Berlin state election, 1946

The election to the Greater Berlin City Council on October 20, 1946 was the first and last overall Berlin election in the period between the end of the Second World War and the reunification of Germany.

The clear winner of the election was the SPD under Otto Ostrowski , which with 48.7% and 63 of 130 seats fell just three seats short of holding an absolute majority. The CDU finished in second under Ferdinand Friedensburg with 22.2% of votes and 29 seats. The SED suffered a sensational defeat, winning just 19.8% of the vote and 26 mandates. The remaining 9.3% of the votes went to the Free Democratic Party which received 12 mandates.

Voter turnout was 92.3%. The result was a clear rejection of the Soviet occupying forces favored Socialist Unity Party.

The city council chose Ernst Reuter as mayor and formed a black-red-yellow coalition of the SPD, CDU and FDP. The pro-western coalition conflicted with the occupying Soviet forces considerably and less than two years later in 1948 the opposition Socialist Unity Party led riots which led to the division of Berlin and the ending of the work of the City Council for the whole of Berlin

Summary of the results of the 20 October 1946 election to Berlin's Abgeordnetenhaus

Elections in Berlin Elections 1919 1920 1921 1925 1929 1933 1946 1948 1950 1954 1958 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1981 1985 1989 1990 (May) 1990 (Dec) 1995 1999 2001 2006 2011 Referendums 2009 2011 2013 See also: Elections in the Free State of Prussia