This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "2001 Berlin state election" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article includes alist of references,related reading, orexternal links,but its sources remain unclear because it lacksinline citations. Please helpimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(December 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

2001 Berlin state election

← 1999 21 October 2001 2006 →
All 141 seats of theAbgeordnetenhaus of Berlin 71 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	1,623,338 (68.1%) 2.6%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Klaus Wowereit Frank Steffel Gregor Gysi Party SPD CDU PDS Last election 42 seats, 22.4% 76 seats, 40.8% 33 seats, 17.7% Seats won 44 35 33 Seat change 2 41 0 Popular vote 481,772 385,692 366,292 Percentage 29.7% 23.8% 22.6% Swing 7.3% 17.0% 4.9%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Günter Rexrodt Sibyll-Anka Klotz Party FDP Greens Last election 0 seats, 2.2% 18 seats, 9.9% Seats won 15 14 Seat change 15 4 Popular vote 160,953 148,066 Percentage 9.9% 9.1% Swing 7.7% 0.8%
Results for single-member constituencies.
Mayor before election Klaus Wowereit SPD ElectedMayor Klaus Wowereit SPD

The2001 Berlin state election was held on 21 October 2001 to elect the members of the 15thAbgeordnetenhaus of Berlin. Prior to the election,MayorKlaus Wowereit had led a minority government of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD) andThe Greens since June, which had replaced a coalition between theChristian Democratic Union (CDU) and SPD which collapsed in June.

The SPD–Green government made gains, but remained short of a majority. The SPD first sought to form atraffic light coalition with theFree Democratic Party (FDP) and Greens, but were unsuccessful. They subsequently agreed to a government with theParty of Democratic Socialism (PDS).

TheParty of Democratic Socialism (PDS) support would peak in this election with 22.6%.

The table below lists parties represented in the 14th Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin.

The 2001 election was an early election. In June 2001, the grand coalition under MayorEberhard Diepgen (CDU) broke down following a scandal involving CDU's leader in theAbgeordnetenhaus of Berlin,Klaus-Rüdiger Landowsky [de]. Landowsky, who served as the CEO of a publicmortgage bank (laterLandesbank Berlin Holding), had financed a risky deal between two men who were donors to the local CDU branch. TheBerlin bank scandal [de] cost the city several billion euros. The SPD subsequently left the coalition, which had governed Berlin since 1990, and formed an interim minority government with the Greens supported by the PDS.Klaus Wowereit became Mayor after aconstructive vote of no confidence against Diepgen on 15 June. The House of Deputies then voted to dissolve itself, triggering a new election.

The campaign was strongly influenced by the bad state of the public finances and the bank scandal. The CDU nominated 35-year-oldFrank Steffel as their top candidate, and played on fears of potential PDS involvement in government. They also focused on security issues, especially afterSeptember 11 attacks.

The regional broadcasterSender Freies Berlin accompanied the election campaign on its website with a "Wahltest" app, marking the first time in Germany that aVoting Advice Application was used.

Summary of the 21 October 2001 election results for theAbgeordnetenhaus of Berlin

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	481,772	29.68	+7.3	44	+2
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	385,692	23.76	-17.0	35	-41
	Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS)	366,292	22.56	+4.9	33	±0
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	160,953	9.91	+7.7	15	+15
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	148,066	9.12	-0.8	14	-4
	The Grays – Gray Panthers (Graue)	22,093	1.36	+0.3	0	±0
	The Republicans (REP)	21,836	1.35	-1.4	0	±0
	Others	36,634	2.26		0	±0
Total		1,623,338	100.00	–	141	–

• The Federal Returning Officer(in English)
• Archived "Wahltest" Voting Advice Application for the Berlin State Elections 2001 used inSFB Election Website(in German)

• Elections in Berlin
• 2001 elections in Germany
• 2001 in Berlin
• October 2001 in Germany

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles needing additional references from December 2018
• All articles needing additional references
• Articles lacking in-text citations from December 2018
• All articles lacking in-text citations
• Articles with multiple maintenance issues
• Pages using bar box without float left or float right
• Articles with German-language sources (de)