(according to SED records) from 12,000 (1953/1955) to less than 3,000 (1965). The BdD was never officially disbanded but it fused de facto after its last party conference in 1968 with the DFU. The last chairman of the party was Josef Weber (chairman since 1964; previously general secretary of the BdD and later a DFU and ADF functionary). Media In 1953, the Deutsche Volkszeitung was founded as a BdD-close body. The weekly Freitag, still published today, was the indirect successor to that newspaper. Elections The BdD took part in the following Bundestag resp. Landtag elections: 1953 election to Bundestag in a joint ticket with the GVP – 318,475 votes (1.2%) 1954 election to Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia – 19,515 votes (0.3%) 1954 election to Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein – 10,009 votes (0.8%) 1954 election to Landtag of Hesse – 12,047 votes (0.5%) 1954 election to Landtag of Bavaria – 43,720 votes (0.4%) 1955 election to Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt – 8,600 votes (0.3%) 1955 election to Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate – 10,527 votes (0.7%) 1955 election to Bürgerschaft of Bremen – 3,988 votes (1.1%) 1956 election to Landtag of Baden-Württemberg – 18,077 votes (0.6%) 1957 the BdD had its own list on Bundestag election and won 58,725 votes (0.2%) 1957 election to Hamburg Parliament – 3,469 votes (0.3%) 1958 election to Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia – 176 votes (0.0% (−0.3%)) 1958 election to Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein – 6,037 votes (0.5% (−0.3%)) 1959 election to Landtag of Lower Saxony – 4,947 votes (0.1% (−0.2%)) 1959 election to Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate – 6,613 votes (0.4% (−0.3%)) 1959 election to Bürgerschaft of Bremen – 1,337 votes (0.3% (-0.8%)) 1960 election to Landtag of Saarland (as German Democratic Union) – 26,743 votes (5.0%) 1961 election to Landtag of Baden-Württemberg – 15,333 votes (0.5% (−0.1%)) Notes and references See also All-German People's Party Christian Democratic Union Defunct political parties in Germany Political parties established in 1952 1952 establishments in West Germany