1937 German Empire Election

The 1937 German Imperial elections were held on March 8, 1937 to elect 468 representatives to the Reichstag, the main parliamentary body of the German Empire. The Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) won the most seats and would go on to form government with support of the progressive Fortschrittiliche Volkspartei (FVP) and liberal Nationalliberale Partei (NLP). Otto Wels would be elected chancellor by the Reichstag, with ministers primarily selected from the SPD and FVP parties. The elections were the first to be held under the updated 1936 German Imperial Constitution, which expanded suffrage to all adult males from age 19 and older, and changed the method of representation in the Reichstag significantly. The elections were also the first to take place following Black Monday.

The German National Unity Government, created in the wake of Black Monday to address Germany's economic challenges, contained members of the SPD, and policies attributed to the SPD were widely seen as addressing the worst effects of the economic depression at the time of the election. The campaign was notable for the comment of outgoing chancellor Franz von Papen, who publicly admitted in a radio interview three days before the election that, "SPD policies seem to be helping the country immensely." Von Papen's own Deutschkonservative Partei (DKP) had been expected to win the vie competitively with the SPD prior to the start of the campaign, and their relegation to opposition party status was later blamed on von Papen's remarks.

The 1937 SPD government would largely be the same government that led the German Empire into the Second Weltkrieg.