# 1987 West German federal election

Federal elections were held in West Germany on 25 January 1987 to elect the members of the 11th Bundestag. This was the last federal election held in West Germany before German reunification.

## Issues and campaign

The SPD nominated Johannes Rau, their vice chairman and the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, as their candidate for Chancellor. However, the SPD suffered from internal divisions and competition with the Greens. It was also unclear as to how they would form a government, as the Greens were divided over whether to take part in governments.
One of the major issues in this election was the environment, after the Chernobyl disaster and other accidents.

## Results

Seats :
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Elected | West Berlin | Total | +/– |
| | Social Democratic Party | 14,025,763 | 37.04 | 107 | 14,787,953 | 39.18 | 79 | 186 | 7 | 193 | –9 |
| | Christian Democratic Union | 13,045,745 | 34.45 | 50 | 14,168,527 | 37.54 | 124 | 174 | 11 | 185 | –17 |
| | Christian Social Union | 3,715,827 | 9.81 | 4 | 3,859,244 | 10.23 | 45 | 49 | 0 | 49 | –4 |
| | Free Democratic Party | 3,440,911 | 9.09 | 46 | 1,760,496 | 4.66 | 0 | 46 | 2 | 48 | +13 |
| | The Greens | 3,126,256 | 8.26 | 42 | 2,649,459 | 7.02 | 0 | 42 | 2 | 44 | +16 |
| | National Democratic Party | 227,054 | 0.60 | 0 | 182,880 | 0.48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Ecological Democratic Party | 109,152 | 0.29 | 0 | 40,765 | 0.11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | The Women | 62,904 | 0.17 | 0 | | | | 0 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Bavaria Party | 26,367 | 0.07 | 0 | 8,024 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | Responsible Citizens | 24,630 | 0.07 | 0 | 611 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Patriots for Germany | 22,732 | 0.06 | 0 | 27,352 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Centre Party | 19,035 | 0.05 | 0 | 4,020 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany | 13,422 | 0.04 | 0 | 596 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Christian Bavarian People's Party | 5,282 | 0.01 | 0 | 741 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | All Social Insurants and Pensioners | 1,834 | 0.00 | 0 | 3,151 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Free German Workers' Party | 405 | 0.00 | 0 | 349 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Humanist Party | | | | 788 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Solidarity | | | | 754 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Independent Workers' Party | | | | 352 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Family Party | | | | 130 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Free Social Union | | | | 110 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | New |
| | Independents and voter groups | | | | 246,511 | 0.65 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 37,867,319 | 100.00 | 249 | 37,742,813 | 100.00 | 248 | 497 | 22 | 519 | –1 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 37,867,319 | 99.06 | | 37,742,813 | 98.74 | | | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 357,975 | 0.94 | | 482,481 | 1.26 | | | | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 38,225,294 | 100.00 | | 38,225,294 | 100.00 | | | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 45,327,982 | 84.33 | | 45,327,982 | 84.33 | | | | | |
| Source: Bundeswahlleiter ||||||||||||

### Results by state
#### Constituency seats

| State | Total seats | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won |
| State | Total seats | CDU | SPD | CSU |
| Baden-Württemberg | 37 | 36 | 1 | |
| Bavaria | 45 | | | 45 |
| Bremen | 3 | | 3 | |
| Hamburg | 7 | 2 | 5 | |
| Hesse | 22 | 14 | 8 | |
| Lower Saxony | 31 | 18 | 13 | |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 71 | 33 | 38 | |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 16 | 11 | 5 | |
| Saarland | 5 | 2 | 3 | |
| Schleswig-Holstein | 11 | 8 | 3 | |
| Total | 248 | 124 | 79 | 45 |

#### List seats

| State | Total seats | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won |
| State | Total seats | SPD | CDU | FDP | Grüne | CSU |
| Baden-Württemberg | 37 | 21 | | 9 | 7 | |
| Bavaria | 42 | 24 | | 7 | 7 | 4 |
| Bremen | 4 | | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Hamburg | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | |
| Hesse | 23 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 4 | |
| Lower Saxony | 32 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 5 | |
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 72 | 24 | 25 | 12 | 11 | |
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 16 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | |
| Saarland | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Schleswig-Holstein | 11 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Total | 249 | 107 | 50 | 46 | 42 | 4 |

## Aftermath

The coalition between the CDU/CSU and the FDP returned to government, with Helmut Kohl as Chancellor. The Greens came into parliament for the second time and seemed to be established on federal level.

### Co-option of East German Volkskammer after reunification

In order to determine the composition of the East German representatives in the Bundestag between German reunification and the first post-reunification elections in December 1990, the results of the 1990 East German general election were recounted, using the new states of Germany as constituencies. This was possible since the original election results were declared on the Kreis level, and the states were re-established by simply amalgamating Kreise together. The results in each Kreis forming a state were summed up to determine the statewide result. The recount fixed the number of Volkskammer members from each party who would be co-opted into the Bundestag elected in 1987. The 22 Non-voting representatives of West Berlin already became full voting members on 8 June 1990, in advance of unification.

### Co-optation results
#### Seats

| State | State | Total seats | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won | Seats won |
| State | State | Total seats | CDU | SPD | PDS | FDP | DSU | B90/G | VL |
| Brandenburg | Brandenburg | 22 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Berlin | Total | 33 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 3 | | 1 | 1 |
| Berlin | East | 11 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | | 1 | 1 |
| Berlin | West | 22 | 11 | 7 | | 2 | | 2 | |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | 17 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | | 1 | |
| Saxony | Saxony | 43 | 20 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 2 | |
| Saxony-Anhalt | Saxony-Anhalt | 27 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Thuringia | Thuringia | 24 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total (East Germany Only) | Total (East Germany Only) | 144 | 63 | 33 | 23 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| Total (Including West Berlin) | Total (Including West Berlin) | 166 | 74 | 40 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 1 |