State government of Baden-Württemberg

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The state government of Baden-Wuerttemberg , in the state constitution " government ", as well as Cabinet or Council of Ministers called, is the executive branch of the German state Baden-Wuerttemberg . It is based in the state capital Stuttgart . The state government is taking by the country's parliament adopted laws and performs the state administration .

Composition and competencies

Articles 45 to 57 of the constitution of the state of Baden-Württemberg are the basis for the formation and administration of the state government . Accordingly, the government consists of the prime minister and the ministers . State secretaries and honorary state councilors can be appointed as further members ; their right to vote in government must be expressly granted by the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg by resolution, and the number of state secretaries must not exceed a third of the number of ministers. With the appointment of honorary State Councilors, the Prime Ministers underscore interdepartmental policy areas that they consider to be important. More recently, for example, Konrad Beyreuther served as State Councilor for Life and Health Protection and Life Sciences from 2001 to 2006 , Claudia Hübner from 2006 to 2010 as State Councilor for Demographic Change and Seniors , and Regina Ammicht Quinn from 2010 to 2011 as State Councilor for intercultural and interreligious Dialogue as well as social value development and Gisela Erler since 2011 as State Councilor for civil society and citizen participation .

As head of government, the prime minister has the strongest position in the state government. It appoints and dismisses the members of the government, appoints the judges and state officials , has the authority to issue guidelines , chairs the Council of Ministers and represents the state of Baden-Württemberg externally. The state parliament elects the prime minister by secret ballot ; the latter then appoints the members of the state government and appoints his deputy . In order for the government to take office, it must be confirmed by the state parliament, so the case may arise that a prime minister is already elected in an earlier session of the state parliament and takes his oath of office , but his office only after the confirmation of the state government he has formed in a later session Session.

The ministers are responsible for managing their business areas within the framework of the rules of procedure and the guidelines specified by the Prime Minister. Further competences of the government are the legislative initiative and - through its membership in the Bundesrat - the participation in the legislation of the Federal Republic of Germany .

The government's rules of procedure explicitly provide for the possibility that members who are not members of the government can also be invited to the meetings of the Council of Ministers, such as the permanent state secretary of the state ministry , the political state secretaries, the department heads of the state ministry or the ministerial directors of the ministries as representatives of the ministers .

The government's term of office is tied to the length of the legislative period of the state parliament. It continues to end when the Prime Minister takes office (through resignation or death), and he can also be removed from office by means of a constructive vote of no confidence and replaced by a successor. Other ways of dismissing government members are a dismissal resolution, which is supported by two thirds of the members of the state parliament, as well as a decision of the state parliament to indict before the constitutional court .

Division of business by the state government

Thomas Strobl Nils Schmid Ulrich Goll Ernst Pfister Walter Döring Dieter Spöri Gerhard Weiser Robert Gleichauf Wilhelm Hahn Walter Krause Wolfgang Haußmann Hermann Veit Winfried Kretschmann Stefan Mappus Günther Oettinger Erwin Teufel Lothar Späth Hans Filbinger Kurt Georg Kiesinger Gebhard Müller Reinhold Maier


The state government as a collegial body , the prime minister and the ministries (in addition to the audit office ) are the highest state authorities. The government determines its areas of responsibility on its own responsibility, but the state parliament must approve this resolution. The Ministry of State as the Prime Minister’s authority and ten specialist ministries exist to carry out official business :

State governments since 1952

Since the formation of the state of Baden-Württemberg in April 1952, 23 state governments have been in office. There was a high degree of continuity in the term of office and the partisan composition of the cabinets, due to the low fluctuation of the parties in the state parliament and the decades-long dominance of the CDU as the party with the highest number of votes in state elections. It was the Prime Minister twenty times and was excluded from the government only twice (1952/1953 and 2011-2016).

In the first eight years of the newly founded country, all-party governments (excluding the KPD and initially also the CDU) determined political events. From 1960 the CDU governed with changing coalition partners, the state elections 1972 to 1988 made it possible for it to have sole government with an absolute majority of the seats in the state parliament. From 1992 the CDU was again dependent on coalition partners until it had to take the opposition role for the first time in 58 years in the 2011 election . Since the 2016 election , the CDU has been a smaller partner in the strongest party, Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen .

The longest-serving head of government of Baden-Württemberg was Erwin Teufel (CDU), who nevertheless led three different government constellations during his 14-year term (CDU sole government 1991/1992, grand coalition with the SPD 1992-1996 and black-yellow coalition with the FDP / DVP 1996-2005) and as the top candidate in three state elections never achieved the results of his predecessors.

Overview of the state governments of Baden-Württemberg
cabinet Term of office Parties involved Prime Minister
Cabinet Maier 1 1952-1953 SPD , FDP / DVP , BHE Reinhold Maier (FDP / DVP)
Cabinet Müller I 2 1953-1956 CDU , SPD, FDP / DVP, BHE Gebhard Müller (CDU)
Cabinet Müller II 1956-1958 CDU, SPD, FDP / DVP, GB / BHE
Cabinet Kiesinger I 1958-1960 CDU, SPD, FDP / DVP, GB / BHE Kurt Georg Kiesinger (CDU)
Kiesinger II cabinet 1960-1964 CDU, FDP / DVP, GB / BHE 3
Kiesinger III cabinet 1964-1966 CDU, FDP / DVP
Cabinet Filbinger I 1966-1968 CDU, SPD Hans Filbinger (CDU)
Cabinet Filbinger II 1968-1972 CDU, SPD
Cabinet Filbinger III 1972-1976 CDU
Cabinet Filbinger IV 1976-1988 CDU
Cabinet Späth I 1978-1980 CDU Lothar Späth (CDU)
Cabinet Späth II 1980-1984 CDU
Cabinet Späth III 1984-1988 CDU
Cabinet Späth IV 1988-1991 CDU
Cabinet devil I. 1991-1992 CDU Erwin Teufel (CDU)
Cabinet devil II 1992-1996 CDU, SPD
Cabinet devil III 1996-2001 CDU, FDP / DVP
Cabinet Devil IV 2001-2005 CDU, FDP / DVP
Cabinet Oettinger I 2005-2006 CDU, FDP / DVP Günther Oettinger (CDU)
Cabinet Oettinger II 2006-2010 CDU, FDP / DVP
Cabinet Mappus 2010-2011 CDU, FDP / DVP Stefan Mappus (CDU)
Cabinet Kretschmann I 2011-2016 Alliance 90 / The Greens , SPD Winfried Kretschmann (Alliance 90 / The Greens)
Cabinet Kretschmann II since 2016 Alliance 90 / The Greens, CDU
1Provisional government after the election to the national constituent assembly on March 9, 1952.
2Second Provisional Government. When the constitution of the state of Baden-Württemberg came into force on November 19, 1953, the provisional government became an ordinary government.
3In June 1961 the GB / BHE merged with the German Party (DP) to form the All-German Party (GDP). When State Secretary Josef Schwarz changed from the GDP to the CDU on January 20, 1964, the GDP effectively left the coalition .

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