At the start of an election campaign the big parties field their candidates for the top job. But it's not a done deal until the new parliament, the Bundestag, votes him or her in. DW explains how it works.
Angela Merkel taking her oath of office in 2018Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Nietfeld
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Germany is always run by a coalition of two or three parties, and the new Bundestag must hold its first session within 30 days of the general election, so the party that won the most votes begins its work fairly quickly.
The winner launches talks with the other parties, with the goal of finding a partner or partners, with whom it then controls an absolute majority of the seats in the Bundestag; the new government must, of course, be able to get legislation passed by parliament.
Once it's clear with whom the party that has won the most seats will establish a coalition, negotiations to draft a coalition agreement, the basis of the new government, can begin. The agreement lays down the new government's plans for the four-year term. And in these talks, the coalition partners name: who they want to be chancellor and who they want to hold which positions in the cabinet.
Next, the 600-plus members of the newly elected Bundestag hold their first session and vote for the next chancellor in a secret ballot. It's up to the President to suggest a candidate when the Bundestag convenes for the first time. He is not obliged to suggest the person the parties may have singled out in coalition talks, but he must present a candidate who has a reasonable chance of being voted in.
If that person receives an absolute majority in the first round of voting, the president must declare him or her chancellor.
So far, every German chancellor has been elected in the first round, though it has sometimes been close. Konrad Adenauer was elected West Germany's first chancellor in 1949 with the barest majority possible. Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl each received only one vote more than necessary when they were elected chancellor in 1974 and 1982 respectively. Angela Merkel's closest call was in 2009, when she got 323 of 612 votes, 16 more than she needed to be named chancellor.
If a majority of parliamentarians do not vote for the chancellor candidate in the first round, a second phase of voting starts. Bundestag members may suggest other candidates, but these candidates must have the backing of at least a quarter of the Bundestag. Over the subsequent two weeks, an indefinite number of voting rounds may take place.
If no chancellor is elected at the end of 14 days, one final round of voting takes place. If a candidate then receives an absolute majority, he or she is immediately named chancellor. But if he or she only gains a plurality of votes, President Steinmeier is given seven days to decide whether to accept a so-called "minority chancellor" - who would have the same rights as a chancellor elected by an absolute majority - or to dissolve the Bundestag. If he dissolves parliament, new elections must take place within 60 days.
This article was first published in 2017.
Germany's colorful coalition shorthand
Foreign flags and even traffic lights are used to describe the various coalitions that emerge in German elections. Coalitions are common under Germany's proportional representation system.
Image: Getty Images
Black-red coalition
The Conservatives black combined with the traditional red of the political left is the color code when the Christian Democrats govern in a "grand coalition" with the Social Democrats. This combination of Germany's two "big tent" parties, was in power first from 1966-69 and most recently for eight years until 2021, led by then-Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Image: picture-alliance/R. Goldmann
Black and Green
The conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has teamed up with the ecologist Greens in several German states cooperating smoothly at the regional level. On the national level the two parties see eye to eye especially on strong support for Ukraine. They disagree on nuclear and renewable energy, and many conservatives despise the Greens for their multicultural and "woke" positions.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
'Traffic light' coalition — Red, Yellow, Green
From 2021-2025 Germany was governed by a center-left coalition of Social Democrats (SPD), ecologist Greens, and free-market-oriented neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP), whose color is yellow. The government known as "Ampel" (traffic light) in Germany, started out as a self-declared "Fortschrittskoalition" (progress coalition) but got mired in infighting and became the least popular government ever.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/J.Büttner
Black, Red, Green — like Kenya's flag
If the center-right CDU/CSU fails to be able to forge a two-way coalition, teaming up with the Greens and the center-left SPD may be the only option for a comfortable majority. It has been tested on a regional level: The eastern German state of Saxony was governed by such a coalition until 2024, when it failed to get a new mandate.
Image: Fotolia/aaastocks
The Germany coalition — Black, Red and Yellow
The neoliberal FDP has been junior coalition partner to both the center-right CDU/CSU and the center-left SPD on the national level. A three-way coalition was forged on the state level, for example in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The FDP's drop in support in regional elections and opinion polls, however, makes it an unlikely partner for the federal government.
Image: Hoffmann/Caro/picture alliance
'Jamaica' option — black, yellow and green
A three-way deal between the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), the Greens and the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP), did not come about at the national level in 2017 after the FDP called off talks. It has been tested at a state level. But the recent three-way national government saw the FDP and Green positions as irreconcilable and mutual animosity would seem almost impossible to overcome.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/dpaweb
Black and Orange
Since 2018 Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) has been governing with the Free Voters (FV), whose color is Orange. The FV is a grass-roots populist and far-right-leaning party and is led by its controversial chairman Hubert Aiwanger. Strong in rural areas of southern and eastern Germany, the Freie Wähler is seeking a larger role at the national level and currently has three MEPs.
Image: Privat
Blackberry coalition
In graphics showing opinion polls, the new Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) is shown in violet. That may be fitting, as it combines socialist, far-left (red) with populist right wing (blue) ideas in its platform. Although the party was only founded in 2024, it is doing so well in the eastern German states that it may well be asked to join coalition governments. Possibly led by the CDU (Black).
Image: Oliver Berg/dpa/picture alliance
Blackberry Coalition
CDU (black), SPD (red) and BSW (violet). The new Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance's (BSW) color violet, seems fitting as it combines socialist, far-left (red) with populist right wing (blue) ideas in its platform. Although the party was only founded in 2024, it did so well in the eastern German states that it entered a coalition government with the SPD and CDU in the state of Thuringia.
