The German participating broadcaster on behalf of ARD, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), selected their entry through a national final.

Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) held the national final on 21 March 1985 at the Deutsches Theater in Munich, hosted by Wolfgang Mascher and Margit Geissler.

12 songs took part and the winner was chosen by a panel of approximately 500 people who had been selected as providing a representative cross-section of the German public.

Pre-contest betting had rated "Für alle" as the favourite for victory, and for a large part of the voting it appeared to be living up to its billing.

Switzerland had historically proven themselves very reluctant to vote for German entries – it was widely believed in Germany that the Swiss jury had cost them victory in the 1981 contest – and lived up to expectations by failing to award any points to "Für alle", allowing Sweden briefly, and then Norway, to take over the lead.