The 2001 Berlin state election was held on 21 October 2001 to elect the members of the 15th

Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin The of Berlin (House of Representatives) () is the state parliament ('' Landtag'') of Berlin, Germany according to the city-state's constitution. In 1993, the parliament moved from Rathaus Schöneberg to its present house on Niederkirchnerst ...

. Prior to the election,

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Klaus Wowereit Klaus Wowereit (born 1 October 1953) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and was the Governing Mayor of Berlin from 21 October 2001 to 11 December 2014. In 2001 state elections his party won a plurality of the votes, 29 ...

had led a minority government 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 Form ...

(SPD) and

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *The Greens – The Green Alternative, Austria *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' * Greens of Andorra * The Greens (Benin) *The Greens (Bulgaria) * Greens of Bosnia and He ...

since June, which had replaced a coalition between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and SPD which collapsed in June. The SPD–Green government made gains, but remained short of a majority. The SPD first sought to form a

traffic light coalition In German politics, a traffic light coalition () is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, y ...

with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Greens, but were unsuccessful. They subsequently agreed to a government with the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). The Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) support would peak in this election with 22.6%.

Parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 14th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin.

Issues and campaign

The 2001 election was an early election. In June 2001, the grand coalition under Mayor

Eberhard Diepgen Eberhard Diepgen (born 13 November 1941) is a German lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of West Berlin from 1984 to 1989 and again as Mayor of (united) Berlin, from 1991 until 2001, as member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). E ...

(CDU) broke down following a scandal involving CDU's leader in the

, . Landowsky, who served as the CEO of a public

mortgage bank A mortgage bank is a bank that specializes in originating and/or servicing mortgage loans. In the United States, a mortgage bank is a state-licensed banking entity that makes mortgage loans directly to consumers. The difference between a mortgag ...

(later Landesbank Berlin Holding), had financed a risky deal between two men who were donors to the local CDU branch. The cost the city several billion euros. The SPD subsequently left the coalition, which had governed Berlin since 1990, and formed an interim minority government with the Greens supported by the PDS.

became Mayor after a

constructive vote of no confidence The constructive vote of no confidence (, ) is a variation on the motion of no confidence that allows a parliament to withdraw confidence from a head of government only if there is a positive majority for a prospective successor. The principle is i ...

against Diepgen on 15 June. The House of Deputies then voted to dissolve itself, triggering a new election. The campaign was strongly influenced by the bad state of the public finances and the bank scandal. The CDU nominated 35-year-old Frank Steffel as their top candidate, and played on fears of potential PDS involvement in government. They also focused on security issues, especially after

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. The regional broadcaster Sender Freies Berlin accompanied the election campaign on its website with a "Wahltest" app, marking the first time in Germany that a

Voting Advice Application A voting advice application or voting aid application (VAA), also known as a vote matcher, vote compass or election compass is an application that helps voters find a political candidate or political party that stands closest to their preferences. ...

was used.

Opinion polling

Election result

Sources

The Federal Returning Officer

Archived "Wahltest" Voting Advice Application for the Berlin State Elections 2001
used i
SFB Election Website
{{Berlin state elections State election, 2001 Berlin state election State election Berlin state election