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| Christian Social Union of Bavaria Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern |
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| Leader | Horst Seehofer |
| Founded | 1945 |
| Headquarters | Franz-Josef-Strauß-Haus Nymphenburger Str. 64 80335 München |
| Ideology | Bavarian regionalism,[1] Christian democracy,[1] Conservatism[1] |
| International affiliation | International Democrat Union |
| European affiliation | European People's Party |
| European Parliament Group | European People's Party |
| Official colours | Blue (campaign colour) |
| Website | |
| http://www.csu.de/ | |
| Politics of Germany Political parties Elections |
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The Christian Social Union in Bavaria (
CSU – Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern (help·info)) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It was founded as a continuation of the Weimar-era Catholic Bavarian People's Party. It operates only in the state of Bavaria, while its sister party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), operates in the other 15 states of Germany. The difference between the CDU and the CSU is mainly that the CSU is more conservative in domestic and social issues but more progressive in fiscal issues. At the federal level, it forms a common faction in the Bundestag, the federal parliament, with the CDU. This makes up the CDU/CSU faction, which is frequently referred to as die Unionsfraktion (the Union faction). The CDU/CSU faction governed in a grand coalition with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) faction on the federal level until the German federal election of 2009, after which the CDU/CSU announced its intentions to rule in coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP). In the state of Bavaria, the CSU had governed in coalition with the FDP prior to the 2009 election, and it is expected that this arrangement will continue. Though the CDU/CSU remains the most powerful party in Germany, the party lost many votes in the 2009 election to the FDP and other parties, though their losses paled in comparison to the losses of the SPD. The CSU received only 42.6% of the vote in Bavaria in the 2009 election, which constitutes its weakest showing in the party's history.
Franz Josef Strauß (1915–1988) had left behind the strongest legacy as a leader of the party, having led the party from 1961 until his death in 1988. His political career in the federal cabinet was unique in that he had served four ministerial posts in the years between 1953 and 1969. From 1978 until his death in 1988 he served as the minister-president of Bavaria. He was the first leader of the CSU to be a candidate for the German chancellery, in 1980. In the 1980 elections he ran against the incumbent Helmut Schmidt of the SPD.
The CSU has led the Bavarian state government since it came into existence in 1949, save from 1950 to 1953 when the Bavaria Party formed a state government in coalition with the German Branches of the SPD and the FDP. The CSU currently governs with the FDP. Before the 2008 elections in Bavaria, the CSU perennially achieved absolute majorities at the state level, except before 1966. This level of dominance is unique in post-war Germany. Edmund Stoiber took over the CSU leadership in 1999. He ran for Federal Chancellor in 2002, but lost against the SPD candidate Gerhard Schröder. In 2003, the CSU was re-elected as the Bavarian government with a majority (60.7% and 124 of 180 seats in the state parliament). On January 18, 2007, Stoiber announced his decision to step down from the posts of minister-president and CSU chairman by September 30 of that year.
The CSU has strong support throughout Bavaria, but at the municipal level the situation is more diverse, with independent voter groups leading many municipal administrations in the rural areas. The two largest cities in Bavaria, Munich and Nuremberg, have elected mayors from the rival SPD. In state and federal elections the CSU usually wins the majority in both cities.[citation needed] On September 28, 2008, the CSU failed to gain an absolute majority (it just reached 43%) in the Bavaria state election for the first time since 1966 on a percentage basis (in 1966 the party got about 48% then) and was forced into a coalition with the FDP.
The CSU is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and its European parliamentarians sit in the EPP Group. At the moment they have two ministers in Berlin: Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (Minister of Economics and Technology) and Ilse Aigner (Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection).
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Chairmen of the Christian Social Union, 1946–present
- Josef Müller 1946–1949
- Hans Ehard 1949–1955
- Hanns Seidel 1955–1961
- Franz Josef Strauß 1961–1988
- Theodor Waigel 1988–1999
- Edmund Stoiber 1999–2007
- Erwin Huber 2007-2008
- Horst Seehofer from 2008
Politicians
See: List of Bavarian Christian Social Union politicians
See also
- Christian Democratic Union of Germany
- Politics of Germany
- Bundestag (Federal Assembly of Germany)
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Notes and references
http://allstates-flag.com/fotw/flags/de%7Dcsu.html
http://www.deutschland.de/link.php?lang=2&category2=190&link_id=1002
External links
- Christlich-Soziale Union - Official site (English page)
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