Auto-generated recap of a concluded election. Figures are the certified result. This article can be edited; edits are preserved and not overwritten by regeneration.
At a glance
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Seats in chamber | 500 (251 for a majority) |
| seats | 281 |
| CDU seats | 59 |
| NDPD seats | 55 |
| DBD seats | 55 |
| LDPD seats | 50 |
| Government | Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED) — majority |
Overview
The 1958 East Germany Volkskammer election produced a decisive victory for the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (SED), which secured 281 of the 500 contested seats and a working majority of 251. The SED's plurality was sufficient to govern alone, leaving the chamber without a hung or coalition outcome.
The Chamber
The post-election Volkskammer split into five parties, with the SED holding a commanding 281 seats — 30 more than the majority threshold of 251. The Christlich-Demokratische Union (Ost) followed with 59 seats, the National-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands with 55, the Demokratische Bauernpartei Deutschlands with 55, and the Liberal-Demokratische Partei Deutschlands with 50. No party other than the SED crossed the majority mark, but the SED's net change of zero seats indicates it retained its position without expansion.
What Moved
Across all six regional constituencies, every party recorded a net change of zero seats, meaning the election produced a static realignment rather than a shift in partisan strength. The seatChange data confirms no gains or losses for any party, including the SED, CDU, NDPD, DBD, and LDPD. With swings data empty, there were no recorded constituency-level swings, reinforcing the conclusion that the election maintained existing balances rather than altering them.
Seats to Watch
The closest constituencies were led by the SED's plurality margins, with Beowulf (BEO) showing the tightest contest at a 14-point margin. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV) followed at 25 points, Thuringia (TH) at 33, Brandenburg (BB) at 35, Saxony-Anhalt (ST) at 49, and Saxony (SN) at 66. Despite these varying margins, all six constituencies returned SED plurality winners, and none showed a change from the prior cycle. The largest delegation came from Saxony (SN) with 151 total seats, where the SED captured 83, while the smallest was Beowulf (BEO) with 32 seats and an SED haul of 18.
Results by constituency
| Constituency | Seats | Split | Change vs prior |
|---|---|---|---|
| BB | 71 | SED 44 – CDU 9 – NDPD 9 – DBD 9 | no change |
| BEO | 32 | SED 18 – CDU 4 – LDPD 4 – NDPD 3 – DBD 3 | no change |
| MV | 58 | SED 32 – CDU 7 – LDPD 7 – NDPD 6 – DBD 6 | no change |
| SN | 151 | SED 83 – CDU 17 – LDPD 17 – NDPD 17 – DBD 17 | no change |
| ST | 112 | SED 62 – CDU 13 – LDPD 13 – NDPD 12 – DBD 12 | no change |
| TH | 76 | SED 42 – CDU 9 – LDPD 9 – NDPD 8 – DBD 8 | no change |