1871 German federal election

1871 German federal election

← 1868 3 March 1871 (1871-03-03) 1874 →
All 382 seats in the Reichstag 192 seats needed for a majority
Registered	7,656,283
Turnout	3,905,531 (51.01%)
First party Second party Third party   Con Leader Rudolf von Bennigsen Hermann von Mallinckrodt Party NlP Centre Conservatives Leader since 1867 1870 Last election 23.28%, 104 seats Did not exist 14.82%, 65 seats Seats won 117 58 56 Seat change 13 New party 9 Popular vote 1,125,942 707,896 524,881 Percentage 28.97% 18.21% 13.51% Swing 5.69 pp New party 1.31 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   DFP Leader Viktor I, Duke of Ratibor Chlodwig Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst Party DFP DRP LRP Leader since 1871 Last election 8.75%, 31 seats 6.67%, 37 seats Did not exist Seats won 45 37 33 Seat change 14 0 New party Popular vote 351,209 343,098 274,068 Percentage 9.04% 8.83% 7.05% Swing 0.29 pp 2.16 pp New party
Map of results (by constituencies)
President of the Zollparlament before election Eduard von Simson Independent President of the Reichstag after election Eduard von Simson Independent

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of Germany
Constitution (Basic Law) Federal Constitutional Court Human rights
Head of State President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD)
Executive Chancellor of Germany (list) Olaf Scholz (SPD) Vice Chancellor of Germany Robert Habeck (Grüne) Cabinet Scholz Federal agencies
Legislature Bundestag constituencies members Bundesrat Vermittlungsausschuss Gemeinsamer Ausschuss
Judiciary Federal Constitutional Court Federal courts Ordinary Administrative Fiscal Labour Social Joint Senate Other courts
Subdivisions State (Land) Minister president State Parliament (Landtag) composition Regierungsbezirk District (Kreis) list Collective municipality (Amt) Municipality (Gemeinde) list
Elections Electoral system Political parties Referendums Coalitions Federal Convention (Bundesversammlung) Presidential elections Weimar Republic (1919–1933) 1919 1925 1932 East Germany (1949–1960) 1949 1953 1957 Federal Republic of Germany (since 1949) 1949 1954 1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2010 2012 2017 2022 Parliamentary election 1867 (Feb) 1867 (Aug) 1868 1871 1874 1877 1878 1881 1884 1887 1890 1893 1898 1903 1907 1912 1919 1920 1924 (May) 1924 (Dec) 1928 1930 1932 (July) 1932 (Nov) 1933 (Mar) 1933 (Nov) 1936 1938 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1972 1976 1980 1983 1987 1990 1994 1998 2002 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025 European elections 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2024
State and local politics State Politics Baden-Württemberg Bavaria Berlin Brandenburg Bremen Hamburg Hesse Lower Saxony Mecklenburg-Vorpommern North Rhine-Westphalia Rhineland-Palatinate Saarland Saxony Saxony-Anhalt Schleswig-Holstein Thuringia
Foreign relations Foreign relations by country France Italy UK USA China Russia International Relations Politics of the European Union Visa Passport
Political ideologies Political culture / Federalism Communism Conservatism (Agrarian Conservatism) Far-right Liberalism Social Democracy
Germany portal Politics portal Other countries
v t e

The first federal elections were held in Germany on 3 March 1871.^[1] The National Liberal Party emerged as the largest party in the Reichstag, with 117 of the 382 seats.^[2] Voter turnout was just 51%.