After World War II, the state of Hesse was restored by the US military administration under the name of Greater Hesse. In 1945, the US military administration implemented the "Beratender Landesausschuss", literally an advisory council. The members of this pre-parliament were appointed and not elected.
On 30 June 1946 a Constitutional convention of Hesse was elected. This election was won by the SPD, even if the SPD failed to capture a majority of seats. On 22 November 1945 the constitution for Greater Hesse was introduced.
The second election on 19 November 1950 inaugurated the 37-year period of the so-called "red Hesse". The SPD achieved majority and the CDU, the former partner in the grand coalition, lost close to 60% of their seats. Until 1987, all governments of Hesse have been headed by SPD politicians. On 14 December 1950 the former Minister of Justice, Georg August Zinn was elected as Minister-President of Hesse. Zinn was re-elected 4 times and was Minister-President until 3 October 1969.
Even if the SPD lost the absolute majority in the third election on 28 November 1953, it managed to agree on a coalition with the "All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights" a party representing the victims of the Expulsion of Germans after World War II.
Party
Seats 1954
Seats 1958
SPD
44
44
CDU
24
24
FDP
21
20
GB/BHE
7
7
Non-Inscrits
0
1
total
96
96
4th Legislative period (1958 through 1962)
The fourth election of 23 November 1958 perpetuated the previous coalition.
Party
Seats
SPD
48
CDU
32
FDP
9
GB/BHE
7
total
96
5th Legislative period (1962 through 1966)
Even if the SPD obtained absolute majority on 11 November 1962, Zinn decided to continue the coalition with the GDP.
Party
Seats 1962
Seats 1966
SPD
51
51
CDU
26
26
FDP
11
12
GDP
6
5
total
94
94
6th Legislative period (1966 through 1970)
On 6 November 1966, the SPD elected a majority of MPs once more. Zinn was appointed one last time as Minister-President. On 3 October 1969, 68-year-old Zinn resigned and Albert Osswald was elected as his successor.
Party
Begin
End
SPD
52
52
CDU
26
26
FDP
10
10
NPD
8
7
Non-Inscrits
0
1
total
96
96
7th Legislative period (1970 through 1974)
Headed by Alfred Dregger the CDU was able to make an impressive jump in the election of 8 November 1970. The SPD lost its majority but agreed on a Social-liberal coalition with the FDP and Albert Osswald was reelected.
Party
Seats
SPD
53
CDU
46
FDP
11
total
110
8th Legislative period (1974 through 1978)
Alfred Dregger and his CDU were even more successful in the election on 27 October 1974. For the first time in the history of Hesse, the CDU overtook the SPD. But the coalition was confirmed and Osswald stayed as Minister-President. Two years later Osswald resigned because of the Helaba-scandal. Holger Börner was elected as Minister-President in his place.
Party
Seats 1974
Seats 1978
CDU
53
53
SPD
49
49
FDP
8
7
Non-Inscrits
0
1
total
110
-
9th Legislative period (1978 through 1982)
Expecting a majority, the results were disappointing for the CDU. In the period of RAF terrorism, the CDU stagnated and the SPD-FDP coalition was confirmed in the elections on 8 October 1978. On 11 May 1981, deputy Minister-President Heinz-Herbert Karry was assassinated by terrorists in his flat in Frankfurt am Main. This legislative period is also marked by the demonstrations against the extension of the Frankfurt Airport. Himself hard-pressed by activists in his car, Börner, previously a learned roofer, at the time said that 40 years ago, he would have answered such attacks directed at his person – meaning the anti-airport-activists – with "roof battens". Börner thus entered Hesse history as the "Man with a roof batten".
Party
Seats
CDU
53
SPD
50
FDP
7
total
110
10th Legislative period (1982 through 1983)
After the break of the Social-liberal coalition in Germany, the FDP was not able to reach more than 5% and got no seats in the Landtag. At the same time, themselves reaching the 5% threshold, the Greens made their entrance in a German parliament for the first time, but not long thereafter, they announced their fundamental opposition to form a coalition with one of the other political groups. For its part, the SPD was not willing to accept a grand coalition headed by the CDU. As a result, a Snap election took place a year later.
Party
Seats
CDU
52
SPD
49
Greens
9
total
110
11th Legislative period (1983 through 1987)
The extraordinary election on 25 August 1983 got no new result. The FDP returned to the Landtag but the CDU and the FDP, as well as the SPD, obtained no majority.
Party
Seats
SPD
51
CDU
44
FDP
8
Die Grünen
7
total
110
Holger Börner was reelected as Minister-President and in 1985 a first Red-green alliance in Germany was formed. Joschka Fischer was nominated minister for environment and energy. The Green party at this time was divided in "fundamental" and "democratic" factions. These two groups were not able to agree on a common politic. The "red-green-chaos" was the common description for these years. The coalition ended in February 1987.
12th Legislative period (1987 through 1991)
The 1987 election was a milestone. As a rule, the party ruling Germany lost votes in the state elections. CDU and FDP had lost all elections on state level since Helmut Kohl had been elected as chancellor. But the red-green-chaos lead to surprising results: on 5 April 1987, the CDU and the FDP won the elections and Walter Wallmann became the first CDU Minister-President of Hesse.
Party
Seats
CDU
47
SPD
44
Die Grünen
10
FDP
9
total
110
13th Legislative period (1991 through 1995)
The vote on 20 January 1991 was as close as the last one, but this time the SPD and the Greens obtained slightly more seats. Hand Eichel became the new Minister-President, supported by a red/green-alliance.
Party
Seats
SPD
46
CDU
46
Die Grünen
10
FDP
8
total
110
14th Legislative period (1995 through 1999)
In the elections on 19 February 1995 the red/green-alliance was confirmed.
Party
Seats 1995
Seats 1999
CDU
45
45
SPD
44
44
Die Grünen
13
13
FDP
8
7
Non-Inscrits
0
1
total
110
110
15th Legislative period (1999 through 2003)
On 7 February 1999, the CDU won the elections with a 4.2% margin. One of the main reasons given for this result is an unpopular red/green legislative project aimed at granting citizenship to aliens. This would have granted suffrage to millions of aliens. According to surveys, 80% of these aliens would have voted for left-leaning parties. In order to put a stop to this project, the CDU organized a campaign and collected more than 5 million signatures. Roland Koch was appointed Minister-President of a CDU-FDP coalition.
Party
Seats
CDU
50
SPD
46
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
8
FDP
6
total
110
16th Legislative period (2003 through 2008)
The election of 2 February 2003 was a disaster for the SPD. The CDU managed to get a majority even without the FDP. All but two constituencies were won – even in the north of Hesse, where the SPD had won each single election in the 20th century.
Party
Seats
CDU
56
SPD
33
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
12
FDP
9
total
110
17th Legislative period (2008 through 2009)
Like in 1982, the results of the election allowed no stable coalition to take the reins of government. Andrea Ypsilanti, leader of the SPD, had promised several times during the electoral campaign not to work together with the new leftist party Die Linke. A few weeks after election day, she was tempted to go for a SPD–Green coalition supported by The Left but under opposition from MP Dagmar Metzger decided not to renege on her promise not to pursue such a venue. As of today, Roland Koch is still Minister-President but without majority in the parliament. After a second unsuccessful attempt by Ypsilanti to take power, all parties agreed to dissolve the Landtag and call for early elections on 18 January 2009.
Party
Seats
CDU
42
SPD
42
FDP
11
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
9
Die Linke
6
total
110
18th Legislative period (2009 through 2013)
The early elections on 18 January 2009 led to a stable majority of CDU and FDP. Andrea Ypsilanti had resigned to candidate for Ministerpresident. New leader of the SPD was Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel, a unknown backbencher and loyal supporter of Ypsilanti. Now SPD declared their will to work with Die Linke together for a left wing majority. On 18 January 2009 the SPD lost a third of their seats.
Party
Seats
CDU
46
SPD
29
FDP
20
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
17
Die Linke
6
total
118
19th Legislative period (2013 through 2018)
The elections of 22 September 2013 did not lead to a stable majority for any of the common coalitions. After several weeks of coalition talks Volker Bouffier's CDU and Tarek Al-Wazir's Green Party formed the first black-green coalition of a territorial state in Germany.
