in march 1932, thälmann was once again a candidate for the german presidency, against the incumbent paul von hindenburg and hitler. the kpd's slogan was "a vote for hindenburg is a vote for hitler; a vote for hitler is a vote for war." thälmann returned as a candidate in the second round of the election, as it was permitted by the german electoral law, but his vote count lessened from 4,983,000 (13.2%), in the first round, to 3,707,000 (10.2%). after the nazis came to power in january 1933, thälmann proposed that the spd and kpd should organise a general strike to topple hitler, but this was not achieved. in february 1933, a central committee meeting of the already banned kpd took place in königs wusterhausen at the "sporthaus ziegenhals", near berlin, where thälmann called for the violent overthrow of hitler's government. following the reichstag fire, on 3 march he was arrested in berlin by the police.