Federal Assembly (Germany)

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Reichstag building (conference location since 1994)
Plenary hall in the Reichstag building

The Federal Assembly is a non-permanent constitutional body of the Federal Republic of Germany , whose sole task is the election of the Federal President .

The legal basis is Article 54 of the Basic Law and the law on the election of the Federal President by the Federal Assembly .

Members of the Federal Assembly

The Federal Assembly consists of the members of the German Bundestag (as so-called ex officio members ) and an equal number of members who are elected by the people's representations of the federal states (Landtag, House of Representatives of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen citizenship). The Federal Assembly is thus the largest parliamentary assembly in the Federal Republic of Germany.

How many members the respective parliament sends to the Federal Assembly depends on the population of the respective country, whereby only residents with German citizenship are taken into account. The Federal Government announces the number of members to be elected by the individual state parliaments in the Federal Law Gazette ( Section 2, Paragraph 1, Clause 4 of the Federal Presidency Act). The exact procedure for allocating seats is not stipulated by law; for 2009, however, the result clearly suggests the Hare / Niemeyer method . In 2010 and 2012, the Hare / Niemeyer and the Sainte-Laguë procedure , which is now in force in federal elections and which was already enshrined in law in 2009 but had not yet been applied, yielded an identical distribution with the population data in question.

The members allotted to a Land are then determined by the respective Land Parliament by proportional representation from the lists of proposals - according to the number of votes cast for them - according to the D'Hondt procedure ( Art. 54 para. 3 GG in conjunction with Section 4 para. 3 sentence 1 BPäsWahlG ). The rules of procedure of the respective Landtag apply to the preparation of the lists of proposals and to the election; however, federal law regulates that each member has one vote, that the lists are closed and that, in the event of equal claims, the last seats after D'Hondt are drawn by the President of the State Parliament .

Many state parliaments (10 out of 16 in 2010) only draw up a single, joint list of proposals, in which mostly candidates are included according to the result that would result if elected strictly according to group membership. This ensures this result even if not all MPs are present or if they would vote differently. In itself, such a voting mode is considered correct. In practice, however, a construct is used that can at best be understood as a list of the places to be filled, while places for possible successors are allocated based on factions. This is objected to by several well-known constitutional lawyers and, in addition to other issues, led to disputes between organs before the Federal Constitutional Court after the federal assemblies in 2009 and 2010 . In a judgment of June 10, 2014, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the applicant is not entitled to file a lawsuit seeking to establish that the election of the delegates in the representative bodies of the federal states is incorrect. A decision on the matter has not been made.

Who is eligible for election to the Bundestag can be elected to the Federal Assembly . The representatives sent to the Federal Assembly do not have to be members of the parliament; In addition to the top politicians of the individual countries, former politicians, celebrities, athletes and artists are also regularly elected. The members of the Federal Assembly are not bound by orders and instructions.

If a member of the Bundestag who moved into the Bundestag with an overhang mandate leaves the Federal Assembly after the number of country representatives has been determined, this position will remain vacant, as there are no successors for overhang mandates. As a result, it can happen that the number of state representatives is greater than that of members of the Bundestag. This was the case in 2004.

immunity

The members of the Federal Assembly enjoy immunity , indemnity and protection against dismissal from the point in time at which they accept their election until the end of the Federal Assembly's meeting ( Section 7 Sentence 1 of the Federal Election Act ). The immunity committee of the German Bundestag decides on the lifting of the immunity ( § 7 sentence 2 BPäsWahlG). On July 12, 2007, this regulation of competencies was inserted into the law on the election of the Federal President by the Federal Assembly , in line with previous practice .

On April 2, 2004 the immunity of the Berlin member Peter Strieder was lifted , on April 29, 2004 that of the Baden-Württemberg resident Walter Döring .

Allowance for expenses and travel expenses

At the 2010 Federal Assembly, each person on the committee received an expense allowance of 60 euros, plus a reimbursement of hotel expenses of up to 170 euros and a travel allowance .

Date of the Federal Assembly

The Federal Assembly meets no later than thirty days before the end of the term of office of the Federal President ( Article 54, Paragraph 4, Clause 1 of the Basic Law), i.e. every five years as a rule .

Bundeshaus in Bonn,
meeting place in 1949
East Prussia Hall (left wing) on ​​the Berlin Exhibition Grounds, conference venue 1954–1969
Beethovenhalle in Bonn,
conference location 1974–1989
Reichstag building in Berlin,
conference location since 1994

In the event of early termination of the term of office, it shall meet no later than thirty days after this point in time. The President of the German Bundestag calls the Federal Assembly. To this end, it determines the time and place of the meeting ( § 1 BPäsWahlG). It is parliamentary custom to involve the Bundestag Vice- Presidents , the Council of Elders and the chairmen of the Bundestag parliamentary groups in the decision.

After Federal President Heinrich Lübke announced his early departure from office on October 14, 1968 at the end of June 30, 1969, thereby bringing the term of office of his successors forward from September 13 to July 1 . March 1969 and May 15, 1974 from 1979 the election date was set on May 23 each. It was Karl Carstens who, as President of the Bundestag, determined the thirtieth anniversary of the proclamation of the Basic Law on the day of the 7th Federal Assembly , on which he himself was elected President. The tradition established by this was kept until the resignation declarations made without notice by Federal Presidents Horst Köhler and Christian Wulff on May 31, 2010 and February 17, 2012 made other dates necessary for the election of their successors.

Meeting place

The first Federal Assembly met in Bonn. The second Federal Assembly met in Berlin in 1954 . In addition to the wish to underline the open question of Berlin , the solidarity with the population of the GDR after the popular uprising of June 17, 1953 was a reason for choosing this conference location. Since 1954, the members of the Bundestag from Berlin (West) have also elected the Federal President, although they had no voting rights in the German Bundestag until German reunification . The Soviet Union protested that the event violated the city's four-power status .

Nevertheless, the Federal Assembly continued to meet in the East Prussia Hall on the exhibition grounds under the Berlin radio tower until 1969 . There were regular protests by the German Democratic Republic . On March 5, 1969, during the Federal Assembly , the Soviet Union had several MiG-21 fighter planes fly at supersonic speed over West Berlin .

After the Four Power Agreement on Berlin , the Federal Assembly met from 1974 to 1989 in the Beethoven Hall in Bonn. Since reunification , all federal assemblies have been held in the Reichstag building in Berlin.

Election process

The President of the Bundestag chairs the Federal Assembly . He exercises domiciliary rights as well as police and regulatory authority ( § 8 sentence 1 BPäsWahlG in conjunction with § 7 paragraph 2 rules of procedure of the German Bundestag ). As a rule, the Federal Assembly does not have its own rules of procedure. The rules of procedure of the German Bundestag apply mutatis mutandis ( Section 8 sentence 2 BPäsWahlG).

Any member of the Federal Assembly may propose candidates for the office of Federal President. In practice, the political groups agree on certain applicants in advance. Any German who has the right to vote in the Bundestag and who has reached the age of forty is eligible ( Article 54.1 sentence 2 of the Basic Law). The proposals must be submitted to the President of the Bundestag. They are checked for legality by the board of the meeting. However, the entire Federal Assembly must decide whether to reject a proposal. Candidates can also be proposed before the second and third ballots. Candidates who have not been proposed may not be elected ( Section 9 (1) and (2) of the Federal Presidency Act ). In the federal assemblies in 1949 and 1954 there was the possibility of writing the name of a person who was to be elected Federal President spontaneously on the ballot during the current ballot, without this person having stood as a candidate or even knowing that this was the proposal excluded since 1959.

The Federal Assembly is constituted when its quorum is established, which is given when more than half of the members are present. After a brief introductory speech by the President of the Bundestag, secretaries are elected by show of hands, which is usually the task of the secretaries of the German Bundestag. Furthermore, a vote is taken on motions if they exist.

The election of the Federal President takes place in a secret ballot without debate. For this purpose, the members are called individually to the voting booths (usually in alphabetical order), where they fill in the ballot and put it in the ballot box .

Whoever receives the votes of the majority of the members ( absolute majority ) is elected. If this majority is missed in the first and second ballot, the one who has the most votes in a further ballot is elected ( relative majority ), in accordance with Article 54 (6) of the Basic Law.

The chairman declares the Federal Assembly ended when the elected person has accepted the election. The Federal President is sworn in when he takes office in a joint session of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat .

date place Federal President Political party Ballot be right %
01. Sept. 12, 1949 Bonn - Federal Palace Theodor Heuss FDP II 416 of 804 51.7%
02. 17th July 1954 Berlin - East Prussia Hall Theodor Heuss FDP I. 871 of 1018 85.6%
03. July 1, 1959 Berlin - East Prussia Hall Heinrich Luebke CDU II 526 of 1038 50.7%
04th July 1, 1964 Berlin - East Prussia Hall Heinrich Luebke CDU I. 710 of 1042 68.1%
05. March 5th 1969 Berlin - East Prussia Hall Gustav Heinemann SPD III 512 of 1036 49.4%
06th May 15, 1974 Bonn - Beethoven Hall Walter Scheel FDP I. 530 of 1036 51.2%
07th May 23, 1979 Bonn - Beethoven Hall Karl Carstens CDU I. 528 of 1036 51.0%
08th. May 23, 1984 Bonn - Beethoven Hall Richard von Weizsäcker CDU I. 832 of 1040 80.0%
09. May 23, 1989 Bonn - Beethoven Hall Richard von Weizsäcker CDU I. 881 of 1038 84.9%
10. May 23, 1994 Berlin - Reichstag building Roman Duke CDU III 696 of 1324 52.6%
11. May 23, 1999 Berlin - Reichstag building Johannes Rau SPD II 690 of 1333 51.7%
12. May 23, 2004 Berlin - Reichstag building Horst Koehler CDU I. 604 of 1204 50.1%
13. May 23, 2009 Berlin - Reichstag building Horst Koehler CDU I. 613 of 1224 50.1%
14th June 30, 2010 Berlin - Reichstag building Christian Wulff CDU III 625 of 1242 50.3%
15th March 18, 2012 Berlin - Reichstag building Joachim Gauck - I. 991 of 1228 80.7%
16. Feb 12, 2017 Berlin - Reichstag building Frank-Walter Steinmeier SPD I. 931 of 1253 74.3%

1st Federal Assembly (September 12, 1949)

The 1st Federal Assembly took place on September 12, 1949 in the Bundeshaus in Bonn . Its president was Erich Köhler, President of the Bundestag .

In the election, the FDP chairman Theodor Heuss was elected first Federal President. The election was the result of a coalition agreement between the CDU / CSU and the FDP, which provided for Heuss to be elected Federal President and Konrad Adenauer as Chancellor . Because of the majority in the governing coalition (CDU / CSU and FDP, DP), SPD chairman Kurt Schumacher was given little chance. Other individual candidates received some votes, sometimes even without having declared their candidacy.

Bonn, September 12, 1949 - total number of votes 804 - absolute majority 403
Ballot candidate Number of votes % Political party
1st ballot Theodor Heuss 377 46.9% FDP
Kurt Schumacher 311 38.7% SPD
Rudolf Amelunxen 28 3.5% center
Hans Schlange-Schöningen 6th 0.7% CDU
Karl Arnold 1 0.1% CDU
Josef Müller 1 0.1% CSU
Alfred Loritz 1 0.1% WAV
2nd ballot Theodor Heuss 416 51.7% FDP
Kurt Schumacher 312 38.8% SPD
Rudolf Amelunxen 30th 3.7% center
Hans Schlange-Schöningen 2 0.2% CDU
Theodor Heuss had thus been elected Federal President .

2nd Federal Assembly (July 17, 1954)

The 1954 Federal Assembly

The 2nd Federal Assembly took place on July 17, 1954 in the East Prussia Hall on the exhibition grounds (Berlin) . Its president was Bundestag President Hermann Ehlers .

Federal President Theodor Heuss was re-elected to office with the highest percentage result that a candidate has ever received. Heuss, who had earned a lot of respect in the five years of his first term in office, was supported by the CDU / CSU and SPD as well as his own party, the FDP. The only opposing candidate was Alfred Weber, whom the KPD had proposed without his consent. The remaining votes are individual votes cast as a silent protest against Heuss' re-election. As a voter you could also put a different name than that of the proposed candidate on the ballot paper.

Berlin, July 17, 1954 - total number of votes 1018 - absolute majority 510
Ballot candidate Number of votes % Political party
1st ballot Theodor Heuss 871 85.6% FDP
Alfred Weber 12 1.2% proposed by the KPD
Konrad Adenauer 1 0.1% CDU
Karl Doenitz 1 0.1%
Louis Ferdinand of Hohenzollern 1 0.1%
Marie-Elisabeth Lüders 1 0.1%
Ernst-August of Hanover 1 0.1%
Franz-Josef Wuermeling 1 0.1%
Theodor Heuss had thus been re-elected Federal President .

Heuss' oath was omitted because it was a matter of re-election and his oath from 1949 continued; he gave his "introductory speech" before the Federal Assembly.

3rd Federal Assembly (July 1, 1959)

The 3rd Federal Assembly took place on July 1, 1959 in the East Prussia Hall in Berlin . Its president was Bundestag President Eugen Gerstenmaier .

In the election, the previous Minister of Food, Heinrich Lübke, was elected Federal President. In the run-up to the election there had been great uncertainty in the CDU / CSU, as Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer had initially announced his candidacy, but then withdrew it because he saw that he would have less influence as Federal President than in the office of Federal Chancellor, and because he Ludwig Erhard as chancellor wanted to avoid. After long discussions, the choice finally fell on Lübke.

Carlo Schmid and Max Becker weren't given any great chances.

In this election, the members of the State of Berlin had full voting rights. For the first time, votes that did not correspond to submitted nominations were considered invalid.

Berlin, July 1, 1959 - total number of votes 1038 - absolute majority 520
Ballot candidate Number of votes % Political party
1st ballot Heinrich Luebke 517 (516 votes were counted at the first count) 49.8% CDU
Carlo Schmid 385 37.1% SPD
Max Becker 104 10.0% FDP
Abstentions 25th 2.4%
not matched 7th 0.7%
2nd ballot Heinrich Luebke 526 50.7% CDU
Carlo Schmid 386 37.2% SPD
Max Becker 99 9.5% FDP
Abstentions 22nd 2.1%
not matched 5 0.5%
Heinrich Lübke had thus been elected Federal President .

4th Federal Assembly (July 1, 1964)

The 4th Federal Assembly took place on July 1, 1964 in the East Prussia Hall in Berlin . Its president was Bundestag President Eugen Gerstenmaier .

In the election, Federal President Heinrich Lübke was re-elected Federal President. The SPD renounced its own candidate in favor of Lübke and thus went in advance for the grand coalition , which was finally formed in 1966 (Lübke was a supporter of such a coalition). Nevertheless, there were 187 abstentions, which is taken as a sign that many SPD voters in particular were skeptical of this agreement.

Berlin, July 1, 1964 - total number of votes 1042 - absolute majority 522
Ballot candidate Number of votes % Political party
1st ballot Heinrich Luebke 710 68.1% CDU
Ewald Bucher 123 11.8% FDP
Abstentions 187 17.9%
Heinrich Lübke had thus been re-elected Federal President .

Lübke's oath was omitted because it was a matter of re-election and his oath from 1959 continued; he gave his "introductory speech" before the Federal Assembly.

5th Federal Assembly (March 5, 1969)

The 5th Federal Assembly took place on March 5, 1969 in the East Prussia Hall in Berlin . Its president was Bundestag President Kai-Uwe von Hassel .

In the election, Federal Minister of Justice Gustav Heinemann was elected Federal President. He ran as a representative of the SPD; shortly before the election, the FDP decided to support him, while the NPD announced that it would vote for the CDU candidate, Federal Defense Minister Gerhard Schröder . After the election, Heinemann spoke of a “piece of power change”; after the federal election a few months later, the social-liberal coalition of the SPD and FDP also came about in the Bundestag .

Heinemann's election was the tightest in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany . For his opponent Gerhard Schröder , not only the votes of the CDU / CSU and the NPD, but probably also of members of the right wing of the FDP were cast.

Heinemann is the only Federal President who was not elected by an absolute majority of the members of the Federal Assembly. It was not until 25 years after his election ( 1994 ) that there was a third ballot, in which Roman Herzog was elected with an absolute majority.

Berlin, March 5th, 1969 - total number of votes 1036 - absolute majority 519
Ballot candidate Number of votes % Political party
1st ballot Gustav Heinemann 514 49.6% SPD
Gerhard Schröder 501 (499 votes were counted at the first count) 48.4% CDU
Abstentions 5 (6 abstentions were counted in the first count) 0.5%
invalid votes 3 (2 invalid votes were counted at the first count) 0.3%
not submitted 13 1.3%
2nd ballot Gustav Heinemann 511 49.3% SPD
Gerhard Schröder 507 48.9% CDU
Abstentions 5 0.5%
not submitted 13 1.3%
3rd ballot Gustav Heinemann 512 49.4% SPD
Gerhard Schröder 506 48.8% CDU
Abstentions 5 0.5%
not submitted 13 1.3%
Gustav Heinemann had thus been elected Federal President .

6th Federal Assembly (May 15, 1974)

Beethovenhalle Bonn

The 6th Federal Assembly took place on May 15, 1974 in the Beethoven Hall in Bonn . Its president was Annemarie Renger, President of the Bundestag .

The Federal Assembly elected the Deputy Federal Chancellor , Federal Foreign Minister and FDP Chairman Walter Scheel as the fourth Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany. After Willy Brandt's resignation on May 8, 1974, Scheel was entrusted with the responsibility of the Federal Chancellor. At the time of his election as head of state, Scheel was acting head of government, since Helmut Schmidt was formally elected Chancellor only the next day.

The previous incumbent Gustav Heinemann had renounced a second term. At the time, the NZZ wrote about Scheel's motives for becoming Federal President : “His intention to become Federal President was often and uncontestedly associated with his state of health.” The NZZ noted Scheel's “understandable desire to be relieved of the dual office of the FDP -Party chairman ".

Scheel ran as a representative of the SPD and FDP. The CDU politician Richard von Weizsäcker lost this election, but then became Federal President in 1984.

After the four-power agreement on Berlin of 1971, the federal presidential elections took place in Bonn again from 1974 . The elections, which took place in West Berlin between 1954 and 1969 , were always viewed as an affront by the government of the GDR . The government in East Berlin argued that the Federal President was the head of state of the Federal Republic of Germany and could not be elected in West Berlin, since this city with its special status was not a federal state of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In Berlin, the Federal Assembly did not meet again until 20 years later after the completion of German unity .

Bonn, May 15, 1974 - total number of votes 1036 - absolute majority 519
Ballot candidate Number of votes % Political party
1st ballot Walter Scheel 530 51.2% FDP
Richard von Weizsäcker 498 48.1% CDU
Abstentions 5 0.5%
votes not cast 3 0.3%
Walter Scheel had thus been elected Federal President .

7th Federal Assembly (May 23, 1979)

The 7th Federal Assembly took place on May 23, 1979 in the Beethoven Hall in Bonn . It was headed by Bundestag Vice- Presidents Richard Stücklen , Hermann Schmitt-Vockenhausen and Liselotte Funcke , as the Bundestag President Karl Carstens (CDU) , who is responsible for this in accordance with Section 8 of the Federal President's Election Act, and Bundestag Vice-President Annemarie Renger (SPD) were proposed for election as Federal President.

With Annemarie Renger, a woman ran for the first time. Karl Carstens was elected in the first ballot. Richard Stücklen was elected to the vacant office of President of the Bundestag on May 31, 1979.

Bonn, May 23, 1979 - total number of members 1036 - absolute majority 519
Ballot candidate Number of votes % Political party
1st ballot Karl Carstens 528 51.0% CDU
Annemarie Renger 431 41.6% SPD
Abstentions 72 6.9%
Invalid 1 0.1%
No voting 4th 0.4%
Karl Carstens had thus been elected Federal President .

8th Federal Assembly (May 23, 1984)

The 8th Federal Assembly took place on May 23, 1984 in the Beethoven Hall in Bonn . Its president was Bundestag President Rainer Barzel .

In the election, Richard von Weizsäcker, the previous Governing Mayor of Berlin , was elected President. Weizsäcker ran for the second time; In 1974 he lost to Walter Scheel .

Weizsäcker was the first Federal President to be supported by both major popular parties in his first election.

The Greens, who had just entered the Bundestag in 1983 , put up their own candidate in the form of the writer Luise Rinser .

Bonn, May 23, 1984 - total number of votes 1040 - absolute majority 521
Ballot candidate Number of votes % Political party
1st ballot Richard von Weizsäcker 832 80.0% CDU
Luise Rinser 68 6.5% proposed by the Greens
Invalid / abstentions / not submitted 140 13.5%
Richard von Weizsäcker had thus been elected Federal President .

9th Federal Assembly (May 23, 1989)

The 9th Federal Assembly took place on May 23, 1989 in the Beethoven Hall in Bonn . Its president was Rita Süssmuth, President of the Bundestag .

Richard von Weizsäcker was re-elected in the election. Again, the SPD did not put up any opponent. Weizsäcker had earned his respect for his speech on the 40th anniversary of the end of the war on May 8, 1985. Even the Greens did not put up any opponent in this election, so that for the first and only time, there was only one candidate for election.

Bonn, May 23, 1989 - total number of votes 1038 - absolute majority 520
Ballot candidate Number of votes % Political party
1st ballot Richard von Weizsäcker 881 84.9% CDU
Invalid / abstentions / not submitted 157 15.1%
Richard von Weizsäcker had thus been re-elected Federal President .

At the end of the meeting, the members of the Federal Assembly sang the national anthem, accompanied by the Buccina Ensemble. A group of children, greeted with applause and accompanied by the singing of a youth choir, brought von Weizsäcker congratulations.

10th Federal Assembly (May 23, 1994)

The 10th Federal Assembly took place on May 23, 1994 in the Reichstag building in Berlin . Its president was Rita Süssmuth, President of the Bundestag .

Roman Herzog, President of the Federal Constitutional Court , won the election . Johannes Rau, Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia , lost, but was able to win the 1999 election. The then SPD chairman Rudolf Scharping was accused of holding on to Rau for too long. In view of Rau's lack of chances, he should have urged Rau to give up in favor of Hamm-Brücher and thus drive a wedge between the CDU / CSU and the FDP.

Jens Reich and the publicist Hans Hirzel, who were members of the White Rose resistance organization during the National Socialist era , were seen from the outset as having no chance.

After a 25-year compulsory break resulting from the four-power agreement, the Federal President has been re- elected in Berlin since reunification .

Berlin, May 23, 1994 - total votes 1324 - absolute majority 663
Ballot candidate Number of votes % Political party supporter
1st ballot Roman Duke 604 45.6% CDU
Johannes Rau 505 38.1% SPD
Hildegard Hamm-Brücher 132 10.0% FDP
Jens Reich 62 4.7% Green
Hans Hirzel 12 0.9% republican
2nd ballot Roman Duke 622 47.0% CDU
Johannes Rau 559 42.2% SPD
Hildegard Hamm-Brücher 126 9.5% FDP
Hans Hirzel 11 0.8% republican
3rd ballot Roman Duke 696 52.6% CDU
Johannes Rau 605 45.7% SPD
Hans Hirzel 11 0.8% republican
Roman Herzog had thus been elected Federal President .

11th Federal Assembly (May 23, 1999)

The 11th Federal Assembly took place on May 23, 1999 in the Reichstag building in Berlin . Its president was Bundestag President Wolfgang Thierse .

This election was won by Johannes Rau, who had lost to Roman Herzog five years earlier in the 1994 federal presidential election . SPD party leader Oskar Lafontaine had given Rau the promise to force his election as Federal President if he resigned as Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia . Despite Lafontaine's resignation in March 1999, Rau remained a candidate for the SPD. He could count on his election because the SPD and the Greens were only seven votes short of a majority in the Federal Assembly and he also enjoyed sympathy in the FDP.

The CDU / CSU, aware of the non-winning election, brought Ilmenau professor Dagmar Schipanski into play, who became Minister of Science in Thuringia after the failed election .

The theology -Professorin Uta Ranke-Heinemann , proposed by the PDS for election is the daughter of former German President Gustav Heinemann and the aunt of Johannes Rau wife, a granddaughter of Heinemann.

Berlin, May 23, 1999 - total votes 1333 - absolute majority 670
Ballot candidate Number of votes % Political party
1st ballot Johannes Rau 657 49.1% SPD
Dagmar Schipanski 588 43.9% CDU
Uta Ranke-Heinemann 69 5.2% proposed by the PDS
2nd ballot Johannes Rau 690 51.6% SPD
Dagmar Schipanski 572 42.8% CDU
Uta Ranke-Heinemann 62 4.6% proposed by the PDS
Johannes Rau was thus elected Federal President .

12th Federal Assembly (May 23, 2004)

The 12th Federal Assembly took place on May 23, 2004 in the Reichstag building in Berlin . Its president was Bundestag President Wolfgang Thierse .

In the 2004 election, the former director of the IMF , Horst Köhler (CDU), and the president of the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder) , Gesine Schwan (SPD), ran. The way in which candidates were selected by the Union and the FDP , which ultimately led to Koehler's nomination, was often described by the public as inadequate to the office's dignity . The CDU / CSU parliamentary group was unable to get the favored Wolfgang Schäuble through as a candidate in parts of the CDU and the FDP . Both had led a kind of election campaign, although Köhler could count on his election because of the absolute majority of the CDU / CSU and FDP in the Federal Assembly.

The 604 votes that Horst Köhler received are only one vote more than the absolute majority and thus significantly less than expected in advance. There were nine abstentions and two invalid votes. It follows that at least nine members of the CDU / CSU / FDP camp voted for Schwan (if the abstentions and invalid votes were all cast by members of this camp; otherwise even more). One member from the SPD ranks stayed away from the Federal Assembly due to illness. The number of seats had also decreased by one, since the Bundestag member Anke Hartnagel (SPD) died before the election and this mandate was not re-filled because it was an overhang mandate .

In his acceptance speech, Köhler strove to do justice to Johannes Rau's legacy and to introduce himself as a mediator and person who creates trust. He praised the unity of Germany and called for a “Germany of ideas” and a more child-friendly society.

Berlin, May 23, 2004 - total number of votes 1204 - absolute majority 603
Ballot candidate Number of votes % Political party
1st ballot Horst Koehler 604 50.1% CDU
Gesine Swan 589 49.9% SPD
With that, Horst Köhler was elected Federal President .

13th Federal Assembly (May 23, 2009)

The 13th Federal Assembly took place on May 23, 2009 in the Reichstag building in Berlin. Its president was Bundestag President Norbert Lammert . As of May 21, 2008, the Federal Assembly comprised the 612 members of the German Bundestag and 612 members elected by the state parliaments . The Federal Government determined the number of members to be elected by the individual representative bodies of the federal states on January 27, 2009 and published it in the Federal Law Gazette of January 30, 2009.

Horst Köhler , who has been President of the Federal Republic of Germany since 2004, ran again for office. The SPD had nominated its candidate from 2004, Gesine Schwan , again. The left put the actor Peter Sodann for election. NPD and DVU nominated the right-wing extremist singer-songwriter Frank Rennicke .

The Federal Assembly voted as follows:

Berlin, May 23, 2009 - total votes 1224 * - absolute majority 613
Ballot candidate Number of votes proportion of Party affiliation supporter
1st ballot Horst Koehler 613 50.1% CDU CDU, CSU , FDP , Free Voters
Gesine Swan 503 41.1% SPD SPD, Alliance 90 / The Greens , SSW
Peter Sodann 91 7.4% independent The left
Frank Rennicke 4th 0.3% NPD NPD, DVU
abstention 10 0.8%
Invalid 2 0.2%
Horst Köhler was thus re-elected as Federal President .

* The absolute majority of the members decides. During the election, however, only 1,223 eligible voters were present, as the MP Wolfgang Gehrcke of the Left had to stay away from the Federal Assembly for health reasons.

14th Federal Assembly (June 30, 2010)

By order of the President of the Bundestag Norbert Lammert on June 1, 2010, the Federal Assembly met on June 30, 2010 in the Reichstag building in Berlin .

Union and FDP nominated the CDU Prime Minister of Lower Saxony Christian Wulff as a candidate. The SPD and B'90 / Greens agreed on the non-party Joachim Gauck . The Left nominated their member of the Bundestag Lucretia Jochimsen (called Luc Jochimsen). As in the 2009 election, the NPD nominated the right-wing extremist songwriter Frank Rennicke .

Although the CDU / CSU and FDP thus had 644 members and thus a clear majority, there were three ballots. The results were in detail:

Berlin, June 30, 2010 - total number of votes 1244 * - absolute majority 623
Ballot candidate Number of votes proportion of Party affiliation supporter
1st ballot Christian Wulff 600 48.2% CDU CDU , CSU , FDP
Joachim Gauck 499 40.1% independent SPD , Alliance 90 / The Greens , Free Voters , SSW
Lucretia Jochimsen 126 10.1% The left The left
Frank Rennicke 3 0.2% NPD NPD
abstention 13 1.0%
Invalid 1 0.1%
Not present 2 0.2%
2nd ballot Christian Wulff 615 49.4% CDU CDU , CSU , FDP
Joachim Gauck 490 39.4% independent SPD , Alliance 90 / The Greens , Free Voters , SSW
Lucretia Jochimsen 123 9.9% The left The left
Frank Rennicke 3 0.2% NPD NPD
abstention 7th 0.6%
Invalid 1 0.1%
Not present 5 0.4%
3rd ballot Christian Wulff 625 50.2% CDU CDU , CSU , FDP
Joachim Gauck 494 39.7% independent SPD , Alliance 90 / The Greens , Free Voters , NPD , SSW
abstention 121 9.7%
Invalid 2 0.2%
Not present 2 0.2%
Christian Wulff had thus been elected Federal President .

15th Federal Assembly (March 18, 2012)

After the early termination of the term of office of Federal President Wulff on February 17, 2012, President Norbert Lammert convened the 15th Federal Assembly for Sunday, March 18, 2012 in Berlin. The Federal Assembly met in the Reichstag building. The federal government announced in the Federal Law Gazette how many members the people's representatives of the federal states had to elect for the 15th Federal Assembly.

The Federal Assembly was composed as follows:

Political party
Total members		 Members of the
Federation		 Member
countries		 proportion of
CDU / CSU 486 237 249 39.2%
SPD 331 146 185 26.7%
Alliance 90 / The Greens 147 068 079 11.9%
FDP 136 093 043 11.0%
The left 124 076 048 10.0%
Free voters 010 000 010 0.8%
NPD 003 000 003 0.2%
Pirate party 002 000 002 0.2%
SSW 001 000 001 0.1%
total 1240 620 620 100%

The result was:

Ballot candidate Number of votes Share
(votes cast) 		supporter
First ballot Joachim Gauck 991 80.4% CDU / CSU , SPD , Greens , FDP , Free Voters , SSW
Beate Klarsfeld 126 10.2% The left
Olaf Rose 3 0.2% NPD
Abstentions 108 8.8%
Invalid votes 4th 0.3%
Joachim Gauck had thus been elected Federal President .

16th Federal Assembly (February 12, 2017)

The 16th Federal Assembly took place on February 12, 2017 in the Reichstag building in Berlin. The date was set in December 2015 by President of the Bundestag Norbert Lammert. The date takes into account that the Federal Assembly according to Article 54.4 of the Basic Law must meet no later than thirty days before the end of the term of office of the Federal President. Joachim Gauck's five-year term began with the acceptance of his election on March 18, 2012.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier was proposed by the grand coalition so that he entered the Federal Assembly as the most promising candidate.

Ballot candidate Number of votes proportion of supporter
First ballot Frank-Walter Steinmeier 931 74.3% SPD , CDU / CSU , Alliance 90 / The Greens and FDP
Christoph Butterwegge 128 10.2% The left
Albrecht Glaser 42 3.4% AfD
Alexander Hold 25th 2.0% Free voters , BVB / FW
Engelbert Sonneborn 10 0.8% Pirate Party , The PARTY 
Abstentions 103 8.2%
Invalid votes 14th 1.1%
Votes cast 1253 100%
Frank-Walter Steinmeier had thus been elected Federal President .

Criticism of the election of the Federal President by the Federal Assembly

In the Weimar Republic , the Reich President was directly elected by the people. In contrast, the Basic Law provides for the indirect election of the Federal President. In comparison with direct elections, this electoral process leads to only indirect democratic legitimation of the elected. This reduction in the level of legitimation is an expression of the incumbent's reduced powers: the Federal President has significantly fewer powers than the Reich President at the time.

ARD commentator Klaus Sturm called for a direct election in 2010, as this was the only way for the Federal President to act in a non-partisan manner. In a poll in the same year, 62% of respondents were in favor of direct voting. In 2009, Martin Morlok criticized the fact that the lists of candidates in many state parliaments were divided among parliamentary groups, as this would mean a block election.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Federal Assembly  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Presentation of the allocation process on www.wahlrecht.de
  2. ↑ Composition of the 15th Federal Assembly at www.wahlrecht.de
  3. ^ Elections in the state parliaments , Wahlrecht.de
  4. ↑ Is Köhler's choice invalid? , Der Spiegel 23/2009
  5. ↑ a b "The election practice is illegal" , Spiegel online, May 21, 2009
  6. ^ Judgment of the Second Senate of June 10, 2014 (Az. 2 BvE 2/09 and 2 BvE 2/10)
  7. ↑ Law amending the law on the election of the Federal President by the Federal Assembly ( BGBl. 2007 I p. 1326 ) (PDF).
  8. ↑ Resolution recommendation of the committee for election review, immunity and rules of procedure, BT-Drs. 15/2879 (PDF; 226 kB) and BT plenary minutes 15/103 April 2, 2004 p. 9336 D-9337A (PDF).
  9. ↑ Resolution recommendation of the committee for election review, immunity and rules of procedure, BT-Drs. 15/3007 (PDF; 214 kB) as well as BT plenary minutes 15/105 April 29, 2004 p. 9542A-B (PDF).
  10. ↑ Article in the Berliner Morgenpost from June 30, 2010, accessed on February 20, 2012.
  11. ^ Wolfgang Kessel , in: Hans-Peter Schneider / Wolfgang Zeh (eds.): Parliamentary Law and Parliamentary Practice, 1989, ISBN 3-11-011077-6 , § 59 Rn. 14 .
  12. ↑ Bodo Pieroth , in: Hans D. Jarass / Bodo Pieroth , Commentary on the Basic Law, 9th edition 2007, ISBN 3-406-54180-1 , Art. 54 Rn. 5.
  13. ^ Negotiations of the German Bundestag, 1st electoral period, shorthand reports. Vol. 1, pp. 9-11.
  14. ↑ a b Negotiations of the German Bundestag, 2nd electoral period, stenographic reports. Vol. 21, pp. 1-9.
  15. ^ Beate Braun: The Federal Assembly . Lang, Frankfurt am Main / Berlin / Bern / New York / Paris / Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-631-45601-8 , p. 127.
  16. ↑ a b c Negotiations of the German Bundestag, 3rd electoral period, stenographic reports. Vol. 44, pp. 1-7.
  17. ↑ a b Negotiations of the German Bundestag, 4th electoral period, stenographic reports. Vol. 56, pp. 1-8 before p. 6663.
  18. ^ Beate Braun: The Federal Assembly . Lang, Frankfurt am Main / Berlin / Bern / New York / Paris / Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-631-45601-8 , p. 157.
  19. ↑ a b c d Negotiations of the German Bundestag, 5th electoral period, shorthand reports. Vol. 69, Appendix, pp. 1-9.
  20. ↑ Negotiations of the German Bundestag, 7th electoral period, stenographic reports. Vol. 88, Appendix, pp. 1-7.
  21. ^ 7th Federal Assembly, shorthand report, bundestag.de pdf
  22. ↑ Negotiations of the German Bundestag, 10th electoral term, stenographic reports. Vol. 128, special edition.
  23. ↑ a b Negotiations of the German Bundestag, 11th electoral period, stenographic reports. Vol. 149, special edition.
  24. ↑ Negotiations of the German Bundestag, 12th electoral term, stenographic reports. Vol. 175, pp. 3-16.
  25. ↑ Shorthand report. 11th Federal Assembly of the Federal Republic of Germany (PDF; 106 kB)
  26. ↑ Shorthand report. 12th Federal Assembly of the Federal Republic of Germany (PDF).
  27. ^ Order on the place and time of the 13th Federal Assembly ( BGBl. 2008 I p. 807 )
  28. ^ Announcement on the number of members of the 13th Federal Assembly to be elected by the representatives of the federal states on January 27, 2009 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 135 ) (PDF).
  29. ↑ "Declaration by Federal President Horst Köhler" - Press release by the Federal President of May 22, 2008.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / bundespraesident.de  
  30. ↑ SSW: Federal President Election: Anke Spoorendonk supports Gesine Schwan ( Memento from November 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  31. ^ Order on the place and time of the 14th Federal Assembly ( BGBl. 2010 I p. 689 )
  32. ^ Federal Assembly: The SSW elects Joachim Gauck. (No longer available online.) South Schleswig voters' association, archived from the original on November 12, 2011 ; Retrieved June 30, 2010 .
  33. ^ Order of the President of the German Bundestag from February 20, 2012 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 201 ) (PDF).
  34. ↑ 15th Federal Assembly , wahlrecht.de, as of March 6, 2012
  35. ^ Order on the place and time of the 16th Federal Assembly of December 17, 2015 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 2273 )
  36. ↑ The share relates to the number of votes cast (1253).
  37. ↑ Christian Jülich : The election of the Federal President. Thoughts on constitutional problems and reform of the electoral procedure. DöV 1969, p. 92
  38. ↑ Pro direct election: The people should decide! Commentary by Klaus Sturm, SWR, ARD-Hauptstadtstudio ( Memento from December 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  39. ↑ Pro & Contra Should the Federal President be elected directly? ( Memento from July 9, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ), on www.tagesschau.de from June 28, 2010