The 6th German Bundestag, the lower house of parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany, was elected on 28 September 1969 and existed between 20 October 1969 and 13 December 1972. It held a total of 199 parliamentary sessions.
On 21 October 1969 the Bundestag elected Willy Brandt (SPD) as federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany with 251(+14) yes votes, 235 (+8) no votes, 4 invalid votes and 5 abstentions on the first ballot.
Presidium of the Bundestag
William Born (FDP) served as Alterspräsident (Father of the House) and presided over the , the first parliamentary session, until Kai-Uwe von Hassel was elected as President of the Bundestag.
On 28 October 1969 Carlo Schmid, Herman Schmitt-Vockenhausen (both SPD), Richard Jeager (CDU) and Liselotte Funcke (FDP) were elected as vice presidents of the Bundestag in on ballot with a big majority.
Kai-Uwe von Hassel was elected President of the Bundestag with 411 yes votes, 72 no votes and 34 abstentions on 20 October 1969. This corresponded to 79,5% of the vote. A better result than in his first election in February 1969 after the resignation of his predecessor Eugen Gerstenmaier.
Composition of the Bundestag
Although the CDU/CSU remained the largest party in the Bundestag the SPD and FDP formed a coalition government with Willy Brandt becoming the first SPD Chancellor in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. The CDU/CSU won 242 seats as well as eight non-voting delegates from West Berlin. The SDP increased their seat count to 224 as well as 13 non-voting delegates from West Berlin while the FDP barley remained in the Bundestag. They got 30 seats as well as one non-voting delegate from West Berlin. Due to changes in the parliamentary caucauses the SPD/FDP coalition lost their majority with resulted in a constructive vote of no confidence. However Willy Brandt remained in power due to the dissent of two members of the Bundestag.
__TOC__
Summary This summary includes changes in the numbers of the three caucuses (CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP): TimeReason of changeCDU/CSUSPDFDPOthersTotal number1969First meeting242224304969 October 1970Erich Mende leaves the FDP caucus and becomes member of the CDU/CSU caucus243299 October 1970Heinz Starke leaves the FDP caucus and becomes member of the CDU/CSU caucus244289 October 1970Siegfried Zoglmann leaves the FDP caucus and becomes guest member of the CDU/CSU caucus2452714 October 1971Klaus-Peter Schulz leaves the SPD caucus and becomes unaffiliated223119 October 1971Klaus-Peter Schulz becomes a member of the CDU/CSU caucus246029 February 1972Herbert Hupka leaves the SPD caucus and becomes unaffiliated22212 March 1972Franz Seume leaves the SPD caucus and becomes unaffiliated22123 March 1972Herbert Hupka becomes a member of the CDU/CSU caucus247117 March 1972Franz Seume becomes a guest member of the CDU/CSU caucus24823 April 1972Wilhelm Helms leaves the FDP caucus and becomes unaffiliated2615 May 1972Wilhelm Helms becomes a guest member of the CDU/CSU caucus24917 May 1972Günther Müller leaves the SPD caucus and becomes unaffiliated220119 September 1972Günther Müller becomes a member of the CDU/CSU caucus250 Members The following is the list of members of the 6th Bundestag: