German governing coalition

Potential governing alliances in Germany

Composition of German states' governing coalitions Breakdown of seats in the 21st Bundestag, elected in the 2025 German federal election. From left to right, the parties are:

The Left (Die Linke)

Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)

Alliance 90/The Greens

South Schleswig Voters' Association (SSW)

Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU)

Alternative for Germany (AfD)

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In Germany's federal electoral system, a single party or parliamentary group rarely wins an absolute majority of seats in the Bundestag, and thus coalition governments, rather than single-party governments, are the usually expected outcome of a German election.[1] As German political parties are often associated with particular colors, coalitions are frequently given nicknames based on the colors included.[2][3] Prominent political parties in Germany are the CDU/CSU (black), the SPD (red), the Greens (green), the Left (red, or alternatively magenta to distinguish from the SPD), the AfD (blue), and the FDP (yellow).[4]

## History

[edit]

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Since the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949, the country has traditionally used proportional representation both at the federal level and in the states. Because a multi-party system has emerged with two major parties (CDU/CSU and SPD) and a number of smaller parties that are nevertheless frequently represented in parliaments (Greens, FDP, Left, and AfD), single-party governments with absolute majorities are quite rare.

At the federal level, a single-party government has occurred only once so far. Between 1957 and 1961, the CDU/CSU held an absolute majority in the Bundestag and was able to govern alone (Third Adenauer cabinet); even then, the minor German Party was included in the government for the first three years of its existence, and the government was not a fully single-faction cabinet until those ministers joined the CDU in July 1960. In the states, single-party governments have been quite rare, with the exception of the Free State of Bavaria, where the CSU has many times been able to achieve absolute majorities in state elections. As of January 2024, only one of Germany's 16 states—Saarland—has a single-party government, led solely by the SPD.

There are two two-party coalitions usually preferred for reasons of ideological proximity; the centre-right black-yellow coalition (CDU/CSU and FDP) and the center-left red-green coalition (SPD and Greens). A third type of two-party-coalition, which occurs especially after inconclusive election results, is the grand coalition of the two larger parties CDU/CSU and SPD. Such coalitions are rare due to the ideological difference between the two but have become more common in the 21st century, with three of Angela Merkel's four governments being grand coalitions. Parties frequently make statements ahead of elections about which coalitions they categorically reject.

In Germany, coalitions rarely consist of more than two parties (CDU and CSU, two allies which on the federal level always form the CDU/CSU caucus, count as a single party). Starting in the 2010s, coalitions at the state level increasingly have included three parties, often the FDP, Greens, and one of the major parties, or "red-red-green" coalitions of the SPD, the Left, and the Greens. As of 2017, the Greens have joined governments on the state level in ten coalitions in seven various combinations.[5]

The Danish and Frisian minorities of Schleswig-Holstein have their own ethnic party, called the South Schleswig Voters' Association (SSW). In state politics, a coalition between the SPD, Greens, and SSW, is called the Danish traffic light coalition [de], or Gambia coalition because these parties' colors (including the SSW's dark blue) match the flag of the Gambia. Such a coalition was in power between 2012 and 2017 under minister president Torsten Albig. In December 2021, following the 2021 German federal election held on 26 September, a traffic light coalition (SPD, FDP, and Greens) led by Olaf Scholz took power in Germany, the first time a three-party coalition had formed at the federal level.[6]

### Übergroß coalitions

[edit]

Übergroß coalitions (übergroß meaning extra large) are coalitions that include more parties than mathematically necessary for a majority. The parties are generally reluctant to join coalitions where they are not mathematically needed towards a majority. Übergroß coalitions are usually formed in times of crisis, or when the coalition parties deem it necessary for other reasons.

Such a coalition may be assembled when a supermajority is needed, such as for making constitutional amendments. For this reason, they were common during the early days of the Federal Republic. At the federal level, they were formed twice: second Adenauer cabinet, where CDU/CSU came just one seat short of majority and could have formed a coalition with just one party but chose to form a coalition with three (FDP, DP and GB/BHE), and the aforementioned Adenauer III). At the state level, the last time until 2021 that such a coalition was formed was in Hamburg following the 1970 elections, where the SPD alone held a 10-seat majority but still chose to go into coalition with the FDP.

Alternatively, an übergroß coalition may be created to avoid problems stemming from an undisciplined parliamentary groups, where too narrow a majority carries a strong risk of failure. For example, following the 2021 Saxony-Anhalt state election, a grand coalition would have held a one-seat majority but Minister President Reiner Haseloff (CDU) also chose to include the FDP and form a Germany coalition [de]. When the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt met to elect a minister president, he unexpectedly failed to get elected on the first ballot, falling just one vote short, which was attributed to right-wing dissent within his party. He was elected on the second ballot.[7]

## Possible governing combinations

[edit]

Coalition name  | Coalition leader  | Other coalition parties  | State and federal examples

|
|
|

Coalitions currently in power
Blackberry coalition |  | CDU/CSU |  | SPD |  | BSW |  | Thuringia (2024)
Black–green coalition
(Kiwi coalition, or GrüKo)  |  | CDU/CSU |  | The Greens |  | Baden-Württemberg (2021)[a]
North Rhine-Westphalia (2022)
Schleswig-Holstein (2022)
Black–orange coalition
(Spezi, or papaya coalition)  |  | CDU/CSU |  | Free Voters/
BVB/FW |  | Bavaria (2023)
Germany coalition [de] |  | CDU/CSU |  | SPD |  | FDP |  | Saxony-Anhalt (2021)
Grand coalition
(GroKo)  |  | CDU/CSU |  | SPD |  | Berlin (2023 repeat)
Hesse (2023)
Saxony (2024)
Bundestag (2025)
Red–green coalition |  | SPD |  | The Greens |  | Lower Saxony (2022)
Hamburg (2025)
Red–purple coalition
(magenta coalition)  |  | SPD |  | BSW |  | Brandenburg (2024)
Red–red coalition |  | SPD |  | The Left |  | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (2021)
Red–red–green coalition |  | SPD |  | The Left |  | The Greens |  | Bremen (2023)
Traffic light coalition |  | SPD |  | FDP |  | The Greens |  | Rhineland-Palatinate (2021)
Other coalitions
Black–yellow coalition [de]
(Christian-liberal, Tigerenten,
or bürgerliche coalition)  |  | CDU/CSU |  | FDP |  | Bundestag (2009)
North Rhine-Westphalia (2017)
Green–yellow coalition [de]
(lime, or citrus coalition)  |  | The Greens |  | FDP |  | None
Jamaica coalition
(black traffic light coalition)  |  | CDU/CSU |  | The Greens |  | FDP |  | Saarland (2009)
Schleswig-Holstein (2017)
Kenya coalition
(Afghanistan coalition)  |  | CDU/CSU |  | SPD |  | The Greens |  | Saxony-Anhalt (2016)
Brandenburg (2019)
Saxony (2019)
Paprika coalition [de] |  | SPD |  | The Greens |  | Pirates |  | None
Social–liberal coalition |  | SPD |  | FDP |  | Bundestag (1980)
Rhineland-Palatinate (2001)
Zimbabwe coalition
(Ghana coalition)  |  | CDU/CSU |  | SPD |  | FDP |  | The Greens | None
Coalition below is only applicable to Schleswig-Holstein
Danish traffic light coalition [de]
(coastal, or Gambia coalition)  |  | SPD |  | The Greens |  | SSW |  | Schleswig-Holstein (2012)
Coalitions below are considered unlikely due to the cordon sanitaire
Bahamas coalition [de] |  | CDU/CSU |  | FDP |  | AfD |  | See: 2020 Thuringia crisis (2019)
Black–blue coalition [de]
(midnight coalition)  |  | CDU/CSU |  | AfD |  | None

### Hypothetical coalitions involving the AfD

[edit]

Due to the cordon sanitaire (usually called firewall, or Brandmauer in Germany) all other parties have established against AfD, hypothetical coalitions involving the AfD are rarely discussed. A coalition of CDU/CSU, AfD, and FDP would have had a majority in the 20th Bundestag elected in 2021;[b] it was not seriously discussed publicly by either media or politicians due to the cordon sanitaire. This hypothetical coalition has been described as the "Bahamas coalition", in reference to the colors of the flag of the Bahamas, as early as 2013.[8][9] Following the 2019 Thuringian state election, the election of Thomas Kemmerich by members of the three parties sparked the 2020 Thuringian government crisis, which ultimately led to Kemmerich's resignation.[c] A hypothetical coalition involving CDU/CSU and AfD would have a majority in the several Landtag elections. It is referred to as a "black–blue coalition" or "midnight coalition".[10]

State parliament  | Election year  | Majority
required  | CDU/CSU
seats  | AfD seats  | Black–blue
total

|
|
|
|
|

Saxony | 2014 | 64  | 59  | 14  | 73
Saxony-Anhalt | 2016 | 44  | 30  | 25  | 55
Saarland | 2017 | 26  | 24  | 3  | 27
Bavaria | 2018 | 103  | 85  | 22  | 107
Saxony | 2019 | 60  | 45  | 38  | 83
Saxony-Anhalt | 2021 | 49  | 40  | 23  | 63
Bavaria | 2023 | 102  | 85  | 32  | 117
Hesse | 2023 | 67  | 52  | 28  | 80
Saxony | 2024 | 61  | 41  | 40  | 81
Thuringia | 2024 | 45  | 23  | 32  | 55

Such a coalition would have had a majority in the 21st Bundestag elected in 2025, the two parties having a total of 360 out of 630 seats;[d] before and after the 2025 German federal election, held on 23 February, the CDU and CSU rejected this due to the cordon sanitaire. Other coalitions involving the AfD are considered even more unlikely due to ideological differences and a lack of parliamentary majorities.[citation needed]

## See also

[edit]

* Great Coalition (Weimar Republic), comprising the main pro-democratic parties at the time: the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the German Centre Party (DZP), the German Democratic Party (DDP), and the German People's Party (DVP)
* List of current heads of government of the German federal states, with information on which parties are included in each state government

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Inverted coalition composition, where the Greens are the coalition leader with 58 seats, and the CDU is the junior partner with 42 seats.
2. ^ Prior to the repeat election in Berlin, 369 seats were needed for a majority. CDU/CSU 197, FDP 92, AfD 83, total 372 seats.
3. ^ 46 seats needed for a majority (AfD 22, CDU 21, FDP 5). Total 48 seats, of which 45 voted for Kemmerich in the plurality vote.
4. ^ 316 seats needed for a majority. CDU/CSU 208, AfD 152.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Factbox: German "traffic light" coalition seen as most likely". Reuters. 2021-09-27. Archived from the original on 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
2. ^ Gehrke, Laurenz (2021-09-27). "What are the coalition options after Germany's election?". POLITICO. Archived from the original on 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
3. ^ "German voters face a bewildering array of possible coalitions". The Economist. 2021-09-04. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
4. ^ "The many colours of German coalitions". The Economist. 2021-03-13. ISSN 0013-0613. Archived from the original on 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
5. ^ Jungjohann, Arne (2017). German Greens in Coalition Governments. A Political Analysis (PDF). Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union and Green European Foundation. p. 19\. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-08-28. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
6. ^ Hauptmeier, Carsten (2021-11-25). "First ever three-party alliance". deutschland.de. Archived from the original on 2022-01-24. Retrieved 2022-01-24.
7. ^ "Haseloff als Ministerpräsident von Sachsen-Anhalt wiedergewählt | MDR.DE". www.mdr.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-03-16.
8. ^ "Bundestagswahl: Das Gespenst einer Bahamas-Koalition geht um". Die Welt. 8 September 2013. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
9. ^ ""Bahamas-Koalition": Opposition wittert Bündnis zwischen Union und AfD". Die Welt. 11 September 2013. Archived from the original on 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
10. ^ Constantin Wurthmann, L. (2024-01-02). "Black–Blue or Bahamas? Explaining CDU, CSU, FDP and AfD Voter Attitudes Towards a Common Governmental Coalition Before the 2017 German Federal Election". German Politics. 33 (1): 110–132\. doi:10.1080/09644008.2022.2056593. ISSN 0964-4008.

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* t
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Governing coalitions in Germany

Current federal
and state coalitions|

* Blackberry coalition
* Black–green coalition
* Black–orange coalition
* Germany coalition
* Grand coalition
* Red–green alliance
* Red–purple coalition
* Red–red coalition
* Red–red–green coalition
* Traffic light coalition

Previous coalitions|

| Federal Republic
(1949–)|

* Black–yellow coalition [de]
* Jamaica coalition
* Black–red–green (Kenya) coalition
* Social–liberal coalition
* Coastal coalition [de]
* Schleswig-Holstein only

|

Weimar Republic
(1919–1933)|

* Great Coalition
* Weimar Coalition

Local and other
possible coalitions|

* Bahamas coalition
* Black–blue coalition [de]
* Green–yellow coalition [de]
* Paprika coalition [de]
* Zimbabwe coalition

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