History of the Bundesrat (Germany)
The Bundesrat is a constitutional body of the Federal Republic of Germany . Before that, there were organs that represented the member states in earlier constitutional orders and in German confederations. The Bundesrat thus joins the tradition of federalism in Germany .
The diets of the Holy Roman Empire (until 1806) and, above all, the Bundestag of the German Confederation (1815–1866) can already be seen as forerunners of the Bundesrat . The governments of the member states were represented in the Bundestag, with a larger country having more votes than a smaller one. There were no other organs besides the Bundestag, so it was government, parliament and court in one.
In the federal state from 1867 (first the North German Confederation , then the German Empire ), the member states then co-determined the Bundesrat (initially written as “Bundesrath”). The Federal Council decided on laws just like the Reichstag, the representative body. However, in constitutional reality, the Federal Council was primarily an instrument of the Reich Chancellor . In the Weimar Republic , the Reichsrat , the successor to the Bundesrat, lost much of its importance.
The Bundesrat in its current form has existed since the Basic Law came into force on May 24, 1949. In the Bundesrat, the states participate in federal legislation and administration and in matters relating to the European Union . In this way, the states can influence federal laws, which are later largely implemented by them. A government coalition in the federal government does not always have a majority in the Federal Council. The federal government often has to seek the approval of other parties. This gave the parties that were in the opposition in the Bundestag a chance to play a major role in shaping federal politics. A permanent topic in the history of the Bundesrat was also the question of whether the states should have a say in more federal laws (which the Grand Coalition did between 1966 and 1969), or whether the proportion of federal laws requiring approval should instead be pushed back (so-called federalism reforms).
prehistory
German Confederation
Germany is traditionally a federally organized country. In the German Confederation of 1815, a federation of states , there was a permanent body for the representatives of the individual states, the Bundestag . There was also no government and no parliament. Attempts at reform in this direction failed due to the contradictions between Austria, Prussia and the middle states .
According to the constitution, the Austrian envoy was chairman and managing director in the old Bundestag. That is why this member state was called the presidential power and its envoy the presidential envoy, which in itself was more of an honorary title.
State from 1867
The North German Confederation existed as a federal state since 1867 and, with the accession of the southern states, the German Empire since 1871 . In both of them the representation of the member states was called " Bundesrat ". This federal organ was conceptually a continuation of the Bundestag or the Princely College of the Erfurt Union . The emperor of the Frankfurt constitution of 1849 had tasks both in the executive and in the legislative branch. The Union Board (the monarchical head of state) according to the Erfurt Union Constitution, however, had to share the rights with regard to legislation with the other princes.
In the North German Bundesrat from 1867, the Prussian government representatives had to work together with those of the other state governments in order to obtain a majority. The Federal Council was involved in legislation on an equal footing with the Reichstag: both bodies had the right of initiative, and a draft law could only become a law with the consent of both. The Federal Council also had other legislative, executive and judicial rights and tasks. That earned him the reputation of a hybrid or a hybrid.
The member states already had a certain number of votes in the old Bundestag, but also in the Bundesrat. This was laid down in the constitution. Prussia, by far the largest member state of the North German Confederation and the Empire, had by far the most with 17 votes; however, the Federal Council recently had a total of 61 votes, so that Prussia was represented significantly underproportionately. The Prussian votes were decisive in all other cases of equality. To block a constitutional amendment, 14 votes were enough.
In the Federal Council from 1867 the Federal Chancellor or the Reich Chancellor was the chairman, although otherwise he was not a member of the Federal Council due to his office. In practice, however, the Chancellor was almost always the Prussian Prime Minister and a Prussian Federal Councilor. It also became common practice that he introduced bills to the Federal Council not as a state representative, but as chancellor and representative of the federal executive.
Weimar Republic and National Socialism
In the Weimar Republic the state representation was called " Reichsrat ". Overall, it had less influence than the previous or today's Federal Council. However, constitutional amendments no longer required a simple majority in the state representatives, but a two-thirds majority .
Its composition was based directly on the population. Furthermore, Prussia was underrepresented in the Reichsrat: It made up only 40 percent of the members of the Reichsrat for 60 percent of the population. There was also a special rule: half of the Prussian votes were instructed not by the state government, but by the provincial parliaments. The chairman of the Reichsrat meetings was a member of the Reich government.
With the “ Enabling Act ” of March 1933, the Reichsrat had lost its importance, since laws could also be passed by the Reich government alone. On March 31, a “ Provisional Act on the Harmonization of the Lands with the Reich ” followed: The Landtag received the same party-political composition as the Reichstag with its National Socialist-German national majority. On February 13, 1934, the now insignificant Reichsrat was dissolved.
Origin of the Basic Law and changes
During the creation of the Basic Law , the question of how the second chamber, which was to be built alongside the People's Day (Bundestag), was very controversial. Two alternatives were already mentioned at the Constitutional Convention on Herrenchiemsee : There was the Federal Council model based on the Reichsrat and the one based on the Paulskirchenverstitution of 1849 and the US Senate in its form before 1913 (election by the state parliaments, afterwards however a free mandate without compulsory bloc ) model. The exact design of the two alternatives themselves was discussed controversially in the Parliamentary Council .
The model, which was already closely related to the later Federal Council, and which the Union and the FDP initially favored, provided for the Federal Council members not to be bound by the instructions of their state governments, even though the state governments could recall their Federal Council members and thus independence was highly questionable anyway. The distribution of seats was in turn controversial between the SPD (equality of the countries) and the Union / FDP (proportional to the population). The SPD, however, was much closer to the Senate model and had specified this in a draft constitution from the summer of 1948. The FDP then proposed the compromise of having the representatives elected half by the state parliaments and the other half by the state governments. At the end of October 1948 this question, on which the entire legislative and financial constitution depended, was postponed by a subcommittee.
On October 27, 1948, in an intergroup meeting, the SPD turned around; she has now agreed to a Federal Council model. This agreement had been reached the evening before in a secret conversation between representatives of the Union and the SPD. Nevertheless, the President of the Parliamentary Council, the CDU politician Konrad Adenauer , remained inclined to a Senate model. At the beginning of November 1948 he proposed a three-chamber system consisting of a Bundestag, a Senate and a kind of Bundesrat. Finally, at the end of November 1948, the CDU / CSU parliamentary group decided by a narrow majority to seek a Federal Council with a different number of votes per country.
At the beginning of January 1949, the CDU / CSU wanted to enforce full equality between the Bundesrat and the Bundestag; However, this failed because of the resistance of the SPD, but was compensated for by the Federal Council's extended approval requirements for legislation.
Finally, in April 1949, the powers of the Federal Council were reduced again under pressure from the SPD and FDP. The CSU then declared that it would, among other things, reject the Basic Law draft in the Parliamentary Council. Nevertheless, the Basic Law with the provisions on the Federal Council still contained in it was passed by the Parliamentary Council on May 8, 1949 and promulgated on May 23, 1949, so that it came into force on May 24, 1949. On September 7, 1949, the Bundesrat met for the first time before the Bundestag.
The way in which the Federal Council was ultimately designed has led to the Federal Council being described as a “unique body in the world” ( Theodor Eschenburg ).
Since then, the provisions of the Basic Law on the Federal Council have only been changed twice: the Unification Treaty of 1990 modified the distribution of seats, and the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 and the resulting amendment to the Basic Law established the participation of the Federal Council in the European Union . The inclusion of the emergency constitution in 1969 ensured that the Federal Council, together with the Bundestag, could possibly be ousted by the Joint Committee in the event of a defense . However, since this disempowerment would have to be based on facts - if necessary verifiable by the Federal Constitutional Court - and members of the Bundesrat are also represented in this committee, the actual impairment of the body's position of power seems unlikely.
Federal Ministry for Affairs of the Federal Council
In 1949 an independent “Federal Ministry for Affairs of the Bundesrat” was set up for the Bundesrat, which from 1957 was called “Federal Ministry for Affairs of the Bundesrat and the Länder”. It should ensure a good flow of information between the federal states represented in the Bundesrat and the federal government. In 1969 it was dissolved by the new Federal Government of Brandt as part of a restructuring of the federal ministries together with the federal expellees and the federal treasury .
Changes in the structure of the countries
In 1949 the eleven states of Baden , Bavaria , Bremen , Hamburg , Hesse , Lower Saxony , North Rhine-Westphalia , Rhineland-Palatinate , Schleswig-Holstein , Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern were entitled to vote in the Bundesrat . In addition, there were the West Berlin representatives who - as in the Bundestag - were not entitled to vote because of the city's political status. Nevertheless, the Governing Mayors of Berlin Willy Brandt (1957/58), Klaus Schütz (1967/68), Dietrich Stobbe (1978/79) and Walter Momper (1989/90) were each Presidents of the Federal Council.
The merger of the states of Baden , Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern to form the state of Baden-Württemberg in 1952 reduced the total number of states entitled to vote to nine, until finally, on January 1, 1957, Saarland joined as the tenth state with voting rights.
After reunification in 1990, the states of Brandenburg , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia provided members of the Federal Council for the first time, and the Berlin members were now allowed to vote. In total there are 16 countries entitled to vote with a total of 69 votes.
A unification of Berlin and Brandenburg, as facilitated by Article 118a of the Basic Law , would reduce the number of federal states to 15 and the number of votes to 65 to 66, as the new state with a total of almost 5.95 million inhabitants depending on Population development would receive either four or five votes.
The Union-led Federal Governments (1949–1966)
At the beginning of the Bundesrat's existence, the party-political stipulations of the state governments did not appear to be so decisive for the voting behavior in the Bundesrat, especially since a few small parties such as the German Party , the Federation of Expellees and Disenfranchised and the All-German Party were still in governments; there were also many grand coalitions. The governments of Adenauer and Erhard were practically never opposed by a negative Federal Council.
Important votes at this time were the Germany Treaty , which was approved with just 23:15 votes in 1953, and the Treaty on the European Defense Community (EVG), which was adopted in the same year , but which ultimately failed in the French National Assembly.
Majority ratios in the first black-yellow coalition under Adenauer (1949–1956)
During the time of the black-yellow coalition with other parties such as the German Party and from 1953 the GB / BHE was Hamburg (3) from 1949 to 1953, Hesse (4) from 1950 to 1954 and Schleswig-Holstein (4) from 1949 to 1950 SPD ruled alone. Bremen (3) was ruled from 1949 to 1951, Württemberg-Baden (5) from 1950 to 1952 by a coalition of the SPD and FDP (in Bremen BDV / FDP). Hessen (4) was ruled by a red-black grand coalition until 1950 , Rhineland-Palatinate (4) until 1951 by a black-red grand coalition, and from 1951 by a black-yellow coalition. Bavaria (5) was governed by the CSU alone until 1950, Baden (3) until 1952 by the CDU alone. In North Rhine-Westphalia (5) there was a coalition of the CDU and the center from 1950 to 1954. In Berlin there was a red-black coalition reinforced by the FDP until 1953, after which a black-yellow government followed until 1954, which in turn was replaced by a red-black grand coalition. The other state governments are shown in the following table.
| Overview for the period from 1949 to 1956 | ||||||||||||
| Period | left opposition | neutral | Federal government (CDU / CSU, FDP, DP, from 1953 GB / BHE) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| red | red and others | Red Yellow | red-yellow and others | red-black and others | Red Black | black red | black-red and others | black yellow | black-yellow and others | black | black and center | |
| 1949-1950 | 7th | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 c | 4th | 4th | 13 a, b, d | 0 | 0 | 8th | 0 |
| 1950-1951 | 7th | 0 | 8th | 0 | 5 c | 0 | 4th | 8 b, e | 0 | 4 f | 3 | 5 |
| 1951-1952 | 7th | 5 h | 5 | 0 | 3 g | 0 | 0 | 8 b, e | 4th | 4 f | 3 | 5 |
| 1952-1953 | 7th | 5 h | 0 | 5 i | 3 g | 0 | 0 | 5 e | 4th | 4 f | 0 | 5 |
| 1953-1954 | 4th | 5 h | 0 | 0 | 3 g | 0 | 0 | 10 e, j | 4th | 7 f, k | 0 | 5 |
| 1954-1955 | 0 | 9 h, m | 0 | 5 l | 3 g | 0 | 0 | 5 y | 4th | 12 k, n, o | 0 | 0 |
| 1955-1956 | 0 | 4 m | 0 | 5 l | 3 g | 0 | 0 | 5 y | 4th | 17 k, n, o, p | 0 | 0 |
a CDU, SPD, FDP / DVP, KPD in Württemberg-Baden (until 1950) b CDU, SPD, FDP in Württemberg-Hohenzollern (until 1952) c SPD, CDU, Z in Lower Saxony (until 1951) d CDU, SPD, Z , KPD in North Rhine-Westphalia (until 1950) e CSU, SPD, BHE, DG in Bavaria (1950–1954) f CDU, GB / BHE, FDP, DP in Schleswig-Holstein (1950–1954) g SPD, CDU, FDP in Bremen (from 1951) h SPD, BHE, Z in Lower Saxony (1951–1955) i FDP, SPD, BHE in Baden-Württemberg (1952–1953) j CDU, SPD, FDP, BHE in Baden-Württemberg (from 1953) k "Hamburg-Block" (electoral alliance from CDU, FDP, DP) in Hamburg (from 1953) l SPD, BP, BHE, FDP in Bavaria (from 1954) m SPD, BHE in Hesse (from 1954) n CDU, FDP, Z in North Rhine-Westphalia (from 1954) o CDU, FDP, GB / BHE in Schleswig-Holstein (from 1954) p DP, CDU, FDP, GB / BHE in Lower Saxony (from 1955)
Majority relationships during the CDU sole government under Adenauer (1956–1961)
In the time of the black sole government (with the support of the DP, the GB / BHE and from 1956 to 1957 the FDP split off, Bremen (3) became from 1959 on (previously CDU, SPD and FDP) and Hamburg (3) from 1957 governed by a red-yellow coalition, while Saarland (3) was under a black-red coalition from 1959 to 1960. Rhineland-Palatinate (4), Schleswig-Holstein (4) from 1958 and Saarland (3) from 1960 were governed in black and yellow, while a CDU sole government was in power in North Rhine-Westphalia (5) from 1958. An SPD-GB / BHE coalition ruled in Hesse. In Berlin, which was not entitled to vote, a red-black grand coalition was responsible for government. The other state governments are shown in the following table.
| Overview for the period from 1956 to 1961 | |||||||||||
| Period | left opposition | neutral | Federal Government (CDU / CSU, GB / BHE, FVP , DP ) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| red and GB / BHE | Red Yellow | red-yellow and others | red-black-yellow | black red | black-red and others | black yellow | black-yellow and others | black | |||
| 1956-1957 | 4th | 0 | 10 2, 5 | 3 | 0 | 5 1 | 4th | 12 3, 4, 6 | 0 | ||
| 1957-1958 | 4th | 3 | 5 5 | 3 | 0 | 8 1, 9 | 4th | 14 6, 7, 8 | 0 | ||
| 1958-1959 | 4th | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 1, 9 | 8th | 10 7, 8 | 5 | ||
| 1959-1960 | 4th | 6th | 5 10 | 0 | 3 | 5 1 | 8th | 5 7 | 5 | ||
| 1960-1961 | 4th | 6th | 5 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 10 7, 11 | 5 | ||
1 CDU, SPD, FDP, BHE in Baden-Württemberg (1953–1960) 2 SPD, BP, BHE, FDP in Bavaria (1954–1957) 3 “Hamburg-Block” (electoral alliance of CDU, FDP, DP) in Hamburg ( 1953–1957) 4 DP, CDU, FDP, GB / BHE in Lower Saxony (1955–1957) 5 SPD, FDP, Z in North Rhine-Westphalia (1956–1958) 6 CDU, FDP, GB / BHE in Schleswig-Holstein (1954 –1958) 7 CSU, BHE / GB, FDP in Bavaria (from 1957) 8 DP, CDU, FDP in Lower Saxony (1957–1959) 9 CDU, FDP, SPD in Saarland (1957–1959) 10 SPD, FDP, GB / BHE in Lower Saxony (from 1959) 11 CDU, FDP, BHE in Baden-Württemberg (from 1960)
Majority relationships during the CDU-FDP coalition under Adenauer and Erhard (1961–1966)
During the time of the black-yellow coalition under Konrad Adenauer and Ludwig Erhard , Baden-Württemberg (5) was governed by GB / BHE support until 1964 and then without this party. The black-yellow BHE / GP coalition ruling in Bavaria (5) was replaced in 1962 by a coalition of the CSU and the Bavarian Party . In Bremen (3) and Hamburg (3), red-yellow coalitions ruled almost continuously, in Hamburg this was replaced by a single SPD government a few months before the start of the grand coalition in the federal government. A coalition of SPD and BHE ruled throughout Hesse (4). In Lower Saxony (5) the red-yellow coalition with GB / BHE support was replaced in 1963 by a purely red-yellow and in 1965 by a red-black grand coalition. In North Rhine-Westphalia (5) the CDU ruled alone until 1962, after which a black-yellow coalition followed, which was replaced in 1966 by a red-yellow government. In Rhineland-Palatinate (4) and Saarland (3), black and yellow ruled throughout, while the black and yellow government in Schleswig-Holstein (4) was briefly interrupted from 1962 to 1963 by a single CDU government. In Berlin, the red-black coalition was followed in 1963 by a red-yellow government.
| Overview for the period from 1961 to 1966 | |||||||||
| Period | left opposition | neutral | Federal Government (CDU / CSU, FDP) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| red | red and GB / BHE | Red Yellow | red-yellow and BHE | Red Black | black yellow | black-yellow and (GB /) BHE / GP | black | black and Bavaria party | |
| 11 / 61-8 / 62 | 0 | 4th | 6th | 5 | 0 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 0 |
| 8 / 62-12 / 62 | 0 | 4th | 6th | 5 | 0 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 / 62-1 / 63 | 0 | 4th | 6th | 5 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 4th | 5 |
| 1 / 63-6 / 63 | 0 | 4th | 6th | 5 | 0 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 / 63-5 / 64 | 0 | 4th | 11 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 / 64-5 / 65 | 0 | 4th | 11 | 0 | 0 | 21st | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 / 65-4 / 66 | 0 | 4th | 7th | 0 | 4th | 21st | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 / 66-8 / 66 | 3 | 4th | 4th | 0 | 4th | 21st | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 8 / 66-12 / 66 | 3 | 4th | 9 | 0 | 4th | 16 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
The first grand coalition in the Federation (1966–1969)
During the time of the first grand coalition of CDU / CSU and SPD in the Bundestag, little resistance to legislative projects was to be expected from the Bundesrat, since here too many sole governments of a coalition partner or grand coalitions in the federal states cast their votes essentially in accordance with the politics of the Federal government taxes. This congruence between the Bundestag and Bundesrat, along with the weakness of the only remaining opposition party, the FDP, is likely to have contributed to the emergence of the Extra-Parliamentary Opposition (APO) .
Accordingly, the Federal Council supported the major amendments to the Basic Law, namely the emergency laws and the reform of the financial constitution , with the necessary two-thirds majority.
While Baden-Württemberg (5) was ruled in the same coalition as the federal government, Lower Saxony (5) had the opposite situation, a red-black grand coalition. Hamburg (3) and Hesse (4) were ruled by the SPD, Bavaria (5) by the CSU alone. There were also red-yellow coalitions in Bremen (3) and North Rhine-Westphalia (5) and black-yellow governments in Rhineland-Palatinate (4), Saarland (3) and Schleswig-Holstein (4).
| Overview for the period from 1966 to 1969 | |||||||
| Period | Red Yellow | Federal government | black yellow | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| red | Red Black | black red | black | ||||
| 12 / 66-10 / 69 | 8th | 7th | 5 | 5 | 5 | 11 | |
The social-liberal coalition (1969–1982)
Throughout the entire time of the social-liberal coalition , Bremen (3), Hamburg (3), Hesse (4) and North Rhine-Westphalia (5) with red (-yellow) governments and a total of 15 votes on the side of the federal government. Rhineland-Palatinate (4) and Schleswig-Holstein (4) were ruled by a black-yellow coalition until 1971, after which there was a single CDU government. Lower Saxony (5) was ruled by a grand coalition (1969/70) or a red-yellow coalition (1970–1976) until 1976, after which it was ruled by a CDU minority government. It was similar in Baden-Württemberg, which was led by a grand coalition until 1972 and then by a CDU sole government. Finally, Saarland (3) was governed in black and yellow until 1970 and from 1975 to 1982, with a CDU sole government in between. Only Bavaria was the sole governor of the CSU throughout the entire period. As a non-voting state, Berlin was ruled in red or red-yellow until 1981, when the CDU politician Richard von Weizsäcker became governing mayor .
The constellation of votes between 1969 and 1982 results from a total of 41 votes and an absolute majority of 21 as follows:
| Overview for the period from 1969 to 1982 | ||||||||
| Period | Federal government | neutral | CDU / CSU | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| red | Red Yellow | Red Black | black red | black yellow | ||||
| 10 / 69-4 / 70 | 7th | 8th | 5 | 5 | 11 | 5 | ||
| 4 / 70-7 / 70 | 4th | 11 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 5 | ||
| 7 / 70-12 / 70 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 8th | 8th | ||
| 12 / 70-4 / 71 | 5 | 15th | 0 | 5 | 8th | 8th | ||
| 4 / 71-5 / 71 | 5 | 15th | 0 | 5 | 4th | 12 | ||
| 5 / 71-11 / 71 | 5 | 15th | 0 | 5 | 0 | 16 | ||
| 11 / 71-5 / 72 | 8th | 12 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 16 | ||
| 5 / 72-7 / 74 | 8th | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21st | ||
| 7 / 74-2 / 76 | 3 | 17th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21st | ||
| 2 / 76-1977 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26th | ||
| 1977-7 / 78 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 8th | 18th | ||
| 7 / 78-6 / 80 | 6th | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 23 | ||
| 6 / 80-10 / 82 | 11 | 4th | 0 | 0 | 3 | 23 | ||
The East Treaties of the Brandt government were passed in 1972 after a long discussion and a constructive vote of no confidence in Brandt in the Bundestag, after the CDU / CSU parliamentary group had pushed through a declaration in which it was stated that a final settlement on the Oder-Neisse border would only be implemented a peace treaty may be reached. Accordingly, the treaties finally passed the Federal Council, albeit against the bitter resistance of Bavaria, for example, whose government appealed to the Federal Constitutional Court. However, in 1973 the latter decided that the Eastern Treaties did not contradict the reunification requirement of the preamble of the Basic Law (in the version at that time), that the Eastern Treaties were therefore constitutional.
The Federal Council played a further important role during the so-called German Autumn in 1977. In an urgent procedure, a law was passed through the Bundestag and Bundesrat that forbade the lawyers of incarcerated RAF terrorists from contact with their clients. In 1978 the Bundestag passed an anti-terror law against the objection of the Bundesrat, for which this legislation did not go far enough.
The Kohl government before reunification (1982–1990)
During the first part of the Kohl government, Baden-Württemberg (5), Bavaria (5), and Rhineland-Palatinate (4) were always on the side of the federal government, while Bremen (3) and North Rhine-Westphalia (5) always opposed it. Hamburg (3) got a red and yellow government in 1986 after an SPD sole government. In Hesse (4) in 1987 a black and yellow government replaced the old red (green) government. In Saarland (3), a black and yellow government ruled until March 1985 (Zeyer II cabinet); then Oskar Lafontaine won the state elections in March 1985 and formed an SPD government , Schleswig-Holstein (4) changed its CDU government (Barschel) to a single SPD government (Engholm) in September 1987 . In early 1989 the government in Berlin changed from black and yellow ( Diepgen ) to red and green ( Momper ). In Lower Saxony (5) the black and yellow government was replaced by red and green in the state elections in May 1990 .
With a total of 41 votes in the Federal Council, the distribution of votes was as follows:
| Overview for the period from 1982 to 1990 | ||||||||
| Period | left opposition | neutral | Federal government | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| red | Red Green | Red Yellow | black yellow | black | ||||
| 10 / 82-4 / 85 | 15th | 0 | 0 | 3 | 23 | |||
| 4 / 85-12 / 85 | 18th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | |||
| 12 / 85-7 / 86 | 14th | 4th | 0 | 0 | 23 | |||
| 7 / 86-4 / 87 | 14th | 4th | 0 | 5 | 18th | |||
| 4 / 87-6 / 87 | 14th | 0 | 0 | 9 | 18th | |||
| 6 / 87-5 / 88 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 14th | |||
| 5 / 88-6 / 90 | 15th | 0 | 3 | 13 | 10 | |||
| 6 / 90-10 / 90 | 15th | 5 | 3 | 8th | 10 | |||
The black and yellow government thus almost consistently had a majority in the Bundesrat, so the implementation of government policy in the Bundesrat was largely secured. An important point in the legislation was the rapid establishment of German unity , which the Federal Council had to agree to.
The Kohl government after reunification (1990–1998)
At the 624th session of the Bundesrat on November 9, 1990, for the first time since 1934, all German states were represented in a joint chamber .
After unification, the Federal Council consisted of 68 (from 1996: 69) votes. Bavaria (6) and Saxony (4) remained black throughout, Lower Saxony (6), North Rhine-Westphalia (6), Saarland (3) and Schleswig-Holstein (4) remained red (-green). Baden-Württemberg (6) was black (yellow) until the time of the grand coalition 1992–1996. The red-green government in Berlin (4) was replaced by a grand coalition in 1991, as was the black-yellow coalition in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 1994 (3). In Brandenburg (4) there was a traffic light coalition until 1994 , after which the SPD ruled alone. Bremen (3) was ruled by the SPD until 1991, followed by a traffic light (1991–1995) and the grand coalition (until 2007). In Hamburg (3) ruled red-yellow until 1991, then the SPD with changing coalition partners. Hesse (4, from 1996: 5) was ruled by red-green again from 1991. The black and yellow government in Rhineland-Palatinate (4) was replaced by red and yellow in 1991, that in Saxony-Anhalt (4) in 1994 by red and green with tolerance by the PDS . In Thuringia, black-and-yellow ruled until 1994, followed by a grand coalition.
The distribution of votes with 68 or 69 members and an absolute majority of 35 votes was as follows:
| Overview for the period from 1990 to 1998 | ||||||||
| Period | left opposition | neutral | Federal government | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| red | Red Green | red-yellow-green | Red Yellow | red-black (+ SPD / STATT) | black red | black yellow | black | |
| 11 / 90-1 / 91 | 16 | 10 | 4th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 19th | 16 |
| 1 / 91-4 / 91 | 16 | 6th | 4th | 3 | 0 | 4th | 19th | 16 |
| 4 / 91-5 / 91 | 16 | 10 | 4th | 3 | 0 | 4th | 15th | 16 |
| 5 / 91-6 / 91 | 16 | 10 | 4th | 7th | 0 | 4th | 11 | 16 |
| 6 / 91-12 / 91 | 19th | 10 | 4th | 4th | 0 | 4th | 11 | 16 |
| 12 / 91-5 / 92 | 16 | 10 | 7th | 4th | 0 | 4th | 11 | 16 |
| 5 / 92-10 / 93 | 16 | 10 | 7th | 4th | 0 | 10 | 11 | 10 |
| 10 / 93-4 / 94 | 13 | 10 | 7th | 4th | 3 | 10 | 11 | 10 |
| 4 / 94-7 / 94 | 19th | 4th | 7th | 4th | 3 | 10 | 11 | 10 |
| 7 / 94-10 / 94 | 19th | 8th | 7th | 4th | 3 | 10 | 7th | 10 |
| 10 / 94-6 / 95 | 23 | 8th | 3 | 4th | 3 | 17th | 0 | 10 |
| 6 / 95-12 / 95 | 17th | 14th | 0 | 4th | 6th | 17th | 0 | 10 |
| 1 / 96-4 / 96 | 13 | 19th | 0 | 4th | 6th | 17th | 0 | 10 |
| 4 / 96-7 / 96 | 13 | 19th | 0 | 4th | 6th | 11 | 6th | 10 |
| 10 / 97-5 / 98 | 13 | 22nd | 0 | 4th | 3 | 11 | 6th | 10 |
| 5 / 98-10 / 98 | 17th | 18th | 0 | 4th | 3 | 11 | 6th | 10 |
The black and yellow absolute majority only lasted from October 28, 1990 to April 5, 1991.
After the tight decision of the Bundestag in June 1991 to move to Berlin , the Bundesrat decided on July 5, 1991 with 38:30 votes initially to remain in Bonn . However, this decision should be subject to review. Five years later, on September 27, 1996, the Bundesrat finally decided to move to Berlin with it, in order to also take its seat in close proximity to the Federal Government and the Bundestag.
During the period of red-green dominance, Oskar Lafontaine organized a blockade against the federal government with the majority of the red and red-green ruled states, which in 1997, for example, made a tax reform by the Kohl government fail.
The Schröder government (1998-2005)
During the Schröder government's existence
- Baden-Württemberg (6) and Bavaria (6) were always in the black and yellow camp:
- Cabinet Teufel III (1996-2001) and IV (2001-2005)
- Cabinet Stoiber III (1998-2003) and IV (2003-2007)
- Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (3, also since 1998) always represented the red (red) green camp.
- In Bremen (3) a grand coalition always ruled (1995-2005, cabinet under Henning Scherf ),
- in Rhineland-Palatinate (4) there was always a red-yellow government (1994-2006, cabinet under Kurt Beck ),
- Berlin (4): The grand coalition ( Senate Diepgen IV 1996–1999 and V until 2001) was replaced in 2001 by a red-green and later red-red coalition,
- in Thuringia (4) after the state elections on September 12, 1999 by a CDU sole government ( Cabinet Vogel III )
- The red (green) governments in Hamburg (3, 2001), Hesse (5, 1999), Lower Saxony (6, 2003), North Rhine-Westphalia (6, election May 2005 ), in Saarland (3, 1999) and in Saxony-Anhalt (4, 2002) were replaced by black or black and yellow governments,
- the red-green government in Schleswig-Holstein (4, 2005) through a black-red grand coalition,
- the CDU sole government in Saxony (4) in 2004 through a black-red coalition and the SPD sole government in Brandenburg (4) in 1999 through a red-black grand coalition.
This resulted in the following distribution of votes with 69 seats in total, with an absolute majority of 35 and a two-thirds majority of 46 seats:
| Overview for the period from 1998 to 2005 | ||||||||
| Period | Red Red | Federal government | neutral | bourgeois opposition | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| red | Red Green | Red Yellow | Red Black | black red | black-yellow (+ Schill) | black | ||
| 10 / 98-11 / 98 | 0 | 17th | 18th | 4th | 3 | 11 | 6th | 10 |
| 11 / 98-4 / 99 | 3 | 17th | 18th | 4th | 3 | 8th | 6th | 10 |
| 4 / 99-9 / 99 | 3 | 17th | 13 | 4th | 3 | 8th | 11 | 10 |
| 9 / 99-6 / 01 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 4th | 7th | 4th | 11 | 17th |
| 6/01–10/01 | 3 | 10 | 17th | 4th | 7th | 0 | 11 | 17th |
| 10/01–5/02 | 7th | 10 | 10 | 4th | 7th | 0 | 14th | 17th |
| 5/02–3/03 | 7th | 6th | 10 | 4th | 7th | 0 | 18th | 17th |
| 3 / 03-3 / 04 | 7th | 0 | 10 | 4th | 7th | 0 | 19th | 22nd |
| 3 / 04-10 / 04 | 7th | 0 | 10 | 4th | 7th | 0 | 16 | 25th |
| 10/04–04/05 | 7th | 0 | 10 | 4th | 7th | 4th | 16 | 21st |
| 04 / 05-06 / 05 | 7th | 0 | 6th | 4th | 7th | 8th | 16 | 21st |
| 06 / 05–11 / 05 | 7th | 0 | 0 | 4th | 7th | 8th | 22nd | 21st |
The red-green majority only existed until April 7, 1999, the black-yellow majority existed from May 16, 2002.
The Federal Council, which has been dominated by the Union since 1999, also turned several times against the red-green coalition under Chancellor Schröder, which has ruled since 1998 . This led, for example, to the division of the law on civil partnerships into a part that does not require approval and one that does not require approval in the Federal Council. The federal government Schröder tried several times successfully to push through at least part of its political agenda through compromises or through the more or less disguised "buying out" of individual state governments, preferably governed in a grand coalition, from the Union blockade majority. Since the takeover of the absolute majority of the CDU / CSU / FDP-ruled countries in 2002, however, the search for compromise has been the only possible solution for the federal government; One of the results of this search was also the final agreement on the immigration law after it had initially failed.
In 2000 the chamber of states moved from Bonn to Berlin. On September 29, 2000 the first meeting was opened in the new domicile Prussian mansion .
The scandal surrounding the 2002 Immigration Act
In the Bundesrat vote on the Immigration Act on March 22, 2002, there was a scandal in the Bundesrat when the President of the Bundesrat judged the voting behavior of the representatives of the state of Brandenburg - unlike later the Federal Constitutional Court - to be uniform and therefore counted Brandenburg's votes as yes votes . In a judgment of December 18, 2002, the Federal Constitutional Court declared the law null and void.
The starting point was the immigration law introduced into the Bundestag by the red-green federal government without reaching an agreement with the opposition . The Union rejected the law and announced that it would vote against the law in the Bundesrat. Since there was no majority in the Bundesrat without the Union, at least one federal state with the CDU involved in government had to approve the law. The voting behavior of Brandenburg, which was governed by a grand coalition, was open.
The federal states were called to vote. When Brandenburg was called, Alwin Ziel (SPD) answered yes and Jörg Schönbohm (CDU) no. The President of the Federal Council, Klaus Wowereit, then found that the vote was inconsistent and asked the Prime Minister of Brandenburg Manfred Stolpe how his state voted. He said that he “as Prime Minister” declared that Brandenburg would vote yes, whereupon Schönbohm said: “Mr. President, you know my opinion.” Thereupon the President of the Federal Council stated that the State of Brandenburg had voted yes. The further vote was then accompanied by extremely unusual loud - but obviously staged - protests and shouts from the CDU politicians Peter Müller and Roland Koch , who accused the Federal Council President of violating the constitution. As a result, Wowereit asked Stolpe whether the state of Brandenburg still needed clarification. With reference to his office as Prime Minister, Stolpe answered yes to this question. Schönbohm did not comment on the new question Wowereits.
It is likely that these operations were largely planned. Federal Council President Wowereit had the administration draw up an expert opinion on the subject of “inconsistent voting” before the meeting. This (like the Constitutional Court later) did not consider inconsistent voting as approval. Wowereit decided, contrary to this report, to be rated as a yes vote. The protests and calls were also discussed. It was a staged reaction ("theater") of the CDU representatives in the Federal Council, said the Saarland Prime Minister Peter Müller (CDU) later in a newspaper interview.
In 1949, at one of the first meetings of the Federal Council, there was a case on which the Federal Council President based his decision. Two ministers from North Rhine-Westphalia had apparently mistakenly given different votes. Thereupon the then President of the Federal Council and Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Karl Arnold , declared to everyone laughing that as Prime Minister he would now cast the final vote of his country. The equation of this case with the decision of March 22, 2002 was rejected by the Federal Constitutional Court with 6: 2 votes.
Federalism Commission 2003/04
The Federalism Commission , set up by the Bundestag and Bundesrat in 2003, was supposed to reform federalism in Germany and bring about a reorganization of the responsibilities of the Federation and the Länder, in particular a reduction in the proportion of laws requiring approval. A reorganization of the financial constitution should also be discussed. The meetings that took place regularly after the constituent meeting on November 7, 2003 initially seemed promising. However, when the deadline for the presentation of the results, December 17, 2004, approached, significantly more pessimistic voices were heard. Since a two-thirds majority is required to amend the Basic Law, a broad consensus had to be achieved not only between the Bundestag, Bundesrat and federal government , but also between the government and the opposition . At the beginning of 2005, the commission was deemed to have failed for the time being. The reason for this was that no agreement could be reached on education policy , especially university policy . At the urging of the Federal President , Horst Köhler , the political parties agreed to continue work in 2005.
The Union-led governments under Angela Merkel (since 2005)
The second grand coalition (2005-2009)
When the second grand coalition took office in Bavaria (CSU, 6), Hamburg (CDU, 3), Hesse (CDU, 5), Saarland (CDU, 3) and Thuringia (CDU, 4) “black “Sole governments in power. There were also CDU-FDP coalition governments in Baden-Württemberg (6), Lower Saxony (6), North Rhine-Westphalia (6) and Saxony-Anhalt (4) as well as CDU-led black-red coalitions in Saxony (4) and Schleswig-Holstein (4).
The SPD provided the head of government in the SPD-led red-black coalitions in Brandenburg (4) and Bremen (3), in the SPD-FDP coalition in Rhineland-Palatinate (4) and in the SPD-Left Party coalitions in Berlin ( 4) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (3).
After the elections in Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt on March 26, 2006, the following shifts occurred in the Federal Council: In Rhineland-Palatinate (4) the SPD won an absolute majority, the FDP lost its participation in the government. In Saxony-Anhalt (4) the government made up of the CDU and FDP lost its majority, and a black-red coalition was formed here under the leadership of the CDU. In Baden-Württemberg (6), the CDU just missed an absolute majority. The old CDU and FDP government remained in place. Under these circumstances, the parties supporting the federal government now held 44 out of 69 seats.
Since the Federal Council President and Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Harald Ringstorff (SPD) decided to form a grand coalition in his state after the state elections on September 17, 2006 , the governing parties from the Union and SPD had a two-thirds majority in the Federal Council. This majority existed until the change of government in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen , where elections were held on May 13, 2007 and a red-green coalition replaced the grand coalition in this state.
In the general election in Hamburg (3) on February 24, 2008, the CDU lost an absolute majority. Mayor Ole von Beust then formed a government made up of the CDU and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen and thus the first black-green government at the state level.
After the state elections in Bavaria (6) on September 28, 2008, the loss of the absolute majority of the CSU resulted in a coalition government consisting of the CSU and FDP under Prime Minister Horst Seehofer.
After the early state elections in Hesse (5) on January 18, 2009, the CDU and FDP formed the new state government, which was sworn in on February 5, 2009. This meant that the grand coalition no longer had a majority in the Federal Council.
After the break of the grand coalition in Schleswig-Holstein (4) in July 2009, Prime Minister Carstensen formed a CDU minority government.
In the state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Saarland on August 30, 2009, the CDU remained the strongest party, although it lost the absolute majority in Thuringia (4) and Saarland (3). In Saxony (4), Prime Minister Tillich formed a government made up of the CDU and FDP, which replaced the previous black and red.
This resulted in the following distribution of votes with 69 seats in total, whereby the absolute majority was 35 and the two-thirds majority was 46 seats:
| Overview for the period from 2005 to 2009 | |||||||||
| Period | Red Red | Red Green | Red Yellow | Federal government | black green | black yellow | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| red | Red Black | black red | black | ||||||
| 11 / 05-05 / 06 | 7th | 0 | 4th | 0 | 7th | 8th | 21st | 0 | 22nd |
| 05 / 06–11 / 06 | 7th | 0 | 0 | 4th | 7th | 12 | 21st | 0 | 18th |
| 11 / 06-06 / 07 | 4th | 0 | 0 | 4th | 10 | 12 | 21st | 0 | 18th |
| 06 / 07-05 / 08 | 4th | 3 | 0 | 4th | 7th | 12 | 21st | 0 | 18th |
| 05 / 08-10 / 08 | 4th | 3 | 0 | 4th | 7th | 12 | 18th | 3 | 18th |
| 10 / 08-02 / 09 | 4th | 3 | 0 | 4th | 7th | 12 | 12 | 3 | 24 |
| 02 / 09-07 / 09 | 4th | 3 | 0 | 4th | 7th | 12 | 7th | 3 | 29 |
| 07 / 09-09 / 09 | 4th | 3 | 0 | 4th | 7th | 8th | 11 | 3 | 29 |
| 09 / 09-10 / 09 | 4th | 3 | 0 | 4th | 7th | 4th | 7th | 3 | 37 |
The grand coalition introduced the compromise on federalism reform agreed with the prime ministers of the federal states into the legislative process quickly after taking office, and passed the federalism reform in summer 2006.
The second Merkel government (2009-2013)
After the federal election in 2009 , a majority was formed from the CDU / CSU and FDP, which formed the federal government. State governments formed from the three parties (CDU, CSU, FDP) have not had a majority since the government was formed in North Rhine-Westphalia in July 2010.
At the time the CDU-CSU-FDP government took office in the federal government, there were CDU sole governments (even if only executive) in Saarland (3) and Thuringia (4), in Baden-Württemberg (6), Bavaria (6), and Hesse (5), Lower Saxony (6), North Rhine-Westphalia (6), Schleswig-Holstein (4) and Saxony (4) governments from the CDU and FDP or CSU and FDP (BY) in office. In Hamburg (3) a government made up of CDU and GAL and in Saxony-Anhalt (4) a black-red coalition made up of CDU and SPD. The SPD placed the head of government in Rhineland-Palatinate (4) in a single SPD government, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (3) and Brandenburg (4) in a red-black coalition of the SPD and CDU, Berlin (4) in a coalition of SPD and Die Linke as well as in Bremen (3) in a coalition with the Greens.
After the state elections in Schleswig-Holstein (4) on September 27, 2009, Prime Minister Peter Harry Carstensen (CDU) formed a black and yellow government, which led to a black and yellow majority in the Federal Council. In Brandenburg (4), where elections took place on the same day, the SPD and Die Linke finally agreed to form a red-red government.
In Saarland (3) there was a coalition of CDU, FDP and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen for the first time after the state elections; in Thuringia (4), CDU and SPD finally agreed on a joint government.
In North Rhine-Westphalia (6), where the state parliament was elected on May 9, 2010, a minority government made up of the SPD and the Greens was formed on July 15, 2010. The CDU, CSU and FDP no longer had a majority in the Bundesrat.
After the breakup of the black-green government in Hamburg (3), the First Mayor Christoph Ahlhaus formed a CDU minority government.
After winning an absolute majority in the 2011 parliamentary elections in Hamburg , an SPD sole government was elected to office there on March 7th.
In the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt (4), Baden-Württemberg (6), Bremen (3) and Rhineland-Palatinate (4), the CDU / SPD government in Saxony-Anhalt and the SPD / Greens government in Bremen were confirmed , while after the first meeting of the state parliaments in Baden-Württemberg in May 2011, the CDU / FDP state government was replaced by a green-red coalition and in Rhineland-Palatinate the SPD sole government was replaced by a red-green coalition. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (3) the grand coalition was confirmed in September 2011, in Berlin (4) a grand coalition was also formed after the elections to the House of Representatives.
After no state elections were scheduled for 2012, there were finally early elections in three countries for different reasons. In Saarland (3), after the breakup of the Jamaica coalition, a grand coalition was sought, which also won a majority after the election date and took office in May 2012. In Schleswig-Holstein (4), following a case law on the unconstitutional electoral law, new elections were held in May 2012, in which a three-party coalition made up of the SPD, the Greens and the SSW won a majority and formed the government. In the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia (6), which resulted from the rejection of the budget and the dissolution of the state parliament, the SPD and the Greens were able to win a majority and continue the government. In the state elections in Bavaria (6), the CSU again won an absolute majority, the previous government partner FDP achieved 3.3% and was therefore not even represented in the state parliament.
This resulted in the following distribution of votes with 69 seats in total, with an absolute majority of 35 and a two-thirds majority of 46 seats:
| Overview for the period from 2009 to 2013 | ||||||||||
| Period | left opposition | neutral | Federal government | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Red | green red | red-green (+ SSW) | red | Red Black | black red | black green | black-yellow-green | black | black yellow | |
| 10 / 09–11 / 09 | 4th | 0 | 3 | 4th | 7th | 4th | 3 | 0 | 7th | 37 |
| 11 / 09-07 / 10 | 8th | 0 | 3 | 4th | 3 | 8th | 3 | 3 | 0 | 37 |
| 07 / 10-11 / 10 | 8th | 0 | 9 | 4th | 3 | 8th | 3 | 3 | 0 | 31 |
| 11 / 10–03 / 11 | 8th | 0 | 9 | 4th | 3 | 8th | 0 | 3 | 3 | 31 |
| 03 / 11–05 / 11 | 8th | 0 | 9 | 7th | 3 | 8th | 0 | 3 | 0 | 31 |
| 05 / 11-12 / 11 | 8th | 6th | 13 | 3 | 3 | 8th | 0 | 3 | 0 | 25th |
| 12 / 11–01 / 12 | 4th | 6th | 13 | 3 | 7th | 8th | 0 | 3 | 0 | 25th |
| 01 / 12–05 / 12 | 4th | 6th | 13 | 3 | 7th | 8th | 0 | 0 | 3 | 25th |
| 05 / 12-06 / 12 | 4th | 6th | 13 | 3 | 7th | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25th |
| 06 / 12-02 / 13 | 4th | 6th | 17th | 3 | 7th | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21st |
| 02 / 13-10 / 13 | 4th | 6th | 23 | 3 | 7th | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15th |
| 10 / 13-12 / 13 | 4th | 6th | 23 | 3 | 7th | 11 | 0 | 0 | 6th | 9 |
The third and fourth grand coalitions (since 2013)
The FDP could not move back into parliament in the state elections in Saxony in 2014 . With the formation of a government in Saxony and the election of the new cabinet of Prime Minister Stanislaw Tillich , the last government participation of the FDP at state level ended in November 2014. For the first time in the history of the Federal Republic, the FDP was not involved in any state government and was no longer represented in the Bundesrat .
During the time of the third and fourth grand coalitions, the following distribution of votes resulted from a total of 69 seats, with an absolute majority of 35 and a two-thirds majority of 46 seats:
| Overview for the time since 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Period | LEFT-red-green | red-red-green | Red Red | red-green (+ SSW) | red-yellow-green | red-black-green | green red | Federal government | green-black | black-red-green | black green | black-yellow-green | yellow | black yellow | black-FW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| red | Red Black | black red | black | |||||||||||||||
| 12 / 13–01 / 14 | 0 | 0 | 4th | 23 | 0 | 0 | 6th | 3 | 7th | 11 | 6th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 01 / 14–11 / 14 | 0 | 0 | 4th | 23 | 0 | 0 | 6th | 3 | 7th | 11 | 6th | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4th | 0 |
| 11 / 14-12 / 14 | 0 | 0 | 4th | 23 | 0 | 0 | 6th | 3 | 7th | 15th | 6th | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 / 14-04 / 15 | 4th | 0 | 4th | 23 | 0 | 0 | 6th | 3 | 7th | 11 | 6th | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 04 / 15-04 / 16 | 4th | 0 | 4th | 26th | 0 | 0 | 6th | 0 | 7th | 11 | 6th | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 04 / 16–05 / 16 | 4th | 0 | 4th | 26th | 0 | 0 | 6th | 0 | 7th | 7th | 6th | 0 | 4th | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 05 / 16-12 / 16 | 4th | 0 | 4th | 22nd | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7th | 7th | 6th | 6th | 4th | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 / 16-06 / 17 | 4th | 4th | 4th | 22nd | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7th | 6th | 6th | 4th | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 06 / 17–11 / 17 | 4th | 4th | 4th | 12 | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7th | 6th | 6th | 4th | 5 | 4th | 0 | 6th | 0 |
| 11/17 - 11/18 | 4th | 4th | 4th | 6th | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 7th | 6th | 6th | 4th | 5 | 4th | 0 | 6th | 0 |
| 11 / 18-08 / 19 | 4th | 4th | 4th | 6th | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 7th | 0 | 6th | 4th | 5 | 4th | 0 | 6th | 6th |
| 08 / 19–11 / 19 | 4th | 7th | 4th | 3 | 4th | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 7th | 0 | 6th | 4th | 5 | 4th | 0 | 6th | 6th |
| 11 / 19-12 / 19 | 4th | 7th | 0 | 3 | 4th | 4th | 0 | 0 | 9 | 7th | 0 | 6th | 4th | 5 | 4th | 0 | 6th | 6th |
| 12/19 - 02/20 | 4th | 7th | 0 | 3 | 4th | 4th | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6th | 8th | 5 | 4th | 0 | 6th | 6th |
| 02 / 20-03 / 20 | 0 | 7th | 0 | 3 | 4th | 4th | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6th | 8th | 5 | 4th | 4th | 6th | 6th |
| since 03/20 | 4th | 7th | 0 | 3 | 4th | 4th | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6th | 8th | 5 | 4th | 0 | 6th | 6th |
See also
- Distribution of seats in the German state parliaments
- List of presidents of the German Bundesrat
- List of the acting members of the German Bundesrat
- Member of the German Federal Council
literature
- Konrad Reuter: Practical Guide Federal Council. Constitutional foundations, commentary on the rules of procedure, practice of the Federal Council . Müller Juristischer Verlag, Heidelberg 1991, ISBN 3-8114-6590-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1988, p. 245; Hans Boldt: Erfurt Union Constitution . In: Gunther Mai (Ed.): The Erfurt Union and the Erfurt Union Parliament 1850. Böhlau, Cologne [u. a.] 2000, pp. 417-431, here pp. 429/430.
- ↑ Augsburger Allgemeine of September 29, 2010, column Das Datum