German Federal Election: Candidates for Chancellor since 1949
Info by Collin McNeil | Last update on 2025-05-07 | Created on 2022-03-13
The following table shows all chancellor candidates of the CDU/CSU and the SPD since the first elections to the German Bundestag in 1949.
In addition to the candidates listed in the second and third column of the table, in the fourth and thereby last column of the table, you can find the candidate, which made the race and was elected as federal chancellor.
| Election | Candidate CDU/CSU | Candidate SPD | Federal Chancellor |
| 1949 | Konrad Adenauer | Kurt Schumacher | Konrad Adenauer (CDU) |
| 1953 | Konrad Adenauer | Erich Ollenhauer | Konrad Adenauer (CDU) |
| 1957 | Konrad Adenauer | Erich Ollenhauer | Konrad Adenauer (CDU) |
| 1961 | Konrad Adenauer | Willy Brandt | Konrad Adenauer (CDU) |
| 1965 | Ludwig Erhard | Willy Brandt | Ludwig Erhard (CDU) |
| 1969 | Kurt Georg Kiesinger | Willy Brandt | Willy Brandt (SPD) |
| 1972 | Rainer Barzel | Willy Brandt | Willy Brandt (SPD) |
| 1976 | Helmut Kohl | Helmut Schmidt | Helmut Schmidt (SPD) |
| 1980 | Franz Josef Strauß | Helmut Schmidt | Helmut Schmidt (SPD) |
| 1983 | Helmut Kohl | Hans-Jochen Vogel | Helmut Kohl (CDU) |
| 1987 | Helmut Kohl | Johannes Rau | Helmut Kohl (CDU) |
| 1990 | Helmut Kohl | Oskar Lafontaine | Helmut Kohl (CDU) |
| 1994 | Helmut Kohl | Rudolf Scharping | Helmut Kohl (CDU) |
| 1998 | Helmut Kohl | Gerhard Schröder | Gerhard Schröder (SPD) |
| 2002 | Edmund Stoiber | Gerhard Schröder | Gerhard Schröder (SPD) |
| 2005 | Angela Merkel | Gerhard Schröder | Angela Merkel (CDU) |
| 2009 | Angela Merkel | Frank-Walter Steinmeier | Angela Merkel (CDU) |
| 2013 | Angela Merkel | Peer Steinbrück | Angela Merkel (CDU) |
| 2017 | Angela Merkel | Martin Schulz | Angela Merkel (CDU) |
| 2021 | Armin Laschet | Olaf Scholz | Olaf Scholz (SPD) |
| 2025 | Friedrich Merz | Olaf Scholz | Friedrich Merz (CDU) |
The candidate with the most runs for election was Helmut Kohl (CDU/CSU) with six times, followed by Angela Merkel, Willy Brandt and Konrad Adenauer (each four times).
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