2017 German federal election

At the 2013 German federal election, the incumbent government composed of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU), and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) had failed to maintain a majority of seats. The FDP^[1] failed to get over 5% of the vote in 2013, denying the party seats in the Bundestag for the first time in its history. In contrast, the CDU/CSU obtained their best result since 1990, with nearly 42% of the vote and just short of 50% of the seats. The CDU/CSU then successfully negotiated with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) to form a grand coalition for the third time.^[2]

In January 2017, party leader Sigmar Gabriel recommended Martin Schulz, the former President of the European Parliament, as their leader and chancellor candidate.^[a] The party substantially increased its support as a result; however, the CDU afterward regained its lead, with polls generally showing a 13–16% lead over the SPD.

German law requires that a new Bundestag shall be elected on a Sunday or on a nationwide holiday between 46 and 48 months after the last Bundestag's first sitting (Basic Law Article 39 Section 1).^[3] In January 2017, then-President Joachim Gauck scheduled the election for 24 September 2017.^[4]

After the election, the 19th Bundestag had to hold its first sitting within 30 days. Until that first sitting, the members of the 18th Bundestag remained in office (Basic Law Article 39 Section 1 and 2).^[3]

Germany uses the mixed-member proportional representation system, a system of proportional representation combined with elements of first-past-the-post voting. The Bundestag has 598 nominal members, elected for a four-year term; these seats are distributed between the sixteen German states in proportion to the states' population eligible to vote.

Every elector has two votes: a constituency and a list vote. 299 members are elected in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post, based just on the first votes. The second votes are used to produce an overall proportional result in the states and then in the Bundestag. Seats are allocated using the Sainte-Laguë method. If a party wins fewer constituency seats in a state than its second votes would entitle it to, it receives additional seats from the relevant state list. Parties can file lists in each single state under certain conditions, such as a fixed number of supporting signatures. Parties can receive second votes only in those states in which they have successfully filed a state list.

If a party by winning single-member constituencies in one state receives more seats than it would be entitled to according to its second vote share in that state (overhang seats), the other parties receive compensation seats. Owing to this provision, the Bundestag usually has more than 598 members. The 18th Bundestag, for example, started with 631 seats: 598 regular and 33 overhang and compensation seats. Overhang seats are calculated at the state level, so many more seats are added to balance this out among the different states, adding more seats than would be needed to compensate for overhang at the national level in order to avoid negative vote weight.

In order to qualify for seats based on the party-list vote share, a party must either win three single-member constituencies or exceed a threshold of 5% of the second votes nationwide. If a party only wins one or two single-member constituencies and fails to get at least 5% of the second votes, it keeps the single-member seat(s), but other parties that accomplish at least one of the two threshold conditions receive compensation seats. During the 2002 German federal election, the PDS won only 4.0% of the party-list votes nationwide but won two constituencies in the state of Berlin. The same applies if an independent candidate wins a single-member constituency, which has not happened since 1949. In the 2013 German federal election, the FDP only won 4.8% of party-list votes; this cost it all of its seats in the Bundestag.

If a voter has cast a first vote for a successful independent candidate or a successful candidate whose party failed to qualify for proportional representation, their second vote does not count to determine proportional representation; however, it does count to determine whether the elected party has exceeded the 5% threshold.

Parties representing recognized national minorities, such as Danes, Frisians, Sorbs, and Romani people, are exempt from the 5% threshold but normally only run in state elections.^[5]

Altogether 38 parties have managed to get on the ballot in at least one state and can therefore (theoretically) earn proportional representation in the Bundestag.^[6] Furthermore, there are several independent candidates, running for a single-member constituency. Below are the major parties that are likely to either exceed the threshold of 5% second votes or to win single-member constituencies (first votes).

Traditionally, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), which refer to each other as sister parties, do not compete against each other. The CSU only contests elections in Bavaria, while the CDU contests elections in the other fifteen states. Although these parties have some differences, such as the CSU's opposition to the previous government's immigration policies,^[7] the CDU and CSU share the same basic political aims and are allowed by the Regulations of the Bundestag to join into one parliamentary Fraktion (a parliamentary group composed of at least 5% of the members of the Bundestag, entitled to specific rights in parliament) after the elections,^[8] as they do in the form of the CDU/CSU group.

As the CDU/CSU and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) were likely to win the most seats in the election, their leading candidates are referred to as chancellor candidates; however, this does not mean that the new Bundestag is legally bound to elect one of them as chancellor.

The CDU/CSU and the SPD remained the two largest parties in the Bundestag, but both received a significantly lower proportion of the vote than they did in the 2013 German federal election.

The AfD received enough votes to enter the Bundestag for the first time, taking 12.6 percent of the vote—more than double the five percent threshold required to qualify for full parliamentary status. It also won three constituency seats, which would have qualified it for proportionally-elected seats in any event.

The FDP returned to the Bundestag with 10.7 percent of the vote. Despite improving their results slightly and thus gaining a few more seats, the Left and the Greens remained the two smallest parties in parliament.

Party		Party-list			Constituency			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Christian Democratic Union	12,447,656	26.76	15	14,030,751	30.25	185	200	−65
	Social Democratic Party	9,539,381	20.51	94	11,429,231	24.64	59	153	−40
	Alternative for Germany	5,878,115	12.64	91	5,317,499	11.46	3	94	+94
	Free Democratic Party	4,999,449	10.75	80	3,249,238	7.00	0	80	+80
	The Left	4,297,270	9.24	64	3,966,637	8.55	5	69	+5
	Alliance 90/The Greens	4,158,400	8.94	66	3,717,922	8.01	1	67	+4
	Christian Social Union	2,869,688	6.17	0	3,255,487	7.02	46	46	−10
	Free Voters	463,292	1.00	0	589,056	1.27	0	0	0
	Die PARTEI	454,349	0.98	0	245,659	0.53	0	0	0
	Human Environment Animal Protection	374,179	0.80	0	22,917	0.05	0	0	0
	National Democratic Party	176,020	0.38	0	45,169	0.10	0	0	0
	Pirate Party Germany	173,476	0.37	0	93,196	0.20	0	0	0
	Ecological Democratic Party	144,809	0.31	0	166,228	0.36	0	0	0
	Basic Income Alliance	97,539	0.21	0				0	New
	V-Partei3	64,073	0.14	0	1,201	0.00	0	0	New
	German Centre [de]	63,203	0.14	0				0	New
	Democracy in Motion	60,914	0.13	0				0	New
	Bavaria Party	58,037	0.12	0	62,622	0.13	0	0	0
	Alliance of German Democrats	41,251	0.09	0				0	New
	Alliance for Human Rights, Animal and Nature Protection	32,221	0.07	0	6,114	0.01	0	0	New
	Marxist–Leninist Party	29,785	0.06	0	35,760	0.08	0	0	0
	Partei für Gesundheitsforschung	23,404	0.05	0	1,537	0.00	0	0	New
	Menschliche Welt [de]	11,661	0.03	0	2,205	0.00	0	0	New
	German Communist Party	11,558	0.02	0	7,517	0.02	0	0	0
	The Grays – For All Generations [de]	10,009	0.02	0	4,300	0.01	0	0	New
	From now... Democracy by Referendum [de]	9,631	0.02	0	6,316	0.01	0	0	0
	Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität	6,693	0.01	0	15,960	0.03	0	0	0
	Party of Humanists	5,991	0.01	0				0	New
	Magdeburg Garden Party [de]	5,617	0.01	0	2,570	0.01	0	0	New
	Die Urbane. Eine HipHop Partei	3,032	0.01	0	772	0.00	0	0	New
	The Right	2,054	0.00	0	1,142	0.00	0	0	0
	Socialist Equality Party	1,291	0.00	0	903	0.00	0	0	0
	Bergpartei, die "ÜberPartei"	911	0.00	0	672	0.00	0	0	0
	Party of Reason	533	0.00	0	242	0.00	0	0	0
	Independents for Citizen-oriented Democracy [de]				2,458	0.01	0	0	0
	The Violets				2,176	0.00	0	0	0
	Alliance C – Christians for Germany				1,717	0.00	0	0	0
	Renter's Party [de]				1,352	0.00	0	0	New
	New Liberals				884	0.00	0	0	New
	Family Party				506	0.00	0	0	0
	Feminist Party				439	0.00	0	0	0
	Die Einheit [de]				371	0.00	0	0	New
	Independents and voter groups				100,889	0.22	0	0	0
Total		46,515,492	100.00	410	46,389,615	100.00	299	709	+78
Valid votes		46,515,492	99.02		46,389,615	98.75
Invalid/blank votes		460,849	0.98		586,726	1.25
Total votes		46,976,341	100.00		46,976,341	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		61,688,485	76.15		61,688,485	76.15
Source: Bundeswahlleiter

Results by constituency

Below are first votes (Erststimme) by constituency.^[9]

State	Constituency ("Wahlkreis")	CDU/CSU	SPD	AfD	FDP	Linke	Grüne	Others	Lead
Baden-Württemberg	Aalen-Heidenheim	46.4	21.0	11.0	6.1	5.2	9.6	0.7	25.4
	Backnang-Schwäbisch Gmünd	41.2	20.0	13.2	8.1	5.6	11.3	0.6	21.2
	Biberach	44.5	16.9	11.3	7.5	3.8	13.5	2.5	27.6
	Böblingen	38.8	19.6	11.2	12.8	5.0	11.9	0.7	19.2
	Bodensee	41.4	18.0	10.4	8.8	5.3	13.9	2.3	23.4
	Bruchsal-Schwetzingen	41.5	19.5	14.4	6.7	4.6	8.3	5.0	22.0
	Calw	43.3	16.9	14.1	9.3	4.5	8.8	3.1	26.4
	Emmendingen-Lahr	37.6	23.7	10.8	8.6	5.2	11.1	2.9	15.7
	Esslingen	40.0	19.2	10.7	8.7	5.9	15.3	0.3	20.8
	Freiburg	28.0	22.7	7.2	5.3	7.3	25.7	3.7	2.3
	Göppingen	37.6	21.9	14.5	9.2	4.4	12.1	0.3	15.7
	Heidelberg	32.7	26.0	8.9	6.6	6.1	16.7	3.0	6.7
	Heilbronn	35.3	23.2	15.6	9.6	4.6	8.1	3.6	12.1
	Karlsruhe-Land	40.4	19.7	11.7	9.1	4.6	11.4	3.1	20.7
	Karlsruhe-Stadt	28.5	23.6	10.0	8.6	7.6	17.6	4.0	4.9
	Konstanz	44.8	16.8	9.6	7.3	7.0	13.4	1.2	28.0
	Lörrach-Müllheim	39.4	21.1	9.6	8.7	5.0	15.0	1.2	18.3
	Ludwigsburg	38.3	17.8	11.6	10.2	5.5	14.2	2.4	20.5
	Mannheim	29.3	27.9	12.5	6.9	7.4	13.1	2.9	1.4
	Neckar-Zaber	40.0	19.7	12.6	8.8	4.6	12.5	1.9	20.3
	Nürtingen	39.4	19.0	11.9	9.9	4.8	14.8	0.2	20.4
	Odenwald-Tauber	46.8	19.1	13.6	7.1	5.2	6.9	1.3	27.7
	Offenburg	48.1	17.3	10.4	6.2	5.4	12.6	0.0	30.8
	Pforzheim	36.4	19.0	15.8	11.9	4.7	9.6	2.5	17.4
	Rastatt	44.1	19.0	12.2	7.2	4.6	10.9	2.0	25.1
	Ravensburg	38.5	12.4	9.4	10.1	5.4	20.2	4.0	18.3
	Reutlingen	40.8	15.0	12.0	10.0	6.2	14.3	1.7	25.8
	Rhein-Neckar	37.4	23.9	13.1	8.1	5.2	9.6	2.7	13.5
	Rottweil-Tuttlingen	43.0	15.9	13.0	10.8	3.9	9.5	3.8	27.1
	Schwäbisch Hall - Hohenlohe	40.5	18.5	13.5	8.4	4.3	12.6	2.2	22.0
	Schwarzwald-Baar	47.0	16.7	11.4	8.4	4.3	9.8	2.4	30.3
	Stuttgart I	32.0	12.8	6.7	8.4	6.5	29.7	3.9	2.3
	Stuttgart II	33.5	18.5	10.4	8.6	8.9	15.9	4.2	15.0
	Tübingen	35.7	17.3	8.7	7.9	8.8	19.1	2.6	16.6
	Ulm	42.7	20.2	10.7	8.1	4.6	12.0	1.8	22.5
	Waiblingen	36.8	19.2	12.4	13.4	4.9	12.2	1.1	17.6
	Waldshut	41.9	24.1	9.2	6.2	5.0	11.9	1.8	17.8
	Zollernalb-Sigamaringen	45.0	14.4	13.6	9.3	4.7	12.7	0.3	30.6
	Total	39.3	19.5	11.5	8.6	5.4	13.4	2.2	19.8
Bavaria	Altötting	54.5	12.3	13.1	5.6	4.8	6.0	3.5	41.4
	Erding – Ebersberg	48.2	14.9	10.3	7.3	4.0	10.2	5.1	33.3
	Freising	43.0	13.5	12.5	7.2	5.0	9.4	9.4	29.5
	Fürstenfeldbruck	43.6	18.7	10.2	7.2	4.1	9.1	7.0	24.9
	Ingolstadt	49.5	13.6	13.0	5.1	4.8	6.3	7.6	35.9
	München-Nord	32.2	26.0	7.6	9.6	6.0	13.1	5.4	6.2
	München-Ost	36.8	21.3	7.4	8.9	6.3	15.2	4.1	15.5
	München-Süd	33.0	23.5	7.6	9.1	7.4	13.8	5.6	9.5
	München-West/Mitte	33.3	23.1	6.7	9.0	7.1	16.3	4.5	10.2
	München-Land	43.5	16.3	8.4	9.3	3.9	13.7	4.8	27.2
	Rosenheim	45.9	11.8	13.0	7.4	3.8	9.4	8.6	32.9
	Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen – Miesbach	47.6	11.3	9.9	8.2	5.3	13.6	4.2	34.0
	Starnberg – Landsberg am Lech	42.1	16.7	8.9	9.6	4.0	11.9	6.9	25.4
	Traunstein	50.3	16.1	10.2	5.7	4.5	8.1	5.1	34.2
	Weilheim	47.6	14.8	10.1	7.0	4.7	9.1	6.4	32.8
	Deggendorf	44.1	17.4	17.3	4.0	4.2	4.5	8.6	26.7
	Landshut	39.6	13.6	12.6	8.5	3.6	6.5	15.6	24.0
	Passau	47.5	18.9	14.1	6.1	4.8	5.6	3.1	28.6
	Rottal-Inn	45.0	14.4	15.1	7.0	3.9	4.9	9.7	28.6
	Straubing	47.6	16.8	15.0	4.4	3.7	3.6	8.8	30.8
	Amberg	47.7	15.2	11.2	5.0	4.4	6.9	9.5	32.5
	Regensburg	40.1	16.7	11.8	6.2	6.0	9.3	9.9	23.4
	Schwandorf	48.5	24.2	0.0	4.6	5.0	3.9	13.9	24.3
	Weiden	46.2	22.3	0.0	4.1	4.4	3.6	19.3	23.9
	Bamberg	42.1	20.4	11.5	6.5	5.2	9.2	5.1	21.7
	Bayreuth	46.5	21.2	9.4	6.6	4.3	7.1	4.8	18.9
	Coburg	45.3	26.4	10.5	4.8	5.2	5.9	2.0	18.9
	Hof	47.0	23.6	11.8	3.7	4.4	4.7	4.7	23.4
	Kulmbach	55.4	16.1	11.6	4.0	3.8	4.4	4.7	39.3
	Ansbach	44.3	18.4	10.5	4.2	6.1	7.6	9.0	25.9
	Erlangen	42.7	21.0	7.9	5.9	5.9	11.0	5.6	21.7
	Fürth	39.9	22.9	10.6	5.4	6.8	9.7	4.8	17.0
	Nürnberg-Nord	31.3	25.6	9.2	7.2	10.0	12.7	4.0	5.7
	Nürnberg-Süd	45.6	26.5	13.2	5.8	8.2	7.8	2.8	19.1
	Roth	34.5	20.6	10.3	4.7	4.8	7.9	7.3	13.9
	Aschaffenburg	48.1	16.6	10.5	8.0	5.8	9.2	2.9	31.5
	Bad Kissingen	51.1	19.1	10.5	5.6	5.4	7.1	1.2	32.0
	Main-Spessart	46.6	22.6	9.1	5.0	4.8	7.1	4.8	24.0
	Schweinfurt	47.9	17.1	11.1	6.2	7.8	7.4	2.4	30.8
	Würzburg	42.2	18.7	7.7	8.0	5.6	14.0	3.8	23.5
	Augsburg-Stadt	34.8	19.3	13.3	6.1	8.5	13.9	4.2	15.5
	Augsburg-Land	47.8	14.1	12.3	6.1	3.7	7.5	8.6	33.7
	Donau-Ries	47.0	18.1	12.8	5.0	4.2	6.4	6.4	28.9
	Neu-Ulm	44.6	14.6	13.6	6.0	4.4	9.2	7.6	30.0
	Oberallgäu	50.5	12.2	9.6	7.0	4.7	9.2	6.8	38.3
	Ostallgäu	49.2	11.4	12.6	5.6	5.3	8.7	7.1	36.6
	Total	44.2	18.1	10.5	6.5	5.2	9.0	6.5	26.1
Berlin	Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf	30.2	27.6	7.5	9.2	9.4	13.6	2.4	2.6
	Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg – Prenzlauer Berg Ost	12.2	16.9	6.2	3.1	24.9	26.3	10.4	1.4
	Lichtenberg	19.7	14.1	15.7	3.4	34.8	5.9	6.4	15.1
	Marzahn-Hellersdorf	22.3	12.6	20.6	3.5	34.2	3.2	3.6	11.9
	Mitte	18.6	23.5	7.9	6.0	20.5	18.0	5.6	3.0
	Neukölln	24.5	26.8	10.7	5.1	16.4	11.0	5.5	2.3
	Pankow	19.6	16.4	12.1	4.2	28.8	14.2	4.8	9.2
	Reinickendorf	36.8	23.6	13.2	7.2	7.7	7.9	3.6	13.2
	Spandau-Charlottenburg Nord	30.9	32.1	13.4	6.4	7.6	6.2	3.4	1.2
	Steglitz-Zehlendorf	35.4	24.6	8.2	9.1	7.5	12.7	2.6	10.8
	Tempelhof-Schöneberg	28.9	22.0	9.1	6.4	10.8	18.9	3.9	6.9
	Treptow-Köpenick	18.9	13.8	15.0	3.8	39.9	5.0	3.7	21.0
	Total	24.7	21.0	11.4	5.6	20.2	12.4	4.7	3.7
Brandenburg	Prignitz – Ostprignitz-Ruppin – Havelland I	30.8	23.7	18.0	3.6	17.6	3.0	3.3	7.1
	Uckermark – Barnim I	30.6	19.4	20.2	3.8	18.5	3.7	3.9	10.4
	Oberhavel – Havelland II	29.9	22.7	18.0	5.2	14.7	5.3	4.2	7.2
	Märkisch-Oderland – Barnim II	28.4	15.8	20.2	4.2	22.5	5.4	3.4	5.9
	Brandenburg an der Havel – Potsdam-Mittelmark I – Havelland III – Teltow-Fläming I	31.8	25.1	26.9	4.6	15.1	3.4	3.1	4.9
	Potsdam – Potsdam-Mittelmark II – Teltow-Fläming II	25.9	26.1	12.3	7.5	16.5	8.0	4.7	0.2
	Dahme-Spreewald – Teltow-Fläming III – Oberspreewald-Lausitz I	30.7	19.6	20.3	4.8	16.4	4.4	3.8	10.4
	Frankfurt (Oder) – Oder-Spree	27.1	17.1	21.9	5.1	19.1	3.3	6.4	5.2
	Cottbus – Spree-Neiße	28.4	17.0	25.3	5.7	15.7	3.3	4.6	3.1
	Elbe-Elster – Oberspreewald-Lausitz II	29.5	16.7	24.7	5.4	16.2	2.9	4.7	4.8
	Total	29.0	20.5	19.4	5.1	17.2	4.5	4.2	8.5
Bremen	Bremen I	24.2	30.0	7.7	11.2	12.2	11.9	2.7	5.8
	Bremen II-Bremerhaven	25.0	34.0	11.4	6.7	11.5	7.7	3.7	9.0
	Total	24.6	31.8	9.3	9.2	11.9	10.1	3.2	7.2
Hamburg	Altona	25.9	28.9	5.1	8.6	13.6	14.4	3.4	3.0
	Bergedorf-Harburg	28.1	34.8	10.9	5.2	10.7	7.7	2.6	6.7
	Eimsbüttel	28.7	31.6	5.7	6.8	10.4	15.0	1.8	2.9
	Mitte	24.2	30.9	7.3	6.4	13.9	12.9	4.4	6.7
	Nord	33.5	30.8	5.5	8.4	7.5	13.6	0.7	2.7
	Wandsbek	29.7	34.6	9.5	7.0	9.2	7.1	2.9	4.9
	Total	28.5	32.0	7.3	7.1	10.8	11.7	2.6	3.5
Hesse	Waldeck	33.6	35.1	11.0	7.1	6.1	5.7	1.4	1.5
	Kassel	26.9	35.6	10.0	5.9	8.8	9.4	3.6	8.7
	Werra-Meißner – Hersfeld-Rotenburg	29.9	41.2	12.5	5.0	5.5	4.0	1.8	11.3
	Schwalm-Eder	30.4	37.7	12.0	6.5	5.5	5.6	2.3	7.3
	Marburg	33.4	35.7	10.2	4.3	8.2	6.4	1.8	2.3
	Lahn-Dill	38.3	29.7	11.7	6.3	4.7	5.8	3.5	8.6
	Gießen	35.1	28.2	11.5	7.7	6.3	8.3	2.9	6.9
	Fulda	45.2	20.2	17.6	5.3	4.8	5.6	1.4	25.0
	Main-Kinzig – Wetterau II – Schotten	36.4	28.3	14.8	6.1	5.9	5.4	3.0	8.1
	Hochtaunus	39.9	23.0	10.4	10.4	5.9	8.9	1.4	16.9
	Wetterau I	36.4	29.0	10.9	8.1	4.9	8.3	2.3	7.4
	Rheingau-Taunus – Limburg	41.8	25.3	10.2	7.6	5.5	7.0	2.6	16.5
	Wiesbaden	34.3	28.6	10.4	7.0	7.7	8.9	3.1	5.7
	Hanau	35.3	30.4	12.8	6.4	5.8	6.1	3.1	4.9
	Main-Taunus	41.9	21.8	9.7	10.9	5.0	9.1	1.7	20.1
	Frankfurt am Main I	30.5	27.1	9.0	9.2	9.7	10.9	3.5	3.4
	Frankfurt am Main II	32.4	25.9	7.6	8.1	9.1	13.5	3.3	6.5
	(electoral district)Groß-Gerau	35.1	32.4	11.3	5.6	6.7	6.8	2.1	2.7
	Offenbach	36.4	24.9	11.2	7.7	7.7	8.8	3.2	11.5
	Darmstadt	30.7	29.7	9.1	6.2	8.5	14.2	1.6	1.0
	Odenwald	36.1	29.0	11.7	7.2	6.1	7.8	2.0	7.1
	Bergstraße	38.9	26.9	12.5	7.6	5.5	7.6	0.9	12.0
	Total	35.4	29.2	11.2	7.1	6.6	8.1	2.4	6.2
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	Ludwigslust-Parchim II-Nordwestmecklenburg II-Landkreis Rostock I	30.0	24.0	17.4	5.7	16.2	4.0	2.6	6.0
	Mecklenburgische Seenplatte I-Vorpommern-Greifswald II	31.2	13.9	23.5	5.8	19.1	2.5	4.1	7.7
	Mecklenburgische Seenplatte II-Landkreis Rostock III	37.6	15.7	18.4	4.7	17.4	3.3	2.9	19.2
	Schwerin-Ludwigslust-Parchim I-Nordwestmecklenburg I	32.1	22.1	16.0	4.8	17.2	3.8	4.1	10.0
	Rostock-Landkreis Rostock II	29.5	17.9	14.7	4.5	24.8	5.1	3.4	4.7
	Vorpommern-Rügen-Vorpommern-Greifswald I	44.0	11.6	19.2	3.1	15.9	3.0	3.1	24.8
	Total	34.2	17.4	18.2	4.7	18.5	3.6	3.4	15.7
Lower Saxony	Aurich – Emden	27.6	49.6	0.0	4.9	6.7	7.0	4.1	22.0
	Unterems	50.0	28.0	7.7	4.4	4.4	4.7	0.7	22.0
	Friesland – Wilhelmshaven – Wittmund	32.4	39.7	8.3	5.9	5.9	5.5	2.3	7.3
	Oldenburg – Ammerland	30.2	36.3	6.7	6.1	8.1	11.4	1.3	6.1
	Delmenhorst – Wesermarsch – Oldenburg-Land	34.1	32.9	9.0	9.0	6.1	7.7	1.2	1.2
	Cuxhaven – Stade II	42.7	30.7	8.5	5.0	5.8	6.1	1.3	12.0
	Stade I – Rotenburg II	44.4	28.2	8.3	5.8	5.3	7.0	1.0	16.2
	Mittelems	53.6	26.4	5.0	5.6	3.8	5.0	0.5	27.2
	Cloppenburg – Vechta	57.7	20.4	7.8	5.1	4.1	4.3	0.6	37.3
	Diepholz – Nienburg I	44.6	27.3	8.1	7.0	5.3	7.7	0.0	17.3
	Osterholz – Verden	39.2	32.0	8.6	5.5	7.1	6.7	1.0	7.2
	Rotenburg I – Heidekreis	36.1	41.2	8.2	4.5	4.1	4.8	1.1	5.1
	Harburg	40.6	27.4	9.2	6.5	5.4	9.1	1.7	13.2
	Lüchow-Dannenberg – Lüneburg	33.5	28.1	8.7	6.6	8.4	14.8	0.0	5.4
	Osnabrück-Land	45.6	28.3	6.6	6.4	5.3	7.7	0.2	17.3
	Stadt Osnabrück	40.3	31.6	0.0	8.9	8.4	10.1	0.6	8.7
	Stadt Osnabrück	40.6	32.7	9.1	4.5	4.5	7.7	0.8	7.9
	Stadt Hannover I	29.6	35.6	8.5	6.5	7.2	9.1	3.4	6.0
	Stadt Hannover II	28.9	33.7	7.2	5.5	9.3	11.2	4.2	4.8
	Hannover-Land I	40.1	33.1	9.6	5.2	5.0	6.0	1.1	7.0
	Celle – Uelzen	42.7	30.0	10.1	5.5	4.6	5.8	1.1	12.7
	Celle – Uelzen	36.1	37.8	9.9	4.8	5.3	5.6	0.6	1.7
	Gifhorn – Peine	33.4	39.1	9.5	5.8	5.9	5.4	0.9	5.7
	Hameln-Pyrmont – Holzminden	35.2	37.0	9.4	5.4	5.4	5.7	1.8	1.8
	Hildesheim	36.0	37.2	8.6	5.6	5.1	7.6	0.0	1.2
	Salzgitter – Wolfenbüttel	29.1	42.8	11.9	4.7	6.0	4.3	1.1	13.7
	Braunschweig	31.4	38.0	7.8	5.4	7.6	8.0	1.8	6.6
	Helmstedt – Wolfsburg	34.9	38.0	10.2	5.7	6.0	4.5	0.7	3.1
	Goslar – Northeim – Osterode	39.8	34.8	9.3	5.0	5.7	5.4	0.0	5.0
	Göttingen	33.3	34.9	7.0	4.6	5.9	11.3	3.1	1.6
	Total	38.3	33.6	8.0	5.7	5.9	7.2	1.3	5.7
North Rhine-Westphalia	Aachen I	33.7	32.5	5.6	7.3	8.8	9.4	2.6	1.2
	Aachen II	36.5	36.9	8.8	6.4	5.1	4.5	1.7	0.4
	Heinsberg	45.6	28.0	8.3	6.6	4.6	5.0	2.0	17.6
	Düren	41.9	31.7	8.9	5.9	4.4	5.5	1.7	10.2
	Rhein-Erft-Kreis I	39.2	31.1	9.0	9.3	4.5	5.5	1.4	8.1
	Euskirchen – Rhein-Erft-Kreis II	42.8	26.2	9.5	9.9	5.8	5.8	0.0	16.6
	Köln I	31.6	31.0	8.6	7.7	8.6	9.8	2.7	0.6
	Köln II	34.9	26.9	4.6	9.1	8.0	14.6	2.0	8.0
	Köln III	27.6	23.3	7.5	7.1	9.7	13.2	2.6	4.3
	Bonn	32.0	34.9	6.1	10.5	5.7	8.4	2.4	2.9
	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis I	44.3	27.7	0.0	10.4	8.1	6.5	3.0	16.6
	Rhein-Sieg-Kreis II	46.5	22.7	8.4	8.4	5.5	7.9	0.5	23.8
	Oberbergischer Kreis	43.7	26.7	10.1	7.8	5.2	6.1	0.3	17.0
	Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis	40.0	24.4	7.2	15.7	4.9	6.9	0.8	15.6
	Leverkusen – Köln IV	30.8	38.7	8.7	6.6	6.1	5.7	3.4	7.9
	Wuppertal I	31.5	29.6	11.0	8.7	8.9	7.4	2.8	1.9
	Solingen – Remscheid – Wuppertal II	38.2	30.8	9.5	7.8	6.2	5.8	1.6	7.4
	Mettmann I	44.6	25.7	8.9	8.3	5.5	6.9	0.0	18.9
	Mettmann II	39.3	30.2	9.0	8.7	5.5	6.1	1.2	9.1
	Düsseldorf I	40.4	24.4	6.4	12.8	7.4	8.4	0.2	16.0
	Düsseldorf II	33.8	27.3	8.1	9.2	13.0	8.3	0.2	6.5
	Neuss I	44.0	28.6	8.6	7.2	5.4	5.1	1.0	15.4
	Mönchengladbach	44.3	24.4	9.1	7.8	6.8	6.0	1.6	19.9
	Krefeld I – Neuss II	42.4	25.5	7.3	11.5	5.1	6.6	1.6	16.9
	Viersen	47.9	25.0	7.0	8.3	5.1	6.7	0.0	22.9
	Kleve	45.0	30.6	6.6	7.6	4.2	4.9	1.1	14.4
	Wesel I	39.0	32.8	8.6	8.0	6.0	5.5	0.2	6.2
	Krefeld II – Wesel II	37.0	32.0	8.5	8.2	5.6	6.1	2.7	5.0
	Duisburg I	28.7	38.3	11.5	7.0	6.9	5.6	2.1	9.6
	Duisburg II	26.4	34.7	16.6	7.0	8.9	4.6	1.8	8.3
	Oberhausen – Wesel III	29.1	38.5	12.3	6.3	7.6	5.6	0.6	9.4
	Mülheim – Essen I	31.3	34.9	11.5	9.0	6.5	6.2	0.5	3.6
	Essen II	26.6	37.3	15.8	6.6	7.9	5.4	0.4	10.7
	Essen III	37.1	30.8	8.1	8.3	6.5	8.2	1.0	6.3
	Recklinghausen I	30.9	38.7	11.4	7.2	6.6	5.0	0.3	7.8
	Recklinghausen II	34.5	41.1	0.0	10.2	8.4	4.7	1.0	6.6
	Gelsenkirchen	25.4	38.3	16.9	6.7	6.5	4.6	1.6	12.9
	Steinfurt I – Borken I	51.3	25.8	6.0	6.6	4.9	5.3	0.0	25.5
	Bottrop – Recklinghausen III	33.6	36.8	11.8	6.5	6.3	4.4	0.6	3.2
	Borken II	52.3	25.3	0.0	9.1	4.5	6.7	2.0	27.0
	Coesfeld – Steinfurt II	51.6	23.5	0.0	10.5	6.2	8.2	0.0	28.1
	Steinfurt III	44.8	30.3	6.3	5.6	5.6	6.5	0.8	14.5
	Münster	37.2	28.9	4.5	7.0	6.9	12.8	2.8	8.3
	Warendorf	46.4	27.9	6.9	7.0	4.8	5.5	1.5	18.5
	Gütersloh I	46.6	28.0	8.0	6.5	4.3	5.7	0.8	18.6
	Bielefeld – Gütersloh II	30.7	33.2	8.2	7.3	9.0	9.6	2.0	2.5
	Herford – Minden-Lübbecke II	35.8	36.7	10.0	5.6	5.6	5.1	1.2	0.9
	Minden-Lübbecke I	37.4	35.5	9.9	7.1	5.3	4.9	0.0	1.9
	Lippe I	36.6	32.1	10.2	8.4	5.4	6.0	1.3	4.5
	Höxter – Lippe II	44.3	26.7	9.1	6.9	5.5	6.0	1.5	17.6
	Paderborn – Gütersloh III	53.3	19.9	9.1	5.5	5.1	6.0	1.0	33.4
	Hagen – Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis I	30.3	39.2	11.3	7.9	5.4	3.9	2.0	8.9
	Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II	32.9	36.7	0.0	10.5	8.0	8.6	3.2	3.8
	Bochum I	28.2	37.2	9.5	7.0	10.0	7.7	0.3	9.0
	Herne – Bochum II	24.1	41.9	13.4	6.7	8.0	5.6	0.3	17.8
	Dortmund I	28.6	38.8	9.5	5.9	7.7	7.3	2.2	10.2
	Dortmund II	28.1	38.8	10.6	6.4	8.6	6.4	1.1	10.7
	Unna I	31.8	38.8	9.1	6.4	5.4	6.4	2.1	7.0
	Hamm – Unna II	35.2	36.4	10.4	5.9	5.9	4.4	1.8	1.2
	Soest	42.7	29.3	8.9	7.9	5.7	5.5	0.1	13.4
	Hochsauerlandkreis	48.0	26.9	7.3	8.4	4.2	4.2	0.9	21.1
	Siegen-Wittgenstein	40.1	30.2	9.8	7.3	5.9	4.3	2.3	9.9
	Olpe – Märkischer Kreis I	47.9	26.3	8.8	8.8	4.8	3.4	0.0	21.6
	Märkischer Kreis II	37.8	38.6	0.0	10.7	7.8	3.8	1.3	0.8
Total	38.3	31.3	8.1	8.0	6.4	6.5	1.3	7.0
Rhineland-Palatinate	Neuwied	43.2	28.6	9.5	6.1	5.3	5.3	1.9	14.6
	Ahrweiler	42.8	27.4	8.8	8.7	4.5	5.8	2.1	15.4
	Koblenz	41.3	28.7	8.2	6.5	5.2	6.2	3.9	12.6
	Mosel/Rhein-Hunsrück	44.1	25.2	8.2	8.7	5.3	4.9	3.7	18.9
	Kreuznach	37.0	31.5	10.8	6.8	5.53	4.9	3.5	5.5
	Bitburg	51.2	25.7	7.1	7.0	5.5	0.0	3.5	25.5
	Trier	37.9	33.7	7.0	5.3	6.6	6.5	3.1	4.2
	Montabaur	43.3	29.8	0.0	9.2	7.0	5.2	5.5	13.5
	Mainz	35.7	28.0	7.3	6.9	6.4	10.8	4.8	17.7
	Worms	41.1	26.7	11.3	6.0	5.1	6.7	3.1	14.4
	Ludwigshafen/Frankenthal	32.1	31.9	14.5	7.5	5.6	5.5	2.9	10.2
	Neustadt – Speyer	40.0	25.3	11.9	6.8	4.7	7.6	3.7	14.7
	Kaiserslautern	31.3	33.9	12.6	5.5	7.2	5.1	4.3	2.6
	Pirmasens	33.8	28.8	12.8	6.7	6.1	4.2	4.6	5.0
	Südpfalz	40.3	26.0	12.3	6.0	4.7	7.9	2.7	14.3
	Total	39.6	28.8	9.5	6.9	5.7	6.0	3.6	10.8
Saarland	Homburg	33.6	31.4	11.0	5.1	11.0	5.0	2.9	2.2
	Saarbrücken	31.4	32.1	8.9	5.3	13.3	6.0	2.9	0.7
	Saarlouis	38.0	32.1	9.0	3.8	10.8	3.5	2.7	5.9
	St. Wendel	41.8	30.4	8.4	4.7	9.8	3.4	1.6	11.4
	Total	36.2	31.5	9.3	4.7	11.2	4.5	2.6	4.7
Saxony	Nordsachsen	32.8	14.0	26.8	6.6	17.2	2.6	0.0	6.0
	Leipzig I	27.5	16.5	20.5	5.7	19.5	5.5	4.9	7.0
	Leipzig II	24.6	13.7	15.0	5.8	25.3	9.9	5.7	0.7
	Leipzig-Land	34.1	11.5	28.7	6.3	15.6	3.9	0.0	5.4
	Meißen	36.7	8.9	31.0	5.3	12.7	3.3	2.1	5.7
	Bautzen I	30.6	10.0	33.2	5.8	15.2	2.0	3.1	2.6
	Görlitz	31.4	10.9	32.4	5.0	13.6	3.3	3.4	1.0
	Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge	28.8	7.2	37.4	6.5	14.7	3.0	2.4	8.6
	Dresden I	24.6	13.2	22.4	7.5	21.0	6.5	4.8	2.2
	Dresden II – Bautzen II	25.5	11.1	22.3	7.0	17.5	8.6	7.9	3.2
	Mittelsachsen	32.4	12.0	31.5	5.8	14.0	3.1	1.2	0.9
	Chemnitz	26.6	15.4	24.0	6.6	19.4	4.2	3.9	2.6
	Chemnitzer Umland – Erzgebirgskreis II	35.1	10.3	26.6	7.6	17.0	3.4	0.0	8.5
	Erzgebirgskreis I	34.7	9.0	30.2	7.2	15.2	2.6	1.0	4.5
	Zwickau	33.7	12.7	0.0	13.4	25.7	4.5	9.9	8.0
	Vogtlandkreis	35.0	11.1	26.0	5.6	15.5	3.8	3.1	9.0
	Total	30.6	11.7	25.4	6.7	17.5	4.5	3.5	5.2
Saxony-Anhalt	Altmark	32.6	19.1	16.5	6.7	19.2	3.4	2.5	13.4
	Börde – Jerichower Land	37.8	20.0	20.3	0.0	7.6	2.4	11.9	17.5
	Harz	36.4	17.5	16.1	4.9	19.2	3.2	2.6	17.2
	Magdeburg	27.4	21.7	15.3	6.7	18.9	4.0	6.0	5.7
	Dessau – Wittenberg	35.2	12.2	19.4	5.0	18.2	4.6	5.4	15.8
	Anhalt	31.6	12.9	22.2	6.3	21.2	2.0	3.8	9.4
	Halle	27.1	21.3	17.3	6.7	20.3	3.6	3.6	5.8
	Burgenland – Saalekreis	33.6	13.1	23.4	6.6	16.9	2.5	3.9	10.2
	Mansfeld	31.0	15.2	23.9	8.1	18.1	2.6	1.2	7.1
	Total	32.4	17.2	16.9	6.5	19.2	6.5	4.7	13.2
Schleswig-Holstein	Flensburg – Schleswig	40.0	28.0	6.2	6.5	7.1	10.5	1.6	12.0
	Nordfriesland – Dithmarschen Nord	45.1	25.2	5.9	8.1	5.2	9.4	1.2	19.9
	Steinburg – Dithmarschen Süd	41.9	26.1	7.6	11.0	5.5	6.7	1.1	15.8
	Rendsburg-Eckernförde	42.7	28.9	6.8	6.5	5.2	9.0	1.0	13.8
	Kiel	30.7	31.0	6.1	7.5	7.3	14.3	3.0	0.3
	Plön – Neumünster	40.7	28.9	7.8	7.2	5.4	9.0	1.0	11.8
	Pinneberg	39.7	30.3	7.9	7.8	6.1	8.3	0.0	9.4
	Segeberg – Stormarn-Mitte	41.1	27.3	8.2	8.1	5.7	8.3	1.2	13.8
	Ostholstein – Stormarn-Nord	41.5	30.8	7.9	7.3	4.4	6.9	1.2	10.7
	Herzogtum Lauenburg – Stormarn-Süd	39.5	27.2	9.1	8.2	5.1	9.7	1.1	12.3
	Lübeck	35.3	33.9	8.7	6.5	0.0	13.0	2.7	1.4
	Total	39.8	28.8	7.5	7.7	5.3	9.5	1.3	11.0
Thuringia	Eichsfeld-Nordhausen-Kyffhäuserkreis	38.0	14.3	21.4	4.9	15.3	2.6	3.6	16.6
	Eisenach-Wartburgkreis-Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis	34.4	15.2	21.2	5.0	15.5	3.1	5.5	13.2
	Erfurt-Weimar-Weimarer Land II	27.3	18.2	17.5	6.0	18.7	7.1	5.3	8.6
	Gera-Greiz-Altenburger Land	30.4	11.8	27.3	5.6	18.7	2.1	4.0	3.1
	Gotha-Ilm-Kreis	29.0	18.6	23.9	6.0	15.6	3.3	3.6	5.1
	Jena-Sömmerda-Weimarer Land I	29.2	14.2	19.3	5.8	21.4	4.9	5.2	7.8
	Saalfeld-Rudolstadt-Saale-Holzland-Kreis-Saale-Orla-Kreis	30.9	11.7	26.5	6.1	17.1	3.4	4.4	4.4
	Suhl-Schmalkalden-Meiningen-Hildburghausen-Sonneberg	33.5	13.5	22.8	4.9	18.3	2.6	4.4	10.7
	Total	31.6	14.6	22.5	5.5	17.6	3.6	4.5	9.1

Results by state

Second Vote ("Zweitstimme", or votes for party list) by state^[10]

State	CDU/CSU	SPD	AfD	FDP	Linke	Grüne	Others
Baden-Württemberg	34.4	16.4	12.2	12.7	6.4	13.5	4.5
Bavaria	38.8	15.3	12.4	10.2	6.1	9.8	7.5
Berlin	22.7	17.9	12.0	8.9	18.8	12.6	7.0
Brandenburg	26.7	17.6	20.2	7.1	17.2	5.0	6.3
Bremen	25.0	26.3	10.0	9.3	13.5	11.0	4.3
Hamburg	27.2	23.5	7.8	10.8	12.2	13.9	4.5
Hesse	30.9	23.5	11.9	11.6	8.1	9.7	4.4
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	33.1	15.1	18.6	6.2	17.8	4.3	4.9
Lower Saxony	34.9	27.4	9.1	9.3	6.9	8.7	3.6
North Rhine-Westphalia	32.6	26.0	9.4	13.1	7.5	7.6	3.8
Rhineland-Palatinate	35.9	24.2	11.2	10.4	6.8	7.6	3.9
Saarland	32.4	27.2	10.1	7.6	12.9	6.0	3.9
Saxony	26.9	10.5	27.0	8.2	16.1	4.6	6.7
Saxony-Anhalt	30.3	15.2	19.6	7.8	17.8	3.7	5.7
Schleswig-Holstein	34.0	23.3	8.2	12.6	7.3	12.0	2.7
Thuringia	28.8	13.2	22.7	7.8	16.9	4.1	6.5

Constituency seats

List seats

On 24 October 2017 the 19th Bundestag held its opening session, during which the Bundestag-members elected the Presidium of the Bundestag, i.e. the President and the Vice Presidents of the Bundestag. By tradition the biggest parliamentary group (in this case the CDU/CSU-group) has the right to propose a candidate for President of the Bundestag and following the rules of order every group has the right to be represented by at least one Vice President in the presidium. However, the Bundestag may decide to elect additional Vice Presidents. Every member of the presidium had to be elected by an absolute majority of the members of the Bundestag (in this case 355 votes). Until the election of the President of the Bundestag, the father of the house, the member of parliament with the longest membership, presided over the opening session.^[11]

• Since he had been a member of the Bundestag for 45 years (since 1972), Wolfgang Schäuble would have been the father of the house.^[12] However, since Schäuble was also a candidate for President of the Bundestag and would therefore likely have had to declare his own election, he refused the office. Hermann Otto Solms, who had been a member of the Bundestag for 33 years (1980–2013 and since 2017), stood in for him.^[13][14]
• The CDU/CSU group proposed Wolfgang Schäuble to be President of the Bundestag.^[15] Schäuble was elected on the first ballot (501 yes votes, 173 no votes, 30 abstentions, 1 invalid vote).
• The CDU/CSU group proposed Hans-Peter Friedrich to be a Vice President of the Bundestag.^[16] Friedrich was elected on the first ballot (507 yes votes, 112 no votes, 82 abstentions, 2 invalid votes).
• The SPD group proposed Thomas Oppermann to be a Vice President of the Bundestag. Oppermann was elected on the first ballot (396 yes votes, 220 no votes, 81 abstentions, 6 invalid votes).
• The AfD group proposed Albrecht Glaser to be a Vice President of the Bundestag.^[17] On 2 October 2017 the groups of the SPD, the FDP, The Left and Alliance 90/The Greens criticised the nomination because of controversial remarks about Islam and the basic right of religious freedom made by Glaser during the AfD's election campaign and asked the AfD group to nominate someone else to the post. The AfD group declined to accede to the request and nominate someone else.^[18] Glaser failed to get a majority on three ballots, although even a plurality would have been sufficient on the third (first ballot: 115 yes votes, 550 no votes, 26 abstentions, 12 invalid votes, second ballot: 123 yes votes, 549 no votes, 24 abstentions, 1 invalid vote, third ballot: 114 yes votes, 545 no votes, 26 abstentions).
• The FDP group proposed Wolfgang Kubicki to be a Vice President of the Bundestag. Kubicki was elected on the first ballot (489 yes votes, 100 no votes, 111 abstentions, 3 invalid votes).
• The Left group proposed Petra Pau, who has held this position since 2006, to be a Vice President of the Bundestag. Pau was elected on the first ballot (456 yes votes, 187 no votes, 54 abstentions, 6 invalid votes).
• The Alliance 90/Greens group proposed Claudia Roth, who already held this position in the previous legislative session, to be a Vice President of the Bundestag.^[19] Roth was elected on the first ballot (489 yes votes, 166 no votes, 45 abstentions, 3 invalid votes).

The AfD's seat in the Presidium has remained vacant since the first session. On 7 November 2018, the AfD-group nominated Mariana Harder-Kühnel to the post.^[20] Harder-Kühnel failed to secure a majority on the first ballot on 29 November 2018 (223 yes votes, 387 no votes, 44 abstentions), on the second ballot on 12 December 2018 (241 yes votes, 377 no votes, 41 abstentions), or on the third ballot on 4 April 2019 (199 yes votes, 423 no votes, 43 abstentions)^[21][22][23] On 9 April 2019, the AfD nominated Gerold Otten to the post; however, he has failed to secure a majority on the first ballot on 11 April 2019 (210 yes votes, 393 no votes, 31 abstentions),^[24][25] on the second ballot on 16 May 2019 (205 yes votes, 399 no votes, 26 abstentions),^[26] or on the third ballot on 6 June 2019 (211 yes votes, 426 no votes, 30 abstentions).^[27]

Jamaica coalition

The SPD's leader and Chancellor candidate Martin Schulz and other party leaders stated that the SPD would not continue the incumbent grand coalition government after unsatisfactory election results.^[28] Following the SPD's announcement that it would return to the opposition, the media speculated that incumbent chancellor Angela Merkel might need to form a Jamaica coalition (black-yellow-green) with the FDP and the Greens as that was the only viable coalition without the AfD or The Left, both of which had been ruled out by Merkel as coalition partners before the election.^[29] On 9 October 2017, Merkel officially announced that she would invite the Free Democrats and the Greens for talks about building a coalition government starting on 18 October 2017.^[30][31]

In the final days of the preliminary talks, the four parties had still failed to come to agreement on migration and climate issues.^[32] Preliminary talks between the parties collapsed on 20 November after the FDP withdrew, arguing that the talks had failed to produce a common vision or trust.^[33]

Grand coalition

After the collapse of these coalition talks, the German President appealed to the SPD to change their hard stance and to consider a grand coalition with the CDU/CSU.^[34] On 24 November, Schulz said he wants party members to be polled on whether to form another grand coalition with CDU/CSU after a meeting with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier the day before.^[35] According to CDU deputy leader Julia Klöckner, talks were unlikely to begin until early 2018.^[36] On 6 December the SPD held a party congress in which a majority of the 600 party delegates voted to start preliminary coalition talks with the CDU/CSU.^[37] This decision was met with reluctance by the party's youth wing, which organised protests outside the convention hall.^[38] Martin Schulz's backing of the coalition talks was interpreted by media organisations as a U-turn, as he had previously ruled out considering a grand coalition.^[39][40][41]

On 12 January, the CDU/CSU and the SPD announced that they had reached a breakthrough in the preliminary talks and agreed upon an outline document to begin formal negotiations for the grand coalition.^[42] On 21 January, the SPD held an extraordinary party conference of 642 delegates in Bonn.^[43] The conference voted in favour of accepting the conclusion of preliminary talks and launching formal coalition negotiations with the CDU/CSU.^[44] The formal coalition talks finally began on 26 January.^[45][46]

On 7 February, the CDU/CSU and SPD announced that the final coalition agreement had been reached between the parties to form the next government.^[47] According to terms of the agreement, the SPD received six ministries in the new government including the finance, foreign affairs and labour portfolios while the CDU received five and the CSU three ministries. The agreement stipulated there would be rises in public spending, an increase in German financing of the EU and a slightly stricter stance taken towards immigration.^[48][49] SPD chairperson and Europe expert Martin Schulz was to step down as party leader and join the cabinet as foreign minister,^[50] despite having previously stated that he would not serve under a Merkel-led government.^[51] However, only days after these reports were published, Schulz renounced his plan to be foreign minister reacting on massive criticism by the party base.^[52] The complete text of the coalition agreement was published on 7 February.^[53] The coalition deal was subject to approval of the approximately 460,000 members of the SPD in a postal vote.^[54][55] The results of the vote were announced on 4 March. In summary, 66% of respondents voted in favour of the deal and 34% voted against it.^[56] Approximately 78% of the SPD membership responded to the postal vote.^[56] The result allowed the new government to take office immediately following Bundestag approval of Merkel's fourth term on 14 March 2018.^[57]

• Dilling, M. 2018. "Two of the Same Kind? The Rise of the AfD and Its Implications for the CDU/CSU." German Politics and Society 36 (1): 84–104
• Dostal, Jörg Michael. "The German Federal Election of 2017: How the wedge issue of refugees and migration took the shine off Chancellor Merkel and transformed the party system." Political Quarterly 88.4 (2017): 589–602. online
• Faas, Thorsten, and Tristan Klingelhöfer. "The more things change, the more they stay the same? The German federal election of 2017 and its consequences." West European Politics 42.4 (2019): 914–926.
• Franzmann, Simon T., Heiko Giebler, and Thomas Poguntke. "It's no longer the economy, stupid! Issue yield at the 2017 German federal election." West European Politics 43.3 (2020): 610–638. online
• Hansen, Michael A., and Jonathan Olsen. "Flesh of the same flesh: A study of voters for the alternative for Germany (AfD) in the 2017 federal election." German Politics 28.1 (2019): 1–19. online^{[dead link]}
• Olsen, J. 2018. "The Left Party and the AfD. Populist Competitors in Eastern Germany." German Politics and Society 36 (1): 70–83.
• Patton, D. 2017. "Monday, Monday: Eastern Protest Movements and German Party Politics since 1989." German Politics 26 (4): 480–497.
• Schmidt, I. 2017. "PEGIDA: A Hybrid Form of a Populist Right Movement." German Politics and Society 35 (4): 105–117.

• Official website
• Official voting results from the Federal Returning Officer