A Seemingly Boring Election amidst Economic Turmoil

On 27 September 2009, over 62 million German citizens were called to elect the seventeenth Bundestag. The circumstances surrounding the election could not have been more dramatic. The Christian Democrats were ultimately able to form a government with their preferred partner, the FDP. This was only possible because the latter improved by nearly 5 per cent and achieved its best ever result in the Federal Republic's history. Adapted from the source document.