The election to the city council of Greater Berlin from December 5, 1948 took place in exceptional circumstances. The last election had occurred just two years earlier; however, since then the city had been separated into East and West. These elections were held only in the Western sectors accordingly. Moreover, West Berlin was experiencing a

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are ...

since June 1948 from the outside world and was only surviving due to the airlift. Against this background, the elections to the city council took place.

Aftermath

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) experienced its largest ever election victory. They increased their share of the vote by 15.8 percentage points to receive 64.5% of the votes, the highest percentage that has ever been achieved by a party in a democratic election in Germany. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) slumped by 2.8 percentage points to 19.4% of the vote, while the Free Democratic Party (FDP) improved its showing to 16.1% of the vote. The

Socialist Unity Party The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Ma ...

did not compete in these elections to the West Berlin City Council which they regarded as illegitimate. Although the SPD had a clear absolute majority, due to the complex political situation it formed a unity coalition with the CDU and the FDP. Consequently, Social Democrat

Ernst Reuter Ernst Rudolf Johannes Reuter (29 July 1889 – 29 September 1953) was the mayor of West Berlin from 1948 to 1953, during the time of the Cold War. He played a significant role in unifying the divided sectors of Berlin and publicly and politically ...

was elected mayor of West Berlin.

Results

, -style="background:#E9E9E9;" ! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Parties !Votes !% !+/- !Seats !+/- , - , width=5px style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

, 858,461 , 64.5% , +15.8% , 76 , +13 , - , style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" ,

Christian Democratic Union of Germany The Christian Democratic Union of Germany ( , CDU ) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is the major party of the centre-right in German politics. Friedrich Merz has been federal chairman of the CDU since 31 ...

, 258,664 , 19.4% , -2.8% , 26 , -3 , - , style="background-color: " , , style="text-align:left;" , Free Democratic Party , 214,145 , 16.1% , +6.8% , 17 , +5 , - style="background:#E9E9E9;" ! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Total ! style="text-align:center;" , 1,331,270 ! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", 100% ! style="text-align:center;" , 119 ! style="text-align:center;" , -11 , - , colspan=7,

Source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute ...

{{Berlin state elections State election, 1948 1948 elections in Germany December 1948 in Europe