The 1929 Baden state election was held on 27 October 1929 to elect the 88 members of the Landtag of the Republic of Baden.
Campaign The Rechtsblock coalition formed by the German National People's Party (DNVP) and Agricultural League broke apart in 1928. Many of the Agricultural League members joined the Nazi Party. The Nazis launched their election campaign in March 1929.
The Nazis won six seats in the election and Walter Köhler was selected to serve as their delegation chairman. This granted the party members that could not be arrested due to parliamentary immunity. The Nazi's best Amtsbezirke performance was in Kehl with 32%. 42.2% of the new votes for the Nazis came from Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Pforzheim, and Weinheim. The Bezirk Tauberbischofsheim, which was 81.8% Catholic, gave 70.3% of its vote to the Centre.
Results PartyVotes%Seats+/–Centre Party341,75436.734 +6Social Democratic Party of Germany187,08720.118 +2German People's Party74,3408.070Nazi Party65,1217.06 +6German Democratic Party62,3446.760Communist Party of Germany55,1435.95 +1Reich Party of the German Middle Class35,6053.830Evangelischer Volksdienst35,3173.83NewGerman National People's Party34,0793.73–5Badische Bauernpartei28,2673.03NewReich Party for Civil Rights and Deflation6,6800.70NewChristlich-Soziale Reichspartei5,0860.50NewLeft Communists1,5300.20NewInvalid/blank votes11,888–––Total944,24110088+16Registered voters/turnout1,537,96261.4––Source: Elections in Germany
Aftermath This was the last democratic election in Baden before the Nazi seizure of power. The SDP and Centre coalition government dissolved on 30 November 1932, due to disagreements over a concordat between the Catholic Church and Baden. The Centre and DVP attempted to form a coalition with the Nazis without dissolving the landtag, but the Nazis rejected it and wanted new elections. A Centre and DVP minority government was formed on 10 January 1933.
Robert Heinrich Wagner was appointed Reichkomissar of Baden on 9 March 1933, replacing the position of president. A new landtag consisting of 30 Nazis, 17 Centre, 8 SPD, and 2 DNVP convened once on 9 June 1933 to give the executive legislative powers. Wagner appointed Köhler as president on 6 May.
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