Presidential elections were held in Germany on 29 March 1925, with a runoff on 26 April.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An expe ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p762 They were the first direct elections to the office of

President of the Reich President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

(), Germany's head of state during the 1919–33 Weimar Republic. The first President, Friedrich Ebert, who had died on 28 February 1925, had been elected indirectly, by the National Assembly, but the

Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (german: Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (''Weimarer Verfassung''), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The c ...

required that his successor be elected by the "whole German people". Paul von Hindenburg was elected as the second president of Germany in the second round of voting. Hindenburg was the candidate of a broad coalition of the political right. Many on the right hoped that once in power he would destroy Weimar democracy from the inside and restore the pre-Weimar ''status quo''. The two other candidates who were believed to have a chance of winning were Otto Braun of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

(SPD) and Wilhelm Marx of the Centre Party. Both the SPD and Centre were members of the Weimar Coalition, the group of parties regarded as most committed to the Weimar system. Only Marx proceeded to the second round of the election. The election was important because of the turbulent times in which it occurred and because, under the Weimar Constitution, the head of state wielded considerable power. Hindenburg would be again returned in the 1932 election and would play an important role during the rise to power of the Nazi Party. However, many of Hindenburg's 1925 backers were subsequently disappointed. Although in the years that followed his election many questioned the constitutionality of certain of his actions, Hindenburg never attempted to overthrow the Weimar constitution outright.

Electoral system

During the Weimar Republic, the law provided for a modified two-round system, such that if no candidate received an absolute majority of votes (i.e. more than half) in the first round of a presidential election then a second ballot would occur in which the candidate with a

plurality Plurality may refer to: Voting * Plurality (voting), or relative majority, when a given candidate receives more votes than any other but still fewer than half of the total ** Plurality voting, system in which each voter votes for one candidate and ...

of votes would be deemed elected. It was permitted for a group to nominate an alternative candidate in the second round.

Candidates

A number of candidates stood in the first round. Hindenburg was not included among them as he would not be nominated as a candidate until the second round. Instead, the most popular candidate of the political right was Karl Jarres of the German People's Party (DVP), a former

Minister of the Interior 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 ...

, Vice-Chancellor of Germany and mayor of Duisburg. Otto Braun, the SPD's candidate, was a former Minister-President of Prussia and a well known and respected figure. Zentrum's candidate, Wilhelm Marx, was the chair of the party and a former

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 ...

. The other significant candidates were Ernst Thälmann of the Communist Party (KPD) and

Willy Hellpach Willy Hugo Hellpach (26 February 1877 in Oels, Silesia – 6 July 1955 in Heidelberg) was the sixth State President of Baden. He was a member of the German Democratic Party (DDP). He was also a physician and psychologist. Early life and educati ...

of the German Democratic Party (DDP). The

German Völkisch Freedom Party The German Völkisch Freedom Party (german: Deutschvölkische Freiheitspartei, or DVFP) was an early right wing and anti-Semitic political party of Weimar Germany that took its name from the Völkisch movement, a populist movement focused on folkl ...

(DVFP) put forward Erich Ludendorff but secured only a negligible share of the vote.

Results

The first ballot was held on 29 March, with a turnout of 68.9%. Although Jarres received the most votes in the first round, he was well short of a majority. He subsequently withdrew in favour of Hindenburg, who was a committed monarchist and popular former general. Although Hindenburg had no interest in seeking public office and was especially uneasy with the prospect of becoming Germany's head of state, he reluctantly agreed to stand, supposedly only after first consulting with the deposed Kaiser. His major supporters were the German People's Party (DVP), the German National People's Party (DNVP) and the Bavarian People's Party (BVP). The DVP, and especially its leader Gustav Stresemann, had reservations about the idea of a Hindenburg presidency because of its possible repercussions for German foreign policy, but eventually came on board. Hindenburg was also endorsed by the

(DVFP), the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) and the Agricultural League (RLB). On the left, the Centre Party (Zentrum) refused to support Braun from the

(SPD), so Braun withdrew. The SPD agreed to support Zentrum's Marx as the common candidate to ensure the defeat of Hindenburg. The German Democratic Party also reluctantly withdrew its candidate and supported Marx. As Marx's supporters included both the moderate left and the political centre, he was believed to have a high chance of winning. The three participants in the second round were therefore Hindenburg, Marx, and Thälmann of the Communist Party. The second round was held on 26 April, with a turnout of 77.6%. Hindenburg won on a plurality of the vote, with 48.3% to Marx's 45.3%. The BVP's support of Hindenburg, rather than Marx (even though Marx represented the BVP's sister party), and Thälmann's participation splitting the left-wing vote, provided Hindenburg the margin of victory.

References

{{German presidential elections Presidential elections in Germany Germany President Elections in the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg Germany Germany

Electoral system

Candidates

Results

See also

Further reading

References