The politics of Schleswig-Holstein takes place within a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the Federal Government of Germany exercises sovereign rights with certain powers reserved to the states of Germany including Schleswig-Holstein. The state has a multi-party system.
History From 1919 to 1928, the largest parties in Schleswig-Holstein were the Social Democratic Party, German Democratic Party, Conservative Party and German Peoples Party. From 1930 onwards, Schleswig-Holstein was a bastion of Nazi support. In the 1930 Reicshtag elections, the Nazi Party received their highest vote share in Schleswig-Holstein with 27%. In 1932, the Nazi Party won 51% of the vote in Schleswig-Holstein, the only district where Nazis received an absolute majority. The rural areas of Schleswig-Holstein were particularly likely to support the Nazis.
Executive branch Minister-presidents since 1949 Since the creation of the Federal Republic in 1945, the state's minister-presidents have been:
Period Minister-President Party 1945–1947 Theodor Steltzer (CDU) 1947–1949 Hermann Lüdemann (SPD) 1949–1950 Bruno Diekmann (SPD) 1950–1951 Walter Bartram (CDU) 1951–1954 Friedrich-Wilhelm Lübke (CDU) 1954–1963 Kai-Uwe von Hassel (CDU) 1963–1971 Helmut Lemke (CDU) 1971–1982 Gerhard Stoltenbergsee List of Honorary Citizens of Schleswig-Holstein (CDU) 1982–1987 Uwe Barschel (CDU) 1987–1988 Henning Schwarz (CDU) 1988–1993 Björn Engholm (SPD) 1993–2005 Heide Simonis (SPD) 2005–2012 Peter Harry Carstensen (CDU) 2012– 2016 Torsten Albig (SPD) 2017– Daniel Günther (CDU)
Current cabinet
PortfolioMinisterPartyTook officeLeft officeState secretariesMinister-PresidentDaniel GüntherCDU29 June 2022IncumbentDeputy Minister-PresidentAminata TouréGRÜNE1 August 2024IncumbentMinister for Social Affairs, Youth, Family, Seniors, Integration and Equality29 June 2022IncumbentDeputy Minister-President Minister for FinanceMonika HeinoldGRÜNE29 June 20221 August 2024Minister for FinanceSilke SchneiderGRÜNE1 August 2024IncumbentMinister for Justice and HealthKerstin von der DeckenCDU29 June 2022IncumbentMinister for Education, Training, Science, Research and CultureKarin PrienCDU29 June 2022IncumbentMinister for Interior, Communities, Housing and SportSabine Sütterlin-WaackCDU29 June 2022IncumbentMinister for Energy Transition, Climate Protection, Environment and NatureTobias GoldschmidtGRÜNE29 June 2022IncumbentMinister for Economics, Transport, Labour, Technology and TourismClaus Ruhe MadsenCDU29 June 2022IncumbentMinister for Agriculture, Rural Areas, Europe and Consumer ProtectionWerner SchwarzCDU29 June 2022IncumbentChief of the State ChancelleryDirk SchrödterCDU29 June 2022Incumbent
Legislative branch
The last elections were held on 8 May 2022.
Election results by vote percentage since 1949 Year CDU Green SPD FDP SSW AfD BHE 19474 34,1 - 43,8 5,09,3 - 19505 19,8 - 27,5 7,1 5,5 -23,4 19546 32,2 - 33,2 7,5 3,5 -14,0 19587 44,4 - 35,9 5,4 2,8 -6,9 1962 45,0 - 39,2 7,9 2,3 -4,2 19678 46,0 - 39,4 5,91,9 - - 1971 51,9 - 41,0 3,81,4 - - 1975 50,4 - 40,1 7,11,4 - - 1979 48,3 2,4 41,7 5,71,4 - - 1983 49,0 3,6 43,7 2,21,3 - - 1987 42,6 3,9 45,2 5,21,5 - - 1988 33,3 2,9 54,8 4,41,7 - - 19929 33,8 5,0 46,2 5,61,9 - - 199610 37,2 8,1 39,8 5,72,5 - - 2000 35,2 6,2 43,1 7,64,1 - - 2005 40,2 6,2 38,7 6,63,6 - - 2009 31,5 12,4 25,4 14,94,3 - - 2012 30,8 13,2 30,4 8,24,6 - -201732,012,927,311,53,35,9 -202243,418,316,06,45,74,4 -
Election results by seat distribution since 1947
Year Total CDU Bündnis 90/ Die Grünen SPD FDP SSW AfD BHE 1947 70 21 - 436 - 1950 69 16 - 19 8 4 -15 1954 69 25 -25 5 - -10 1958 69 33 - 26 3 2 -5 1962 69 34 - 295 1 - - 1967 73 34 - 304 1 - - 1971 73 40 - 32 -1 - - 1975 73 37 - 305 1 - - 1979 73 37 - 314 1 - - 1983 74 39 - 34 -1 - - 1987 74 33 - 364 1 - - 1988 74 27 - 46 -1 - - 1992 89 32 - 455 1 - - 1996 75 30 6 334 2 - - 2000 89 33 5 417 3 - - 2005 69 30 4 294 2 - - 2009 95 34 12 2514 4 - - 2012 69 10 226 3 - - 2017 73 25 10 219 3 5 - 2022 69 34 14 125 4 - -
Constituencies in the Landtag
Nordfriesland-Nord (01) Nordfriesland-Süd (02) Flensburg (03) Flensburg-Land (04) Schleswig (05) Dithmarschen-Schleswig (06) Dithmarschen-Süd (07) Echernförde (08) Rendsburg-Ost (09) Rendsburg (10) Neumünster (11) Kiel-Nord (12) Kiel-West (13) Kiel-Ost (14) Plön-Nord (15) Plön-Ostholstein (16) Ostholstein-Nord (17) Ostholstein-Süd (18) Steinburg-West (19) Steinburg-Ost (20) Elmshorn (21) Pinneberg-Nord (22) Pinneberg-Elbmarschen (23) Pinneberg (24) Segeberg-West (25) Segeberg-Ost (26) Norderstedt (27) Stormarn-Nord (28) Stormarn-Mitte (29) Stormarn-Süd (30) Lübeck-Ost (31) Lübeck-West (32) Lübeck-Süd (33) Lauenburg-Nord (34) Lauenburg-Süd (35)
Judicial branch The Schleswig-Holstein Landesverfassungsgericht was formed in 2008. Until then, Schleswig-Holstein was the last German state without a constitutional court.
References