Living Federal President of Germany
At any point in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, this list lists the people who were Federal President at that point in time and who were still alive. There were a total of twelve federal presidents, of whom a maximum of six lived at the same time from the beginning of their term of office, namely from March 18, 2012 to January 31, 2015, the former federal presidents Walter Scheel , Richard von Weizsäcker , Roman Herzog , Horst Köhler , Christian Wulff and Joachim Gauck . Currently, only the four (former) federal presidents who took office in the 21st century are still alive : Horst Köhler, Christian Wulff, Joachim Gauck and Frank-Walter Steinmeier . The eight former German presidents of the 20th century have already died, most recently Roman Herzog on January 10, 2017.
| Start date | End date | Start event | Final event | number | Federal President |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 1949 | September 12, 1949 | Founding of the Federal Republic (enactment of the Basic Law ) | Theodor Heuss takes office | 0 | - |
| September 12, 1949 | September 13, 1959 | Theodor Heuss takes office | Heinrich Lübke takes office | 1 | Theodor Heuss |
| September 13, 1959 | December 12, 1963 | Heinrich Lübke takes office | Death of Theodor Heuss | 2 | Theodor Heuss Heinrich Lübke |
| December 12, 1963 | 1st July 1969 | Death of Theodor Heuss | Gustav Heinemann takes office | 1 | Heinrich Luebke |
| 1st July 1969 | April 6, 1972 | Gustav Heinemann takes office | Heinrich Lübke dies | 2 | Heinrich Lübke Gustav Heinemann |
| April 6, 1972 | July 1, 1974 | Heinrich Lübke dies | Walter Scheel takes office | 1 | Gustav Heinemann |
| July 1, 1974 | 7th July 1976 | Walter Scheel takes office | Gustav Heinemann dies | 2 | Gustav Heinemann Walter Scheel |
| 7th July 1976 | July 1, 1979 | Gustav Heinemann dies | Karl Carstens takes office | 1 | Walter Scheel |
| July 1, 1979 | July 1, 1984 | Karl Carstens takes office | Richard von Weizsäcker takes office | 2 | Walter Scheel Karl Carstens |
| July 1, 1984 | May 30, 1992 | Richard von Weizsäcker takes office | Karl Carstens dies | 3 | Walter Scheel Karl Carstens Richard von Weizsäcker |
| May 30, 1992 | July 1, 1994 | Karl Carstens dies | Roman Herzog takes office | 2 | Walter Scheel Richard von Weizsäcker |
| July 1, 1994 | July 1, 1999 | Roman Herzog takes office | Johannes Rau takes office | 3 | Walter Scheel Richard von Weizsäcker Roman Herzog |
| July 1, 1999 | July 1, 2004 | Johannes Rau takes office | Horst Köhler takes office | 4th | Walter Scheel Richard von Weizsäcker Roman Duke Johannes Rau |
| July 1, 2004 | January 27, 2006 | Horst Köhler takes office | Death of Johannes Rau | 5 | Walter Scheel Richard von Weizsäcker Roman Duke Johannes Rau Horst Koehler |
| January 27, 2006 | June 30, 2010 | Death of Johannes Rau | Christian Wulff takes office | 4th | Walter Scheel Richard von Weizsäcker Roman Herzog Horst Köhler |
| June 30, 2010 | March 18, 2012 | Christian Wulff takes office | Joachim Gauck takes office | 5 | Walter Scheel Richard von Weizsäcker Roman Duke Horst Koehler Christian Wulff |
| March 18, 2012 | January 31, 2015 | Joachim Gauck takes office | Richard von Weizsäcker dies | 6th | Walter Scheel Richard von Weizsäcker Roman Duke Horst Koehler Christian Wulff Joachim Gauck |
| January 31, 2015 | August 24, 2016 | Richard von Weizsäcker dies | Walter Scheel dies | 5 | Walter Scheel Roman Duke Horst Koehler Christian Wulff Joachim Gauck |
| August 24, 2016 | January 10, 2017 | Walter Scheel dies | Roman Herzog dies | 4th | Roman Duke Horst Koehler Christian Wulff Joachim Gauck |
| January 10, 2017 | 19th March 2017 | Roman Herzog dies | Frank-Walter Steinmeier takes office | 3 | Horst Koehler Christian Wulff Joachim Gauck |
| 19th March 2017 | still unknown | Frank-Walter Steinmeier takes office | still unknown | 4th | Horst Köhler Christian Wulff Joachim Gauck Frank-Walter Steinmeier |
Experienced and survived successors
The following table lists for each Federal President how many of his successors he has seen and how many even survived. A successor is deemed to have survived if the former Federal President in question has lived to see the successor's death.
| # | Federal President | experienced | survived |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Theodor Heuss | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | Heinrich Luebke | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Gustav Heinemann | 1 | 0 |
| 4th | Walter Scheel | 7th | 3 |
| 5 | Karl Carstens | 1 | 0 |
| 6th | Richard von Weizsäcker | 5 | 1 |
| 7th | Roman Duke | 4th | 1 |
| 8th | Johannes Rau | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | Horst Koehler | 3 | 0 |
| 10 | Christian Wulff | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | Joachim Gauck | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | Frank-Walter Steinmeier | 0 | 0 |
analysis
The first three Federal Presidents all died during the term of office of their direct successors, which means that at a certain point in time the first four Federal Presidents were all the only people alive who had already assumed the office of Federal President. This series ended with the fourth Federal President, Walter Scheel, who only died on August 24, 2016 at the age of 97 and thus became the oldest former Federal President in the history of the Federal Republic. He saw seven of his successors and survived three. No other former Federal President survived more than one successor. In contrast to the US and Austrian presidential history, an incumbent president has never died in the Federal Republic.