German presidential election, 1919

German presidential election, 1919

February 11, 1919

Nominee Friedrich Ebert Arthur von Posadowsky-Wehner Party SPD DNVP Electoral vote 277 49 Percentage 73.1% 12.9%

President before election None President-Elect Friedrich Ebert SPD

The presidential election (Reichspräsidentenwahl) of 1919 was the first election to the office of President of the Reich (Reichspräsident), 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.

The complete results were as follows:

73.1 % 277 votes	12.9 % 49 votes	0.3 % 1 vote	0.3 % 1 vote	13.5 % 51 votes	44 votes
Friedrich Ebert	Arthur Graf von Posadowsky	Philipp Scheidemann	Matthias Erzberger	invalid	not voted

Candidate (Party)	supported by	votes	percent
Friedrich Ebert (SPD)	SPD, DDP, Zentrum	277	73.1 %
Arthur Graf von Posadowsky-Wehner (DNVP)	DNVP	49	12.9 %
Philipp Scheidemann (SPD)	-	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

• History of Germany