CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties (german: Unionsparteien, ) or the Union, is a
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...
Christian-democratic
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
political alliance
A political group is a group consisting of political parties or legislators of aligned ideologies. A technical group is similar to a political group, but with members of differing ideologies.
International terms
Equivalent terms are used differ ...
of two
political parties
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...
in Germany: the
Christian Democratic Union of Germany
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany (german: link=no, Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands ; CDU ) is a Christian democratic and liberal conservative political party in Germany. It is the major catch-all party of the centre-right ...
(CDU) and the
Christian Social Union in Bavaria
The Christian Social Union in Bavaria (German: , CSU) is a Christian-democratic and conservative political party in Germany. Having a regionalist identity, the CSU operates only in Bavaria while its larger counterpart, the Christian Democratic ...
(CSU).
The CSU contests elections only in
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, while the CDU operates in the other 15
states of Germany. The CSU also reflects the particular concerns of the largely rural, Catholic
south
South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
.
["Christian Democrat Union/Christian Social Union"](_blank)
Country Studies, Germany. Retrieved 18 December 2016. While the two Christian Democratic parties are commonly described as sister parties, they have been sharing a common parliamentary group, the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group, in the German
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
(german: link=no, CDU/CSU-Fraktion im Deutschen Bundestag) since the foundation of the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
in 1949. According to German Federal Electoral Law, members of a parliamentary group which share the same basic political aims must not compete with one another in any federal state.
["Federal Electoral Law"](_blank)
German Law Archive. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
The parties themselves officially remain completely independent with their own leadership and only few issue- or age-based joint organisations, which makes the alliance informal. However, in practice the committees of the parties harmonise their decisions with each other and the two parties run behind a common candidate for
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
, and the leader of one party is usually invited to party conventions of the other party.
Both the CDU and CSU are members of the
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...
and the
International Democrat Union
The International Democrat Union (IDU) is an international alliance of centre-right political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 full and associate members from 65 countries. It is chaired by Stephen Harper, ...
. Both parties sit in the
European People's Party group
The European People's Party Group (EPP Group) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament consisting of Member of the European Parliament, deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes ...
in the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
. The CDU and CSU share a common youth organisation, the
Youth Union, a common pupil organisation, the , a common student organisation, the
Association of Christian Democratic Students
The Association of Christian Democratic Students (german: Ring Christlich-Demokratischer Studenten) is a German student organisation founded in 1951 and based in Berlin. It contains more than 100 groups at universities with 8,000 members in tot ...
and a common ''
Mittelstand
commonly refers to a group of stable business enterprises in Germany, Austria and Switzerland that have proved successful in enduring economic change and turbulence. The term is difficult to translate and may cause confusion for non-Germans. It ...
'' organisation, the .
History
Predecessors
Both the CDU and the CSU were established after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and share a perspective based on
Christian democracy
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
and
conservatism
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
and hold the dominant
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...
position in the German political spectrum. The CSU is usually considered the de facto successor of the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
–era
Bavarian People's Party
The Bavarian People's Party (german: Bayerische Volkspartei; BVP) was the Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria ...
(BVP), which itself broke away from the all-German Catholic
Centre Party (DZP) after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, but the CSU included also parts of the
agrarian and
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
Bavarian Peasants' League
The Bavarian Peasants' League (german: Bayerischer Bauernbund, or BB) was an agrarian political party in Bavaria, Germany, from 1893 to 1933. It has also been known in English as the Bavarian Farmers' League.
The BB represented the farming inte ...
and parts of the bavarian wing of the DVP. However the CDU's foundation was the result of a major re-organisation of the centre-right political camp compared to the Weimar Republic. Although the CDU was largely built as the ''de facto'' successor of the Centre Party, it successfully opened out to non-Catholic Christians (many of them affiliated with the
German People's Party
The German People's Party (German: , or DVP) was a liberal party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. A right-liberal, or conservative-liberal political party, it represented politi ...
until 1933) and successfully asserted itself as the only major conservative party (outside of Bavaria) against initial competition from other Catholic, Protestant or
national conservative
National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, fa ...
parties such as the
German Party during the early years of the Federal Republic.
The BVP became the sister party of the DZP and they did not compete against each other except for the
May 1924 German federal election
Federal elections were held in Germany on 4 May 1924,Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p762 after the Reichstag had been dissolved on 13 March. The Social Democratic Party remained the largest party ...
, the
1924 Bavarian state election and the
1925 German presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Germany on 29 March 1925, with a runoff on 26 April. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p762 They were the first direct elections to the office of President of the ...
. The DZP and BVP were mostly jointly represented at the Imperial governments. Similarly to the modern CDU/CSU split, the Bavarian People's Party was generally seen as the party further to the political right, as evidenced by the 1925 second round of the presidential election when the Center Party backed
Rhenish
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
Catholic and
Weimar Coalition
The Weimar Coalition () is the name given to the centre-leftist coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the social liberal German Democratic Party (DDP) and the Christian democratic Centre Party, who together had a large major ...
candidate
Wilhelm Marx
Wilhelm Marx (15 January 1863 – 5 August 1946) was a German lawyer, Catholic politician and a member of the Centre Party. He was the chancellor of Germany twice, from 1923 to 1925 and again from 1926 to 1928, and he also served briefly as the ...
while the BVP made common cause with the monarchist and nationalist parties in backing Prussian
junker
Junker ( da, Junker, german: Junker, nl, Jonkheer, en, Yunker, no, Junker, sv, Junker ka, იუნკერი (Iunkeri)) is a noble honorific, derived from Middle High German ''Juncherre'', meaning "young nobleman"Duden; Meaning of Junke ...
and former general
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...
despite him being a Protestant and the long-standing mutual animosity between Bavaria and Prussia.
For short periodes of time, there existed
* the as sister party of the CSU during the
1957 West German federal election
Federal elections were held in West Germany on 15 September 1957 to elect the members of the third Bundestag. The Christian Democratic Union and its longtime ally, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, won a sweeping victory, taking 270 seat ...
,
* the
German Social Union (DSU) as sister party of the CSU before the
1990 East German general election
General elections were held in East Germany on 18 March 1990. They were the only free and fair parliamentary elections in the history of the country, and the first free and fair election held in that part of Germany since November 1932.
The All ...
,
* the
East German CDU as sister party of the CDU until the
German reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
and
* the until 1947.
Alliance for Germany
The Alliance for Germany (german: Allianz für Deutschland) was an opposition coalition in East Germany. It was formed on 5 February 1990 in Berlin (then West Berlin) to stand in the East-German Volkskammer elections.
It consisted of the Christ ...
was a coalition for the
1990 East German general election
General elections were held in East Germany on 18 March 1990. They were the only free and fair parliamentary elections in the history of the country, and the first free and fair election held in that part of Germany since November 1932.
The All ...
consisting of the CDU, the DSU and
Democratic Awakening
Democratic Beginning (german: Demokratischer Aufbruch) was an East German political movement and political party that was active during the Revolutions of 1989 and in the period leading up to the German reunification. While it was a relatively ...
which merged into the CDU.
CSU ambitions to become a nationwide party
![Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F048763-0024, München, CSU-Parteitag, Strauß, Kohl](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Bundesarchiv_B_145_Bild-F048763-0024%2C_M%C3%BCnchen%2C_CSU-Parteitag%2C_Strau%C3%9F%2C_Kohl.jpg)
During the 1970s and then again after 2015, several CSU leaders have expressed the wish to make the CSU a truly independent party without formal ties to the CDU. Usually they combined this wish with an expansion to the rest of Germany.
After 1969, CDU and CSU were in the opposition in the Bundestag. CDU leader Kohl wanted to win the liberal
FDP again for a coalition with the CDU/CSU, while the CSU leader Strauß had different plans. He aimed for a right wing majority without the FDP. Additionally, Strauß thought little of the current CDU leader Kohl, a more moderate Christian Democrat.
Strauß believed that CDU and CSU should be separate national parties to address different audience: the CDU the moderate, social and liberal voters, the CSU the conservative voters. After the elections they should still form a government together.
In 1975, the federal CDU declared Kohl to be the next CDU/CSU chancellor candidate for the 1976 general elections - without consulting the CSU. Kohl did well in the elections on October 3, 1976, although
Social Democrats
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
and FDP had still enough seats to continue their coalition. Kohl decided to leave his post as prime minister of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate for the chairmanship of the CDU/CSU Bundestag faction.
![A Wildbad Kreuth](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/A_Wildbad_Kreuth.jpg)
In November that year, the 49 CSU Bundestag members gathered in the party's educational centre in
Wildbad Kreuth, Southern Bavaria. 30 of them voted for a proposal to form a CSU Bundestag parliamentary group of its own. CDU leader Kohl was informed only later via the media. This 'Kreuth separation decision' ''(Kreuther Trennungsbeschluss)'' was a major political earthquake and caused the CDU to react swiftly and resolutely. Kohl threatened the CSU by preparing the creation of a CDU party organization in Bavaria. In March 1977, the ''CDU Bayern'' was supposed to be founded in Nuremberg.
During the conflict, the
Aktionsgemeinschaft Vierte Partei, the
Bund Freies Deutschland (West-Berlin), the
Christlich Soziale Wähler Union (Saarland), the
Deutsche Union (North Rhine-Westphalia) and the
Partei Freier Bürger (Bremen) were founded. On 12 December 1976, the vote was rescinded after the CDU had threatened in turn to form local associations within Bavaria and to run in Bavarian elections against the CSU.
Strauß himself polemicised against Kohl in a closed CSU meeting on November 24 (this ''
Wienerwald speech'' was leaked, and published on November 29 in ''
Der Spiegel
''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
''):
It turned out that most local CSU leaders and also conservative CDU state leaders did not approve a separation between CSU and CDU. The CSU Bundestag members revoked their decision. On December 7, the CDU/CSU Bundestag group elected Kohl as its chairman. In 1980, Strauß was the joint CDU/CSU chancellor candidate and lost more than 4 percent of the votes. This ended his ambitions for a federal CSU.
Tensions in 2016-2021
![Angela Merkel mit Horst Seehofer 1738](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Angela_Merkel_mit_Horst_Seehofer_1738.jpg)
Under the chairmanship of
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...
(2000-2018), the CDU left some right wing positions behind and shifted more to the political centre. Especially the
2015 refugee crisis divided the German population and caused conflict between the more liberal CDU and the more anti migrant party CSU.
Therefore, a federal CSU was discussed again among party members and journalists. For example conservative ''Welt'' columnist
Ansgar Graw wrote in 2016 that CDU and CSU lost its stance as a
law and order
In modern politics, law and order is the approach focusing on harsher enforcement and penalties as ways to reduce crime. Penalties for perpetrators of disorder may include longer terms of imprisonment, mandatory sentencing, three-strikes laws a ...
party. As Merkel's CDU could not move to the right without losing credibility, Graw called the CSU to become a federal party, a right wing party that rigorously deports asylum seekers without right to stay. On the contrary, former CSU leader
Theo Waigel
Theodor Waigel (born 22 April 1939) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). He represented Neu-Ulm in the Bundestag from 1976 to 2002.
Waigel is a lawyer, and earned a doctorate in 1967. He was a member of the Bu ...
warned against a separate election campaign. In such a campaign, CDU and CSU would fight much more each other than the rest of the parties.
In 2018,
Interior Minister
An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
Horst Seehofer
Horst Lorenz Seehofer (born 4 July 1949) is a German politician who served as Minister of the Interior, Building and Community under Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), he served as the 18 ...
, a former Minister-President of Bavaria and the leader of the CSU, opposed CDU
Chancellor
Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...
's policy on Syrian refugees in Germany. Seehofer hoped to place restrictions on incoming refugees, many of whom enter the country through Bavaria. His stance was seen as being in part motivated by the
2018 Bavarian state election
The 2018 Bavarian state election took place on 14 October 2018 to elect the 180 members of the 18th Landtag of Bavaria. The outgoing government was a majority of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), led by Minister President Markus Söder.
...
in which it was feared that the
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
Alternative for Germany
Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist
*
*
*
*
*
*
* political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...
would make gains. The dispute threatened to bring down the
Merkel government which relied on the CSU for its parliamentary majority as Seehofer had indicated his resignation on 2 July, but he already rescinded it a day later after an agreement over the issue between the coalition parties (the CDU, the CSU and the SPD) had been reached.
In June 2018, CDU and CSU Bundestag members held separate meetings on the topic of refugees, which was highly unusual. A fake Twitter account announced that CSU leader
Seehofer had abolished the CDU/CSU alliance and that CDU vice chair
Bouffier had called for a CDU in Bavaria. Many journalists published the news, which was interpreted by the ''Merkur'' as a sign that such events are considered no longer absurd or unlikely. Political scientist Heinrich Oberreuter did not believe in Seehofer's threat to expand the CSU to the rest of Germany. Both parties aim essentially for the same voters. As separate parties in the general elections both would lose voters. The CSU would lose its unique selling point as a Bavarian party. With a CDU in Bavaria, the CSU would fall from 47 to 30 percent in Bavaria.
A federal CSU was again discussed prior to the general elections of 2021. CSU leader
Markus Söder
Markus Thomas Theodor Söder (born 5 January 1967) is a German politician serving as Minister-President of Bavaria since 2018 and Leader of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) since 2019.
Background, education and military service
Söde ...
was unhappy about the CDU decision to declare CDU leader Armin Laschet the chancellor candidate and successor of Angela Merkel. In September 2020, the CSU created online memberships for people not living in Bavaria. A survey in May 2021 foresaw that a federal CSU may win at least 9 percent of the votes, especially in Eastern Germany and among FDP voters.
Both parties suffered heavy losses in elections after 2017. In the Bavarian state elections of October 2018, the CSU lost 10.5 percent. With 37.2 percent, this was its worst election result since 1950. In the federal elections of 2021, the CDU lost 7.9 percent and the CSU 1.0 percent of the (party list) votes.
Political stances
The CDU and the CSU usually only differ slightly in their political stances. The CSU is usually considered more socially conservative (especially on family issues, e.g. the CSU favors providing infants' parents with compensation (Betreuungsgeld) if they intend not to use the public day nursery system to work while the CDU favors public funding of day nurseries). The CSU government in Bavaria has implemented one of the strictest
regulations for shopping hours in Germany in order to protect employees. The CSU also strongly opposed ideas of an income unrelated system of contributions to public health insurances, a proposal which met a lot of approval in the CDU in 2010.
CSU politicians often make their mark as self-declared defenders of Bavaria's state rights and cultural independence from federal or
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
bureaucrats, even in times of conservative federal governments or conservative presidents of the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
. In 1998, then-Chancellor
Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...
of the CDU had to pressure the CSU intensely not to veto the introduction of the
euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
as the new currency in Germany. On the other hand, the name euro was the idea of former CSU chairman
Theo Waigel
Theodor Waigel (born 22 April 1939) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). He represented Neu-Ulm in the Bundestag from 1976 to 2002.
Waigel is a lawyer, and earned a doctorate in 1967. He was a member of the Bu ...
, who served as finance minister when the euro was introduced and held a very pro-European position in contrast to the Bavarian government of
Edmund Stoiber
Edmund Rüdiger Stoiber (born 28 September 1941) is a German politician who served as the 16th Minister President of the States of Germany, state of Bavaria between 1993 and 2007 and chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, Christian So ...
. Since 2016, the CSU has strongly been advocating the idea of a maximum number (Obergrenze) of 200,000 people per year to limit the number of asylum seekers. This is opposed by the CDU because they claim that it is impossible to limit the number through border control.
While both parties officially identify themselves as
non-denominational Christian
Nondenominational Christianity (or non-denominational Christianity) consists of churches which typically distance themselves from the confessionalism or creedalism of other Christian communities by not formally aligning with a specific Christian d ...
, the
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
influence on the CSU is stronger than that on the CDU since Bavaria is predominantly Catholic while Christians in Germany as a whole are approximately equally balanced between Catholics and Protestants. There are nevertheless strong regional differences within Bavaria and Germany as a whole with large predominantly Protestant areas in northern Bavaria and large predominantly Catholic areas in
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
and South Western Germany having a strong effect on CDU state politicians.
Saarland
The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...
's former CDU Minister-President
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (; Kramp; born 9 August 1962), sometimes referred to by her initials of AKK, is a retired German politician who served as Minister of Defence from 2019 to 2021 and as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from ...
heavily opposed same-sex marriages in July 2017 while the CDU in
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...
was in favor, with Saarland having the largest share of Catholic Christians in any German state.
Forms of cooperation
CDU and CSU are two separate parties with separate organization. While the CDU is a federal party with members and local affiliations in 15 of the 16 German states, the CSU has members and affiliations only in Bavaria. (CSU online members live outside of Bavaria but have no vote within the party.) Also, the CDU is running only in regional and local elections outside of Bavaria. Both parties do have party lists for the general (federal) elections to the Bundestag: the CDU has 15 lists in each of the 15 non Bavarian states, the CSU only in Bavaria.
Since 1972, both parties agreed a joint election manifesto for the federal elections. Sometimes the CSU published additionally a manifesto of its own. Both parties always gather behind a joint candidate for the chancellorship. There is no approved procedure to select this candidate, creating tensions between both parties from time to time. During the federal campaign, the CSU may decide to present mainly Bavarian candidates on the election posters and not the CDU joint chancellor candidate,
[Luisa Billmayer]
„Nicht nur den Armin zeigen": Söder will für die Bundestagswahl offenbar auch eigene Plakate
In: Frankfurter Rundschau, 16 May 2021, last seen 9 May 2022. and the popular candidates of the CDU may decide not to show up in the Bavarian campaign.
Both parties together form a parliamentary group (''Fraktion'') in the Bundestag. Such a ''Fraktionsgemeinschaft'' is legal because both parties are no competition of each other during the elections (the voters can nowhere decide between a CDU and a CSU candidate). The ''Fraktionsgemeinschaft'' (parliamentary group alliance) works on the basis of a ''Fraktionsvertrag'' (parliamentary group agreement) with some special provisions for the CSU, e.g. with regard to speaking time in the Bundestag.
The parliamentary group has one chair and one or more vice chairs (12 in the 2021 Bundestag). The chair has always been a CDU member. The First Deputy chair is ''ex officio'' the leader of the ''CSU-Landesgruppe''. The ''Fraktion'' is divided in 16 ''Landesgruppen'' (state groups), comprising the ''Fraktion'' members per state. The ''CSU-Landesgruppenchef'' is considered one of the most prolific members of the Bundestag parliamentary group. Historically, most of these politicians have become members of the federal government.
CDU and CSU always take part in coalition negotiations together, although they behave like two different parties. Both parties join a federal government coalition together; there has never been only one of them in government. At least one major government department is 'given' to the CSU. In the past, the CSU often lead the departments for postal services (when this ministry still existed), transportation, constructions, or agriculture.
In
European elections
Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's.
Until ...
, CDU and CSU have separate party lists. In the European Parliament, they form a group within the parliamentary group of the
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...
.
Leaders of the Group in the Bundestag
*
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a Germany, German statesman who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the fir ...
(1949)
*
Heinrich von Brentano
Heinrich Joseph Maximilian Johann Maria von Brentano di Tremezzo (20 June 1904 – 14 November 1964), known professionally as Heinrich von Brentano, was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as Federal Minister ...
(1949–1955; 1961–1964)
*
Heinrich Krone
Heinrich Krone (1 December 1895 – 15 August 1989) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Shortly after beginning his Theology study in 1914, Krone was drafted into service in World War I. After the war Krone continu ...
(1955–1961)
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Rainer Barzel
Rainer Candidus Barzel (20 June 1924 – 26 August 2006) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as the 8th President of the Bundestag from 1983 to 1984.
Barzel had been the leader of his parliamentary group ...
(1964–1973)
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Karl Carstens
Karl Carstens (, 14 December 1914 – 30 May 1992) was a German politician. He served as the president of West Germany from 1979 to 1984.
Early life and education
Carstens was born in the City of Bremen, the son of a commercial school teacher, ...
(1973–1976)
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Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longes ...
(1976–1982)
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Alfred Dregger
Alfred Dregger (10 December 1920 – 29 June 2002) was a German politician and a leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Dregger was born in Münster. After graduating from a school in Werl, he entered the German Wehrmacht in 193 ...
(1982–1991)
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Wolfgang Schäuble
Wolfgang Schäuble (; born 18 September 1942) is a German lawyer, politician and statesman whose political career has spanned for more than five decades. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he is one of the longest-serving politi ...
(1991–2000)
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Friedrich Merz
Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (born 11 November 1955) is a German lawyer and politician, serving as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 31 January 2022 and as leader of the Union parliamentary group as well as the Leader of ...
(2000–2002)
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Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...
(2002–2005)
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Volker Kauder
Volker Kauder (born 3 September 1949) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as parliamentary group leader of the ruling CDU/CSU faction in the German ''Bundestag'' from 2005 to 2018, during which h ...
(2005–2018)
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Ralph Brinkhaus
Ralph Brinkhaus (born 15 June 1968) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as parliamentary leader of the CDU/CSU group in the Bundestag from 2018 to 2022.
Education and early career
Brinkhaus was born on 15 J ...
(2018–2022)
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Friedrich Merz
Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz (born 11 November 1955) is a German lawyer and politician, serving as Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 31 January 2022 and as leader of the Union parliamentary group as well as the Leader of ...
(2022–present)
Electoral history
Federal Parliament (''Bundestag'')
European Parliament
See also
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Austrian People's Party
The Austrian People's Party (german: Österreichische Volkspartei , ÖVP ) is a Christian-democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Austria.
Since December 2021, the party has been led provisionally by Karl Nehammer. It is currentl ...
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Politics of Germany
Germany is a democratic and federal parliamentary republic, where federal legislative power is vested in the (the parliament of Germany) and the (the representative body of the , Germany's regional states).
The federal system has, since 194 ...
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Religion in Germany
Christianity is the largest religion in Germany. It was introduced to the area of modern Germany by 300 AD, while parts of that area belonged to the Roman Empire, and later, when Franks and other Germanic tribes converted to Christianity from t ...
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Roman Catholicism in Germany
, native_name_lang = de
, image = Hohe_Domkirche_St._Petrus.jpg
, imagewidth = 200px
, alt =
, caption = Cologne Cathedral, Cologne
, abbreviation =
, type = Nati ...
References
External links
CDU/CSU-Fraktion im Deutschen BundestagMinutes of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group from the 1st to the 7th legislative period (1949-1976)
{{DEFAULTSORT:CDU CSU
Christian Democratic Union of Germany
Christian democratic parties in Germany
Conservative parties in Germany
Liberal conservative parties
Political party alliances in Germany