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1919 German presidential election
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The
1919 German presidential election
(
Reichsprasidentenwahl
) was the first election to the office of
President of the Reich
(
Reichsprasident
),
Germany
's
head of state
during the 1919?1933
Weimar Republic
. The constitution that stipulated a direct popular vote was not completed before 11 August 1919. Because a head of state was needed immediately the 1919 presidential election was held indirectly, by the
National Assembly
, on 11 February 1919. The winner was
SPD
chairman
Friedrich Ebert
, who beat former (Imperial) Secretary of the Interior
Arthur von Posadowsky-Wehner
in the first round of voting by 277 to 49 votes. Ebert was supported by the SPD, the
German Centre Party
and the
German Democratic Party
(DDP), the parties of the "
Weimar Coalition
", which held more than 77 per cent of the seats in the National Assembly. He became President of Germany, holding the office until his death in 1925.
With the subsequent
1925
and
1932
German presidential elections held with direct universal suffrage, this election would be the sole indirect presidential election held until the end of
World War II
. Further, Ebert would also remain the sole
Social Democrat
elected
President of Germany
until the election of
Gustav Heinemann
in
1969
, and the only socialist to serve in that position between
1919
and the
end of the war in 1945
.
Results
[
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]
Candidate (Party)
|
Supported by
|
Votes
|
%
|
Friedrich Ebert (
SPD
)
|
SPD
,
DDP
, Zentrum
|
277
|
73.1 %
|
Arthur Graf von Posadowsky-Wehner (
DNVP
)
|
DNVP
|
49
|
12.9 %
|
Philipp Scheidemann
(SPD)
|
N/A
|
1
|
0.3 %
|
Matthias Erzberger
(
Zentrum
)
|
1
|
0.3 %
|
Delegates eligible to vote
|
423
|
100.0 %
|
Cast votes
|
379
|
89.6 %
|
Valid votes
|
328
|
86.5 %
|
Invalid votes
|
51
|
13.5 %
|
See also
[
edit
]