.4	2.1	1.7
Lower Saxony	44.3	38.4	10.3	4.5	0.3	1.0	1.2
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	41.2	26.5	9.1	5.9	14.2	1.4	1.7
North Rhine-Westphalia	40.5	41.1	11.0	4.3	0.3	1.3	1.5
Rhineland-Palatinate	45.6	36.1	10.4	4.0	0.2	1.7	2.0
Saarland	38.1	51.2	6.0	2.3	0.2	0.9	1.3
Saxony	49.5	18.2	12.4	5.9	9.0	1.2	3.8
Saxony-Anhalt	38.6	24.7	19.7	5.3	9.4	1.0	1.3
Schleswig-Holstein	43.5	38.5	11.4	4.0	0.3	1.2	1.1
Thuringia	45.2	21.9	14.6	6.1	8.3	1.2	2.7
Old states (West)	44.3	35.7	10.6	4.8	0.3	2.3	2.0
New states (East)	41.8	24.3	12.9	6.2	11.1	1.5	2.3

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Constituency seats

More information State, Total seats ...

State	Total seats	Seats won
		CDU	SPD	CSU	FDP	PDS
Baden-Württemberg	37	36	1
Bavaria	45		2	43
Berlin	13	8	4			1
Brandenburg	12	7	5
Bremen	3		3
Hamburg	7	1	6
Hesse	22	13	9
Lower Saxony	31	20	11
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	9	8	1
North Rhine-Westphalia	71	33	38
Rhineland-Palatinate	16	12	4
Saarland	5		5
Saxony	21	21
Saxony-Anhalt	13	12			1
Schleswig-Holstein	11	9	2
Thuringia	12	12
Total	328	192	91	43	1	1

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List seats

More information State, Total seats ...

State	Total seats	Seats won
		SPD	FDP	CDU	PDS	CSU	B90/Gr.
Baden-Württemberg	36	23	10	3
Bavaria	41	24	9			8
Berlin	15	5	3	4	2		1
Brandenburg	10	2	2	1	3		2
Bremen	3		1	2
Hamburg	7		2	5
Hesse	26	11	6	9
Lower Saxony	34	16	7	11
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	7	3	1		2		1
North Rhine-Westphalia	75	27	17	30	1
Rhineland-Palatinate	18	9	4	5
Saarland	6	1	1	4
Saxony	19	8	5		4		2
Saxony-Anhalt	13	6	4		2		1
Schleswig-Holstein	13	8	3	2
Thuringia	11	5	3		2		1
Total	334	148	78	76	16	8	8

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The governing CDU/CSU-FDP coalition was returned to office with a landslide majority, and Helmut Kohl remained chancellor. The CDU did exceptionally well in the former East Germany, which had been the heartland of the SPD before the Nazi era.