Lower Saxony State Parliament

Lower Saxony State Parliament

logo	State Parliament seat in the historic Leineschloss
Basic data
Seat:	Leineschloss in Hanover
Legislative period :	five years
First session:	1947
MPs:	137
Current legislative period
Last choice:	15th October 2017
Chair:	State Parliament President Gabriele Andretta (SPD)
Distribution of seats:	SPD 54 CDU 50 Green 12 FDP 11 AfD 9 Non-attached 1
Website
www.landtag-niedersachsen.de

The Lower Saxony State Parliament is the state parliament of the German state of Lower Saxony with its seat in the Leineschloss in Hanover .

history

Forerunners of the Lower Saxony Landtag were the Appointed Hannoversche Landtag , the Appointed Braunschweigische Landtag and the Appointed Oldenburgische Landtag in 1946 , which were bodies set up by the British Military Government after the Second World War to control the state governments. The Appointed Lower Saxony State Parliament existed from December 9, 1946 to March 28, 1947 .

The first Lower Saxony state parliament, elected on April 20, 1947, met in 1947 after the British military government had founded the present state of Lower Saxony with Hanover as the state capital from the formerly independent states of Braunschweig , Hanover , Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe on November 1, 1946 . The parliament, the Lower Saxony state parliament, was initially and provisionally housed in the “White Hall” of the Hanover city hall. The space was very cramped, there were no adjoining rooms for the parliamentary groups and committees, nor were there any press or public areas. In 1949 the City Council of Hanover renounced the right to use the Leineschloss and allowed the state parliament to use it, which, however, could only move into it in 1962 - after extensive construction and renovation work.

Parliament building

Back of the Leineschloss on the Leine with the office of the President of the State Parliament in the former winter garden

Chamber before the demolition in 2014

Gutted plenary hall during renovation, 2015

The state parliament is housed in the Leineschloss , a classical palace complex that served as the residence of the kings of Hanover until 1866. It is located in Hanover's old town on Hannah-Arendt-Platz . After the destruction by the air raids on Hanover during the Second World War , the palace was rebuilt from 1957 to 1962 and was given a plenary hall on the eastern side , the design of which came from the Hanoverian architect Dieter Oesterlen . From 1947 to 1962, the state parliament of Lower Saxony, founded in 1946, met in a side wing of the Hanover city hall .

Since about the year 2000 there were plans to modernize and expand the plenary hall of the state parliament in the extension by Dieter Oesterlen. In addition, architecture competitions were held in 2002 and 2010. On March 16, 2010, the majority of the members of the state parliament voted for the demolition of the listed plenary hall building and a new building according to plans by the Korean architect Eun Young Yi in the same place. Completion should take place in 2012. A fierce controversy over the demolition ensued in public. The new building plans led to the formation of a “Citizen Participation Initiative in the Landtag”. Due to the fear that the budget for a new building would be exceeded, it was announced in February 2011 that the demolition would not take place. After the decision to renovate the existing building was made in 2012, a project group was commissioned to redesign the plenary hall in early 2013. In July 2013, the building commission voted in favor of the “Plenary hall with urban reference ” concept of the lead architecture and interior design office blocher partners .

Construction work on the redesign of the plenary hall began at the end of July 2014 and was completed in 2017. A major renovation took place inside the building after the monument protection was relaxed . During the renovation work it turned out that the listed outer concrete walls were ailing due to corrosion, so demolition was considered. The President of the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation , Stefan Winghart , would have accepted a demolition if the granite facade with the large window cuts and the sculptures by Kurt Schwerdtfeger had been restored. The listed outer concrete walls of the state parliament building were renovated for around 1 million euros. The state parliament building was reopened on October 27, 2017.

Constitution

On April 3, 1951, the state parliament passed the provisional Lower Saxony constitution . The provisional nature of this first state constitution, which came into force on May 1, 1951, resulted from the division of Germany after the Second World War .

After the reunification of Germany in 1990, the state parliament decided to remove the previous constitution from its provisional character and on May 13, 1993 it passed the constitution in its current form. In doing so, the state parliament also adapted the constitution to the challenges of the future. New in the constitution were, in particular, the inclusion of the state goals of “environmental protection” and “equal rights for men and women”, the introduction of plebiscitary elements and the strengthening of parliamentary rights. In the meantime, the constitution has included a requirement of equal treatment, a ban on discrimination against the disabled, an obligation to promote sport and to provide the population with adequate living space and work, and a requirement to respect animals as living beings as further national goals.

Position and duties

The new plenary hall, 2018

Meeting in the new plenary hall, 2019

The new reception area

The coffee corner in the visitor area

As the elected representative of the people, the state parliament is the highest constitutional body of the state of Lower Saxony. It passes the state laws, adopts the state budget and elects the prime minister . In addition, the state parliament participates in the formation of the government and controls the state government of Lower Saxony . The state parliament is a legislative body because it passes the state laws for Lower Saxony. It is a representative body because it represents the entire people. At the same time, it is an organ of transformation because it translates the different views and interests of citizens into legally effective, state-steering decisions. It is an electoral body because its deputies elect the members of other state bodies (state government, Lower Saxony State Court , Lower Saxony State Audit Office , State Commissioner for Data Protection ). It is also a controlling body, since it controls the state government and its administration with various instruments.

Constitutional position

Parliament

The state parliament - that is, the parliament - forms the legislative power ( legislature ) and consists of the representatives of the people elected by the people, the deputies. The President of the State Parliament is the highest representative of the State Parliament . The constitutional body is the parliament, consisting of the deputies. The state administration does not belong to the legislature, but as the highest state authority is a service provider for the parliament.

The people decide on the composition of the Landtag. The Landtag thus has a prominent position among the constitutional organs: it is the only one of these organs to be directly elected by the people. The state parliament enacts the state laws, which are implemented by the state government and controls the state government. In addition, it decides, among other things, the state budget and elects the prime minister. The respective ministers can also be members of the state parliament.

State government

The prime minister elected by the state parliament and the ministers form the state government, also known as the 'cabinet'. It represents the executive power ( executive group).

The highest representative of the state government is the Prime Minister, whose authority is the Lower Saxony State Chancellery . The authorities of the other members of the state government are the respective ministries. The executive also includes the ministries and their subordinate administrative authorities, but the constitutional body itself is the state government, consisting of the prime minister and the ministers.

The state parliament decides on the composition of the state government: The prime minister is elected by the state parliament, who appoints the ministers who then have to be confirmed by the state parliament. The state government executes the state laws enacted by the state parliament and in certain cases has a special duty to inform the state parliament.

State Court

The Lower Saxony State Court is the constitutional court of the state of Lower Saxony and thus forms the judiciary . It has its seat in Bückeburg and is a constitutional body that is independent and independent of the other constitutional bodies (state parliament, state government).

The State Court is composed of nine members, headed by the President of the State Court. All other courts also belong to the judiciary, but only the State Court is a constitutional organ. The State Court of Justice decides, among other things, on constitutional disputes of the highest state authorities, disputes in the implementation of plebiscitary (referendum) elements, compatibility of state laws with the state constitution or charges of parliamentarians.

The members of the state court are elected by the state parliament.

Duties and rights

The state parliament has numerous tasks. He passes laws; elects the President and the Presidium of the State Parliament, the Prime Minister, the members of the State Court of Justice, the President and Vice-President of the State Audit Office and the State Commissioner for Data Protection; it forms committees, decides on the annual state budget, confirms and controls the state government.

Control function

In certain cases, the state government is obliged to inform the state parliament of its own accord: for example, about the preparation of laws, basic questions of state planning or major projects. One of the most important tasks of the state parliament is the supervision of the state government. The Lower Saxony constitution gives the representatives of the people a comprehensive right to information and questions. The government must respond promptly and completely to requests from MPs to the best of its knowledge. The rules of procedure of the state parliament determine the structure of the right to ask questions. Then there are major questions that a parliamentary group or a group of at least ten MPs can address in writing to the state government. They mostly concern nationwide problems and are publicly presented, answered and discussed in plenary. The individual MEPs can express small questions in writing or orally during Question Time. Mostly it is about regional issues. Urgent inquiries are particularly important inquiries with a shorter response time. They serve to clarify current, often politically explosive questions. In addition, the government must grant access to the files upon request by at least one fifth of the members of a committee.

The current hour has a special function during a session of parliament. The main focus of this short debate is on matters of general, topical interest. The topicality of the topics and the very tight speaking time limit make this debate particularly attractive for spectators in the visitor stands and media representatives. The current hour promotes the thematization of explosive political issues in parliament and counteracts the deficiency that these issues are more likely to be addressed at press conferences and in government or parliamentary groups.

The instrument of the right to investigate is just as important for the control function. It entitles the state parliament to set up a parliamentary committee of inquiry to clarify certain facts in the public interest. At the request of at least one fifth of its members, the state parliament is obliged to set up a committee of inquiry. The parliamentary committee of inquiry carries out a procedure similar to that of a court. He has a very extensive right to information from the state government, its agents and also from third parties. He reports to the state parliament on the result of his investigation. Witnesses who testify before a committee of inquiry have an obligation to tell the truth.

Budget law

The state parliament decides on the state budget of Lower Saxony. Parliament is not bound by the government's proposal, but must create the necessary financial cover in the event of changes. Since most political projects cost money, the draft budget is a kind of government program in numbers. Its debate in the state parliament is one of the highlights of the parliamentary debate.

The budget right, i.e. the power to decide what and how much money is spent, is traditionally considered the “royal right” of parliament. It includes the review, amendment and approval of the government's draft budget. However, a good four-fifths of the expenditure shown in the state budget is fixed from the outset because it must be planned for wages, salaries and (federal) legally binding material expenses. Only the remaining fifth is really up for debate and can be reallocated in parliamentary deliberations. In addition to budget approval, the state parliament's budget law also includes control over budget execution. Based on the audit reports of the State Audit Office, the state parliament decides at the end of each budget year whether the government and its authorities have operated economically and according to plan.

The governing bodies of Parliament

The highest representative of the Lower Saxony parliament and thus the representative of all members of parliament is the president of the state parliament . He leads the plenary sessions of the state parliament, exercises the house rules and the regulatory authority in the state parliament and leads its administration. Together with his deputies and the secretaries, he forms the Presidium of the State Parliament . In its first, the constituent session at the beginning of an electoral term, the state parliament elects its presidium from among the members of the parliament.

The second governing body of the state parliament is the council of elders . It consists of 17 members nominated by the political groups. The President of the State Parliament or a deputy chair is chaired in an advisory capacity. The council of elders decides on the seating arrangements in the state parliament, discusses the schedule and the agenda of the plenary sessions, approves the trips of the specialist committees, acts as an arbitration body between the members of the parliament and the presidium and deals with matters relating to the rules of procedure.

The factions

The parliamentary groups in the state parliament support the elected officials in carrying out their parliamentary activities. The more closed a parliamentary group appears to the outside world, the more effectively it can bring its goals to bear. However, it does occasionally happen that MPs leave their parliamentary group due to irreconcilable political conflicts. These MPs retain their mandate with the status of non-attached MPs. The parliamentary groups fill the specialist committees set up by the state parliament and prepare the political will. They receive grants from the state parliament budget that they can use to pay for office staff or academic staff. As a result, members of a parliamentary group receive better material and personnel support than unrestricted MPs. The right to propose and vote in the committees are also usually linked to the parliamentary group status.

Each parliamentary group has a chairperson and a parliamentary manager.

Those members who belong to a committee form a working group. They report on their deliberations at parliamentary group meetings, thus preparing the formation of political will within the group and are responsible for the group course in their respective committee.

Political group discipline suggests that the members of a political group vote uniformly in parliament. Because with a tight majority, a single vote can decide on political success or failure. In order to achieve this unity, the group first wrestled in an internal debate over a common position. Because even among members of the same party, there are occasionally very different opinions.

The Lower Saxony Constitution guarantees that MPs have to abide by any orders or instructions. MEPs can invoke this right at any time, including against their own parliamentary group.

financing

The political groups have a legal right to finance their general needs. The state parliament decides the amount of the subsidy anew every year. In accordance with the provisions of the Lower Saxony Parliament's law, they receive monthly subsidies from the state parliament budget to cover their general needs - for example for the payment of staff. The money may not be used for party purposes, but only for parliamentary work. The parliamentary groups must keep records of their income and expenditure. The State Audit Office audits the annual balance sheets of the parliamentary groups and ensures that the grants are used as intended. The political groups must make their accounts available to the public. The annual balances are also published as state parliament printed matter.

Elections to the Lower Saxony state parliament

→ Main article : State elections (Lower Saxony)

The at least 135 members of the state parliament are re-elected every five years. Lower Saxony is divided into 87 constituencies. With the first vote, a candidate from the constituency and thus the majority of the MPs is elected. With the second vote, the state list of a party is elected, and the remaining 48 mandates are awarded. The distribution of the seats among the parties that have entered parliament is based on the D'Hondt procedure .

The statutory minimum number of 135 MPs can be increased through so-called overhang and equalization mandates . These are awarded if a party has won more direct mandates than its mandate is entitled to according to the second vote result. To this end, the minimum number of seats will first be increased by twice the number of overhang seats. Then this new total number of seats is normally distributed to the parties according to the second vote ratio. If there are still overhang mandates left, these are assigned to the respective party without further compensation and the number of seats in the state parliament increases again by the number of these unbalanced overhang mandates.

For the 16th legislative period from 2008 to 2013, a total of 152 seats (legal minimum of 135 plus overhang and compensatory mandates) were allocated to the parties represented in the state parliament. The CDU had 8 overhang mandates (normally 60 mandates). That is why the number of seats was increased to 151. Of these, 67 seats were allocated to the CDU, so that it still received an unbalanced overhang mandate and the state parliament has a total of 152 seats.

Election result 2017

Distribution of seats in the state parliament (2017)

See also : State election in Lower Saxony 2017

Political party	Election results October 15, 2017	Change October 22, 2019
SPD	55	54
CDU	50	50
GREEN	12	12
FDP	11	11
AfD	9	9
non-attached	-	1

Jochen Beekhuis was expelled from the SPD parliamentary group in September 2019 and has been formally non-attached since October 22, 2019.

Parties 2017 (from 0.2%)

Political party	Share of second votes
SPD	36.9%
CDU	33.6%
GREEN	8.7%
FDP	7.5%
AfD	6.2%
LEFT	4.6%
Animal welfare party	0.7%
POLITICAL PARTY	0.6%
Free voters	0.4%
PIRATES	0.2%

The turnout was 63.1 percent.

Allocation of seats since 1947

choice	total	CDU	SPD	GREEN	FDP	LEFT	AfD	DP	BHE	other
1947	149	57	65	-	13	-	-	s. CDU	-	14th
1951	158	35	64	-	12	-	-	s. CDU	21st	26th
1955	159	43	59	-	12	-	-	19th	17th	09
1959	157	51	65	-	08th	-	-	20th	13	00
1963	149	62	73	-	14th	-	-	00	00	00
1967	149	63	66	-	10	-	-	-	-	10
1970	149	74	75	-	00	-	-	-	-	-
1974	155	77	67	-	11	-	-	-	-	-
1978	155	83	72	00	00	-	-	-	-	-
1982	171	87	63	11	10	-	-	-	-	-
1986	155	69	66	11	09	-	-	-	-	-
1990	155	67	71	08th	09	-	-	-	-	-
1994	161	67	81	13	00	-	-	-	-	-
1998	157	62	83	12	00	-	-	-	-	-
2003	183	91	63	14th	15th	-	-	-	-	-
2008	152	68	48	12	13	11	-	-	-	-
2013	137	54	49	20th	14th	00	-	-	-	-
2017	137	50	55	12	11	00	09	-	-	-
Source: Allocation of seats from 1947 State Office for Statistics and Communication Technology Lower Saxony

Status of the members of the state parliament

In order to be able to exercise a free mandate unhindered, the constitution grants members special protection, participation and participation rights. In addition, MPs have special duties:

• they are obliged to cooperate and participate (in this respect the participation and participation rights are also the duties of the members of parliament),
• they have a duty to keep order in parliament,
• you must observe the rules of conduct,
• the ban on donations applies,
• you must observe the prohibition of abuse,
• and exclude incompatibilities with the mandate.

A Landtag member may take part in all Landtag meetings and votes. However, the President can exclude the member from a meeting if he has called him to order three times. In order to take the initiative, however, in many cases it has to look for parliamentary partners: at least ten members are required to introduce a bill or to address a “major inquiry” to the state government. With this restriction of participation rights, the state parliament protects itself from self-paralysis through a myriad of motions that would not find a majority anyway.

Participation rights can only be exercised jointly by several members:

• at least ten (or a parliamentary group) are required to introduce a draft law or to address a "major inquiry" to the state government.
• A draft law is referred to a committee by resolution of 30 members.
• One fifth of all MPs can request the establishment of a parliamentary committee of inquiry.
• One third of all MPs can apply for a vote of no confidence or for the state assembly to be dissolved.

Membership allowance

From 1983 to 2009, the Lower Saxony state parliament had a neutral “diet commission” decide whether the parliamentary allowance (colloquially: “diets”) is appropriate or should be adjusted. This commission based its proposals on relevant data on economic development and communicated these to the President of the State Parliament on an annual basis. This was then voted on in parliament. The last adjustment was based on the proposal in the report of the Diet Commission for 2009. On June 8, 2010 the Lower Saxony State Parliament decided to increase the parliamentary allowance in two stages (July 1, 2010 and January 1, 2011) from 5,595 to 6,000 euros (plus 7.23%) and further automatic increases from 2012. Furthermore, members of the Lower Saxony state parliament receive a monthly tax-free allowance of 1,048 euros (cf. §§ 6 ff. Lower Saxony parliamentary law). The then Prime Minister Christian Wulff justified this with the words “The job must not become less and less attractive. MEPs are also regularly entitled to an appropriate increase ”.

This diet hike has been described as unjustified in times of high national debt and austerity measures. Starting in 2012, the basic compensation will be adjusted on July 1st of each year using an index method. The benchmark for the adjustment is the general income development in the economy and in the public service in Lower Saxony, which is determined by the State Office for Statistics and Communication Technology Lower Saxony (LSKN, former Lower Saxony State Office for Statistics ). At the beginning of each new electoral term, the state parliament decides within the first half of the year after the constituent session on the adjustment of the diets with effect for the entire electoral term. The automatic increase from 2012 was criticized by the taxpayers' association as not transparent and viewed as an attempt to avoid future public diet debates.

Parliament committees

The Lower Saxony state parliament currently has eleven permanent committees, three subcommittees and six committees of their own. They prepare the content of the deliberations of the plenary and make recommendations. The committees consist of five to 17 members who are considered specialists in their respective subject. The composition of the committees reflects the majority of the state parliament. With a committee composed of 15 members, the CDU has five votes, the SPD six votes, the FDP one vote, B90 / Die GRÜNEN one vote and the AfD one vote in the current electoral period. (As of June 2020)

The standing committees include:

• Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs with the Penal Services Sub-Committee and the Media Sub-Committee
• Committee on Home Affairs and Sport
• Budget and Finance Committee with the Budgetary Accounts Review Subcommittee
• Culture Committee
• Science and Culture Committee
• Committee on Economy, Labor, Transport and Digitization with the Subcommittee on Ports and Shipping
• Committee on Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection with the Consumer Protection Subcommittee
• Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Equality
• Committee on Environment, Energy, Building and Climate Protection
• Committee on Federal and European Affairs and Regional Development
• Petitions Committee

The so-called committees of their own include, for example, the election review committee, the committee for matters relating to the protection of the constitution, or the committee for the control of special police data collections.

The committees deal with the items that are referred to them by the plenary. Your main task is to discuss the submissions, drafts or motions submitted by the plenary and to clarify any open questions. The committees also hold public hearings in order to obtain the necessary information or to examine complex issues from different perspectives. In these hearings, the committee members ask experts, lobbyists or other informants about their knowledge or opinion. In addition, they can get support from the politically neutral legislative and advisory service of the state parliament administration with research and, above all, with specific legal questions.

The public disclosure requirement of the plenary does not apply to the meetings of the committees. With the exception of public hearings and the public discussion of a draft law or motion for a resolution, which is required in certain cases, the committee members remain among themselves at their meetings.

Handling of inputs

Input from the population creates a lively and direct connection between the people and parliament. The right to petition is an extremely important control tool.

Parliament is obliged to deal with all submissions it receives and which fall within its area of ​​responsibility. In one electoral term, the Lower Saxony state parliament receives around 7,000 petitions.
The decision recommendation of the committee, with which the submission is to be concluded, is discussed and decided by the state parliament in the public plenary session. The sender is then informed of the decision taken by a letter from the President of the State Parliament or a Vice-President.

Currently, around 50% of all submissions to the state parliament are dealt with by the petitions committee, the remaining half of the submissions are dealt with in the respective specialist committees.

Landtag President

Surname		Political party	Period
	Karl Olfers	SPD	1946-1955
	Werner Hofmeister	DP / CDU	1955-1957
	Paul Oskar Schuster	DP / CDU	1957-1959
	Karl Olfers	SPD	1959-1963
	Richard Lehners	SPD	1963-1967
	Wilhelm Baumgarten	SPD	1967-1974
	Heinz Müller	CDU	1974-1982
	Bruno Brandes	CDU	1982-1985
	Edzard Blanke	CDU	1985-1990
	Horst Milde	SPD	1990-1998
	Rolf Wernstedt	SPD	1998 - 2003
	Jürgen Gansäuer	CDU	2003 - 2008
	Hermann Dinkla	CDU	2008-2013
	Bernd Busemann	CDU	2013-2017
	Gabriele Andretta	SPD	Since 2017

Others

The state parliament can - after registration - be visited by groups who take part in meetings as listeners, watch films about the state parliament and hold discussions with members of the parliament.

See also

• List of the members of the Lower Saxony state parliament
• Appointed Hanover State Parliament
• Appointed Brunswick Landtag
• Appointed Oldenburg State Parliament
• Parliament mirror

literature

• Handbook of the Lower Saxony State Parliament , published since 1947 for the respective electoral period
• The President of the Lower Saxony State Parliament , Department for Public Relations (Ed.): The work of the State Parliament in the Leineschloss - a guide with diagrams . Lower Saxony State Parliament, Hanover August 1, 2006 ( PDF; 3.8 MB ).
• The President of the Lower Saxony State Parliament , Department for Public Relations (Ed.): State Parliament work: "Politics in the Leineschloss" . Lower Saxony State Parliament, Hanover September 5, 2006 ( PDF, 2.43 MB as of January 29, 2013).
• Hendrik Träger: The Lower Saxony State Parliament: Governing even with a narrow majority In: Siegfried Mielke / Werner Reutter (ed.): Landesparlamentarismus. History - Structure - Functions, 2nd, reviewed and updated edition, Wiesbaden 2011, pp. 359–398, ISBN 978-3-531-18362-6 .
• Michael F. Feldkamp : The Lower Saxony State Parliament as a symbol for democratic building? In: Julia Schwanholz / Patrick Theiner (eds.), The political architecture of German parliaments, Of houses, castles and palaces, Wiesbaden 2020, ISBN 978-3-658-29330-7 , pp. 229–242.

Literature not yet incorporated:

• Stephan Alexander Glienke: The Nazi past of later members of the Lower Saxony state parliament. Final report on a project of the Historical Commission for Lower Saxony and Bremen. On behalf of the Lower Saxony State Parliament, ed. President of the Lower Saxony State Parliament, Hanover 2012.

Web links

Commons : Lower Saxony State Parliament  - collection of images

• Literature from and about the Lower Saxony State Parliament in the catalog of the German National Library
• Official website
• One year new plenary hall in Hanover on ndr.de, accessed on October 27, 2018

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} CDU and DP together formed the Low German Union .
2. ↑ KPD 8 seats, center 6 seats
3. ↑ ^{a b} Joint appearance by CDU and DP.
4. ↑ SRP 16 seats, center 4 seats, DRP 3 seats, KPD 2 seats, DSP 1 seat
5. ↑ DRP 6 seats, KPD 2 seats, center 1 seat
6. ↑ Start as GDP .
7. ↑ NPD 10 seats
8. ↑ ^{a b} According to the election review decision of the Lower Saxony State Parliament of February 26, 1975, legally binding since March 27, 1975
9. Jump up as a Green List for environmental protection

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Election to the 18th Lower Saxony State Parliament in the event of the 17th Lower Saxony State Parliament being dissolved. (No longer available online.) Nds. State Returning Officer, archived from the original on August 20, 2017 ; accessed on August 20, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Parliament decides to rebuild the Landtag in Hanover ( Memento from March 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) NDR 1, March 16, 2010.
3. ^ Jurist: The plenary hall is clearly a monument. In: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung. 4th December 2010.
4. ↑ The conversion. In: https://www.landtag-niedersachsen.de . Retrieved June 6, 2020 . 
5. ^ Rehabilitation of the Lower Saxony State Parliament. In: https://blocherpartners.com . Retrieved June 9, 2020 . 
6. ↑ Landtag in Hanover is threatened with demolition in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung of February 10, 2015
7. ↑ Problems with building the state parliament have long been known in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from February 14, 2015
8. ↑ Is this concrete shell still a monument? in: Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung from February 12, 2015
9. ↑ Landtag renovation costs one million euros more ( Memento from February 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) at ndr.de from February 21, 2015
10. ^ Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung, Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany: The renovated state parliament in Hanover has opened. October 27, 2017. Retrieved October 27, 2017 . 
11. ↑ http://www.niedersachsen.de/politik_staat/landesregierung_ministerien/die-niedersaechsische-landesregierung-20076.html
12. ↑ http://www.wahlrecht.de/news/2008/ni-2008.htm
13. ↑ Section The Elections: Who Votes How Who? (PDF, 261 kB) on http://www.landtag-niedersachsen.de/ltnds/live/cms/live.php?cms_id=139
14. ↑ ^{a b} Allocation of seats in the 18th electoral term. The President of the Lower Saxony State Parliament, 2019, accessed on December 2, 2019 . 
15. ↑ Wulff thinks that the MPs should increase their diets. Die Welt , June 9, 2010, accessed June 13, 2010 . 
16. ↑ Dirk M. Herrmann: Landtag politicians increase diets twice. Image , June 9, 2010, accessed June 13, 2010 . 
17. ↑ Wulff thinks increasing the diet is right. Hannoversche Allgemeine , June 8, 2010, accessed on June 13, 2010 . 
18. ↑ Lower Saxony's MPs will get more money from July. District newspaper Syke , June 9, 2010, accessed on June 13, 2010 .