The 2009 German election saw a historic shift in power despite a sedate campaign

Countries & Cities · Published 15 October 2026 · Updated 25 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 2009, Germany held a federal election that ended the grand coalition between the CDU/CSU and the SPD. While the campaign was widely described as exceptionally boring, it resulted in a decisive victory for a new centre-right government, marking a significant turning point in the nation's political landscape.

The 2009 federal election, held on 27 September, was the culmination of a busy year of German politics known as a Superwahljahr. Angela Merkel, who had served as chancellor since 2005 in a grand coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SPD), sought a new governing majority with her preferred partner, the Free Democratic Party (FDP). The campaign was notably low-key, with observers attributing the lack of excitement to the perceived lack of charisma among party leaders and the fact that both major parties had spent years defending their shared record in government.

The results brought seismic changes to the Bundestag. The SPD suffered its worst performance in a federal election since the end of the Second World War, dropping by more than 11 percentage points to receive 23 percent of the vote. Conversely, the FDP achieved the strongest result in its history, securing 14.6 percent of the vote. This surge allowed the CDU/CSU and FDP to form a centre-right coalition, with Merkel remaining chancellor and FDP leader Guido Westerwelle becoming foreign minister and vice-chancellor. Other parties, including The Left and the Greens, also saw record-breaking gains.

Beyond the immediate results, the election highlighted structural tensions in the German electoral system. A 2008 ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court had identified issues with the Federal Election Law, specifically regarding the potential for a negative vote weight, where a party could lose seats despite gaining more votes. While the 2009 election proceeded under existing rules, the court's intervention set the stage for years of legal challenges and subsequent reforms to ensure full proportionality in the Bundestag. Voter turnout, at 70.8 percent, was the lowest recorded in a German federal election since 1949, reflecting a complex mood during a year of multiple national and local contests.

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