State elections were held in the Free State of Prussia on 24 April 1932 to elect all 423 members of the Landtag of Prussia.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p762 They were the last free election in Prussia, as the next election in 1933 took place under the Nazi regime, and Prussia was then abolished after World War II.

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 Economic Party 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.

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 with the Preußenschlag on 20 July 1932. 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 dissolving the Prussian government and giving von Papen direct control over Prussia as Reichskommissar.: Ein Tag als Lehrstück: für die antidemokratische Skrupellosigkeit der Konservativen jener Jahre, für die Hilflosigkeit und Ermattung der stets nur rhetorisch kraftvoll auftretenden Sozialdemokratie, für die Erosion und den Zerfall der republiktreuen Mitte - schon Monate vor der Etablierung des NS-Regimes. [One day as an object lesson: in the antidemocratic unscrupulousness of the conservatives of those years, in the helplessness and fatigue of the Social Democrats, who only rhetorically ever seemed powerful, in the erosion and breakup of the republican center — months before the establishment of the Nazi regime.] 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. The Nazis failed to win a majority, but the subsequent ban of the Communist Party and arrest of opposition deputies allowed them to secure control of the Landtag regardless, and Hermann Göring became Minister-President. 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.

Results Party Votes % Swing Seats +/– National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) 8,091,072 36.67 +34.60 162 +156 Social Democratic Party (SPD) 4,675,173 21.19 –7.81 94 –43 Prussian Centre Party (Zentrum) 3,371,932 15.28 +0.05 67 –4 Communist Party of Germany (KPD) 2,845,306 12.89 +1.02 57 +1 German National People's Party (DNVP) 1,540,716 6.98 –10.41 31 –51 German People's Party (DVP) (VRP) 374,509 1.70 –8.05 7 –35 National Front of German Estates 362,272 1.64 –4.28 0 –29 German State Party (DStP) 332,490 1.51 –2.95 2 –19 Christian Social People's Service (CSVD) 255,177 1.16 New 2 New Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (SAPD) 80,392 0.36 New 0 New German-Hanoverian Party (DHP) 63,731 0.29 –0.70 1 –3 National Minorities of Germany (NMD) 59,943 0.27 –0.13 0 0 National Opposition of United Reichsbank Creditors and Mark Victims 6,896 0.03 New 0 New Party of the Unemployed for Work and Bread 3,463 0.02 New 0 New German Unity Party for Defence of the Economy, Idealistic Movement of Germany 1,341 0.01 New 0 New German National Community (Völkisch Revolutionary Economic Movement) 1,014 0.00 New 0 New Invalid/blank votes 127,560 0.57 – – – Total 22,065,427 100 – 423 –27 Registered voters/turnout 27,031,562 82.10 +5.71 – –Gonschior.deGonschior.de

Results by constituency Constituency NSDAP SPD Z KPD DNVP DVP DStP CSVD DHP 1. East Prussia 45.6 22.2 7.5 9.1 9.5 1.5 1.2 1.8 – 2. Berlin 24.1 30.2 3.9 29.4 6.8 0.5 2.2 0.5 – 3. Potsdam II 32.0 27.6 3.9 16.9 10.4 1.4 4.2 0.5 – 4. Potsdam I 36.1 28.1 2.4 16.9 9.5 1.0 2.1 0.6 – 5. Frankfurt an der Oder 43.8 25.4 6.2 7.3 10.3 1.3 1.4 0.8 – 6. Pomerania 44.2 23.6 1.2 7.7 17.2 1.2 1.6 0.8 – 7. Breslau 41.2 25.0 15.3 6.8 6.2 – 1.0 1.5 – 8. Liegnitz 45.2 27.6 7.0 5.9 6.8 – 2.1 1.5 – 9. Oppeln 30.4 7.5 35.6 12.2 7.5 – 0.5 0.4 – 10. Magdeburg 39.8 33.8 2.0 9.3 8.3 1.9 1.8 0.4 – 11. Merseburg 41.8 18.9 1.4 21.9 7.9 2.0 1.6 0.5 – 12. Erfurt 39.7 18.2 13.1 14.7 6.9 2.0 1.8 0.5 – 13. Schleswig-Holstein 50.8 27.5 0.9 8.8 5.3 2.3 2.0 0.9 – 14. Weser-Ems 37.5 17.6 25.3 4.7 5.2 1.8 1.5 2.1 2.4 15. Hanover East 46.7 25.1 1.3 6.6 7.9 1.8 1.7 0.9 5.7 16. Hanover South 43.8 31.8 5.8 5.6 4.6 2.3 1.5 0.7 2.1 17. Westphalia North 25.3 15.5 35.3 10.5 5.0 1.9 0.5 2.0 – 18. Westphalia South 29.1 17.6 24.3 16.2 4.5 1.6 1.0 3.0 – 19. Hesse-Nassau 42.1 21.5 14.4 9.5 3.4 2.4 1.8 2.0 – 20. Köln-Aachen 22.5 11.0 42.1 13.6 3.3 2.5 1.2 0.5 – 21. Koblenz-Trier 28.2 6.3 47.4 6.7 4.1 1.5 0.5 – – 22. Düsseldorf East 32.9 11.8 20.8 22.7 4.2 1.9 0.8 1.7 – 23. Düsseldorf West 29.6 9.5 34.1 14.8 5.6 1.6 0.5 1.0 –

See also Elections in the Free State of Prussia Weimar Republic

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