1932 Prussian state election

State elections were held in the Free State of Prussia on 24 April 1932 to elect all 423 members of the Landtag of Prussia.[1] The election saw the Nazi Party become the largest party in Prussia, winning 36% of the vote. The coalition of the Social Democratic Party, Centre Party, and German Democratic Party (now the German State Party), which had governed Prussia since 1919, lost its majority. The SPD, DNVP, and DVP all suffered huge losses. The Wirtschaftspartei lost all its seats, while the DVP and DStP were left with only a handful each. The Centre Party stayed steady, and the Communist Party made minor gains.

1932 Prussian Landtag election

24 April 1932
All 423 seats in the Landtag of Prussia 212 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	22,065,427 (82.10%) 5.71
First party Second party Third party   Party NSDAP SPD Centre Last election 1.8%, 6 seats 29.0%, 137 seats 15.2%, 71 seats Seats won 162 94 67 Seat change 156 43 4 Popular vote 8,091,072 4,675,173 3,371,932 Percentage 36.67% 21.19% 15.28% Swing 34.60 7.81 0.05   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Party KPD DNVP DVP Last election 11.9%, 56 seats 17.4%, 82 seats 9.8%, 42 seats[lower-alpha 1] Seats won 57 31 7 Seat change 1 51 35 Popular vote 2,845,306 1,540,716 374,509 Percentage 12.89% 6.98% 1.70% Swing 1.02 10.41 8.05   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Party DStP CSVD DHP Last election 4.5%, 21 seats Did not exist 1.0%, 4 seats Seats won 2 2 1 Seat change 19 New 3 Popular vote 332,490 255,177 63,731 Percentage 1.51% 1.16% 0.29% Swing 2.95 New 0.70
Top: results by constituency. Bottom: winning party in each constituency.
Minister-President before election Otto Braun SPD Elected Minister-President Otto Braun (caretaker) Office abolished (20 July 1932)

The resulting Landtag was divided between the SPD–Zentrum–DStP coalition, the Nazi–DNVP bloc, and the Communist Party. Prussia used the constructive vote of no confidence, meaning a government could be removed from office only if there was a positive majority for a prospective successor. No parliamentary force held a majority, but since none were willing to cooperate with any of the others, the SPD-led coalition could not be removed. It continued in office as a minority government.

This situation ended on 20 July 1932 with the Preußenschlag, in which Reich President Paul von Hindenburg, on the advice of Reich Chancellor Franz von Papen, issued an emergency decree under Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, which dissolved the Prussian government and gave von Papen direct control over Prussia as Reichskommissar.[2] Prussia remained under direct control of the federal government until April 1933 when, at the behest of Adolf Hitler under the Enabling Act of 1933, state elections were held in Prussia. The Nazis failed to win a majority, but later gained one after the banning of the Communist Party and the arrest of opposition deputies. The federal structure of Germany was effectively dissolved under the Nazi regime, and the Prussian government existed only symbolically. After the conclusion of the Second World War, Prussia was dissolved by a declaration of the Allied Control Council on 25 February 1947.