The Christian Social Union in Bavaria (
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
: , CSU) is 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 ...
and
conservative
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 civilization in ...
political party in Germany
This article lists political parties in Germany.
The Federal Republic of Germany has a plural multi party system. The largest by members and parliament seats are the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), with its sister party, the Christian Social U ...
. Having a
regionalist identity,
the CSU operates 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 its larger counterpart, the
Christian Democratic Union (CDU), operates in the other fifteen
states of Germany. It
differs from the CDU by being somewhat more conservative in social matters, following
Catholic social teaching.
The CSU is considered the ''de facto'' successor of the
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...
-era Catholic
Bavarian People's Party
The Bavarian People's Party (german: Bayerische Volkspartei; BVP) was the Bavarian branch of the Centre Party, a lay Roman Catholic party, which broke off from the rest of the party in 1918 to pursue a more conservative and more Bavarian parti ...
.
At the federal level, the CSU forms a common faction in the
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 Common ...
with the CDU which is frequently referred to as the Union Faction (''die Unionsfraktion'') or simply
CDU/CSU
CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties (german: Unionsparteien, ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian-democratic political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Soc ...
. The CSU has 45 seats in the Bundestag since the
2021 federal election,
making it currently the second smallest of the seven parties represented. The CSU is a member of the
European People's Party 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, ...
.
Party 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
Söd ...
serves as
Minister-President of Bavaria, a position that CSU representatives have held from 1946 to 1954 and again since 1957.
History
Franz Josef Strauß
Franz Josef Strauss ( ; 6 September 1915 – 3 October 1988) was a German politician. He was the long-time chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions between ...
(1915–1988) had left behind the strongest legacy as a leader of the party, having led the party from 1961 until his death in 1988. His political career in the federal cabinet was unique in that he had served four ministerial posts in the years between 1953 and 1969. From 1978 until his death in 1988, Strauß served as the Minister-President of Bavaria. Strauß was the first leader of the CSU to be a candidate for the German chancellery in 1980. In the
1980 federal election, Strauß ran against the incumbent
Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982.
Before becoming Ch ...
of the
Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) but lost thereafter as the SPD and the
Free Democratic Party (FDP) managed to secure an absolute majority together, forming a
social-liberal coalition.
The CSU has led the Bavarian state government since it came into existence in 1946, save from 1954 to 1957 when the SPD formed a state government in coalition with the
Bavaria Party
The Bavaria Party (german: Bayernpartei, BP) is an autonomist, regionalist and conservative political party in the state of Bavaria, Germany. The party was founded in 1946, describes itself as patriotic Bavarian and advocates Bavarian independence ...
and the state branches of the
GB/BHE and FDP.
Initially, the separatist
Bavaria Party
The Bavaria Party (german: Bayernpartei, BP) is an autonomist, regionalist and conservative political party in the state of Bavaria, Germany. The party was founded in 1946, describes itself as patriotic Bavarian and advocates Bavarian independence ...
(BP) successfully competed for the same electorate as the CSU, as both parties saw and presented themselves as successors to the BVP. The CSU was ultimately able to win this power struggle for itself. Among other things, the BP was involved in the
"casino affair" under dubious circumstances by the CSU at the end of the 1950s and lost considerable prestige and votes. In the 1966 state election, the BP finally left the state parliament.
Before the 2008 elections in Bavaria, the CSU perennially achieved absolute majorities at the state level by itself. This level of dominance is unique among Germany's 16 states.
Edmund Stoiber
Edmund Rüdiger Stoiber (born 28 September 1941) is a German politician who served as the 16th Minister President of the state of Bavaria between 1993 and 2007 and chairman of the Christian Social Union (CSU) between 1999 and 2007. In 2002, he r ...
took over the CSU leadership in 1999. He ran for
Chancellor of Germany in 2002, but his preferred
CDU/CSU
CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties (german: Unionsparteien, ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian-democratic political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Soc ...
–FDP coalition lost against the SPD candidate
Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germa ...
's
SPD–Green alliance.
In the
2003 Bavarian state election
The 2003 Bavarian state election was held on 21 September 2003 to elect the members to the 15th Landtag of Bavaria. The Christian Social Union in Bavaria, Christian Social Union (CSU) led by List of Ministers-President of Bavaria, Minister-Presiden ...
, the CSU won 60.7% of the vote and 124 of 180 seats in the state parliament. This was the first time any party had won a two-thirds majority in a German state parliament. ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
'' later suggested that this exceptional result was due to a backlash against Schröder's government in Berlin. The CSU's popularity declined in subsequent years. Stoiber stepped down from the posts of Minister-President and CSU chairman in September 2007. A year later, the CSU lost its majority in the
2008 Bavarian state election, with its vote share dropping from 60.7% to 43.4%. The CSU remained in power by forming a coalition with the FDP. In the
2009 general election, the CSU received only 42.5% of the vote in Bavaria in the 2009 election, which by then constituted its weakest showing in the party's history.
The CSU made gains in the
2013 Bavarian state election and the
2013 federal election, which were held a week apart in September 2013. The CSU regained their majority in the Bavarian Landtag and remained in government in Berlin. They had three ministers in the
Fourth Merkel cabinet, namely
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 ...
(Minister of the Interior, Building and Community),
Andreas Scheuer (Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure) and
Gerd Müller (Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development).
The
2018 Bavarian state election yielded the worst result for the CSU in the state elections (top candidate
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
Söd ...
) since
1950
Events January
* January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
* January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...
with 37.2% of votes, a decline of over ten
percentage points
A percentage point or percent point is the unit for the arithmetic difference between two percentages. For example, moving up from 40 percent to 44 percent is an increase of 4 percentage points, but a 10-percent increase in the quantity being m ...
compared to the last result in 2013. After that, the CSU had to form a new
coalition government with the minor partner
Free Voters of Bavaria
The Free Voters of Bavaria (German: ''Freie Wähler Bayern'') is a conservative political party in Bavaria. It has served as part of the governing coalition there since the 2018 state election under the leading Christian Social Union. The term ...
.
The
2021 German federal election saw the worst election result ever for the Union. The CSU also had a weak showing with 5.2% of votes nationally and 31.7% of the total in Bavaria.
Relationship with the CDU
The CSU is the sister party of the
Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Together, they are called the Union.
[ The CSU operates only within Bavaria, and the CDU operates in all states other than Bavaria. While virtually independent, at the federal level the parties form a common ]CDU/CSU
CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties (german: Unionsparteien, ) or the Union, is a centre-right Christian-democratic political alliance of two political parties in Germany: the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Soc ...
faction. No Chancellor has ever come from the CSU, although Strauß and Edmund Stoiber
Edmund Rüdiger Stoiber (born 28 September 1941) is a German politician who served as the 16th Minister President of the state of Bavaria between 1993 and 2007 and chairman of the Christian Social Union (CSU) between 1999 and 2007. In 2002, he r ...
were CDU/CSU candidates for Chancellor in the 1980 federal election and the 2002 federal election, respectively, which were both won by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Below the federal level, the parties are entirely independent.
Since its formation, the CSU has been more conservative
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 civilization in ...
than the CDU. CSU and the state of Bavaria decided not to sign the ''Grundgesetz
The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8 May 1949 and came in ...
'' of the Federal Republic of Germany as they could not agree with the division of Germany
Division or divider may refer to:
Mathematics
* Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication
* Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division
Military
* Division (military), a formation typically consisti ...
into two states 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 opposing ...
. Although Bavaria like all German states has a separate police and justice system (distinctive and non-federal), the CSU has actively participated in all political affairs of the German Parliament, the German government, the German Bundesrat, the parliamentary elections of the German President, the European Parliament and meetings with Mikhail Gorbachev in Russia.
Like the CDU, the CSU is pro-European
Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Politi ...
, although some Eurosceptic tendencies were shown in the past.
Leaders
Party chairmen
Ministers-president
The CSU has contributed eleven of the twelve Ministers-President of Bavaria
A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It ...
since 1945, with only Wilhelm Hoegner
Wilhelm Johann Harald Hoegner (23 September 1887 in Munich – 5 March 1980 in Munich) was the second Bavarian prime minister ( SPD) after World War II (1945–46 and 1954–57) and father of the Bavarian constitution. He has been the only Soci ...
(1945–1946, 1954–1957) of the SPD also holding the office.
Election results
Federal parliament (''Bundestag'')
European Parliament
Landtag of Bavaria
See also
* List of Christian Social Union of Bavaria politicians
A list of notable politicians of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU):
A
* Manfred Ach
* Heinrich Aigner
* Ilse Aigner
* Katrin Albsteiger
* Max Allwein
* Walter Althammer
* Hans Amler
* Erwin Ammann
* Johann Anetseder
* Willi Anker ...
* 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 1 ...
Notes and references
Further reading
* Alf Mintzel (1975). ''Die CSU. Anatomie einer konservativen Partei 1945–1972'' . Opladen. .
External links
Christlich-Soziale Union
– official website
Christian-Social Union of Bavaria (CSU)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian Social Union Of Bavaria
1945 establishments in Germany
Bavarian nationalism
Catholic political parties
Centre-right parties in Europe
Christian democratic parties in Germany
Conservative parties in Germany
International Democrat Union member parties
Member parties of the European People's Party
Parties represented in the European Parliament
Political parties established in 1945
Politics of Bavaria
Pro-European political parties in Germany
Regional parties in Germany
Social conservative parties