1881 German federal election

1881 German federal election

← 1878 27 October 1881 (1881-10-27) 1884 →
All 397 seats in the Reichstag 199 seats needed for a majority
Registered	9,090,386
Turnout	56.30% ( 6.03pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Ludwig Windthorst Eugen Richter Otto von Helldorff Party Centre DFP DKP Leader since 26 May 1874 7 June 1876 Last election 22.84%, 94 seats 6.86%, 26 seats 12.79%, 59 seats Seats won 100 58 50 Seat change 6 32 9 Popular vote 1,177,033 645,851 776,436 Percentage 23.09% 12.67% 15.23% Swing 0.25pp 5.81pp 2.44pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Eduard Lasker Rudolf von Bennigsen Viktor I, Duke of Ratibor Party LV NlP DRP Leader since 1877 1867 Last election Did not exist 22.41%, 97 seats 13.64%, 57 seats Seats won 48 45 27 Seat change New party 52 30 Popular vote 450,166 617,752 382,149 Percentage 8.83% 12.12% 7.50% Swing New party 10.29pp 6.14pp
Map of results (by constituencies)
President of the Reichstag before election Gustav von Goßler DKP President of the Reichstag after election Albert von Levetzow DKP

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of Germany
Constitution (Basic Law) Federal Constitutional Court Human rights
Head of State President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD)
Executive Chancellor of Germany (list) Olaf Scholz (SPD) Vice Chancellor of Germany Robert Habeck (Grüne) Cabinet Scholz Federal agencies
Legislature Bundestag constituencies members Bundesrat Vermittlungsausschuss Gemeinsamer Ausschuss
Judiciary Federal Constitutional Court Federal courts Ordinary Administrative Fiscal Labour Social Joint Senate Other courts
Subdivisions State (Land) Minister president State Parliament (Landtag) composition Regierungsbezirk District (Kreis) list Collective municipality (Amt) Municipality (Gemeinde) list
Elections Electoral system Political parties Referendums Coalitions Federal Convention (Bundesversammlung) Presidential elections Weimar Republic (1919–1933) 1919 1925 1932 East Germany (1949–1960) 1949 1953 1957 Federal Republic of Germany (since 1949) 1949 1954 1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2010 2012 2017 2022 Parliamentary election 1867 (Feb) 1867 (Aug) 1868 1871 1874 1877 1878 1881 1884 1887 1890 1893 1898 1903 1907 1912 1919 1920 1924 (May) 1924 (Dec) 1928 1930 1932 (July) 1932 (Nov) 1933 (Mar) 1933 (Nov) 1936 1938 1949 1953 1957 1961 1965 1969 1972 1976 1980 1983 1987 1990 1994 1998 2002 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021 2025 European elections 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 2024
State and local politics State Politics Baden-Württemberg Bavaria Berlin Brandenburg Bremen Hamburg Hesse Lower Saxony Mecklenburg-Vorpommern North Rhine-Westphalia Rhineland-Palatinate Saarland Saxony Saxony-Anhalt Schleswig-Holstein Thuringia
Foreign relations Foreign relations by country France Italy UK USA China Russia International Relations Politics of the European Union Visa Passport
Political ideologies Political culture / Federalism Communism Conservatism (Agrarian Conservatism) Far-right Liberalism Social Democracy
Germany portal Politics portal Other countries
v t e

Federal elections were held in Germany on 27 October 1881.^[1] The Centre Party became the largest party in the Reichstag, with 100 of the 397 seats, whilst the National Liberal Party, which had previously been the largest party, was reduced to 45 seats.^[2] Voter turnout was 56.3%.^[3]