President of the German Bundesrat
Encyclopedia
In Germany, the President of the Bundesrat or President of the Federal Council (German: Bundesratspräsident) is the chairperson or speaker of the Bundesrat
(Federal Council). The presidency of the Bundesrat rotates among the heads of government (most of them holding the title minister-president
) of each of the states
(in German, Länder) on an annual basis. As well as acting as a chairperson the President of the Bundesrat acts in place of the President of Germany
in the latter's absence.
The President of the Bundesrat convenes and chairs plenary sessions of the body and is formally responsible for representing the Federal Republic in the Bundesrat. He or she is aided by three vice-presidents who play an advisory role and deputise in the president's absence. The four together constitute the Präsidium of the Bundesrat.
If the head of government of a Land changes during the term of the President of the Bundesrat then the presidency passes to the new minister-president for the remainder of its one year duration. This occurred in April 1999 when Roland Koch
replaced Hans Eichel
as minister-president of Hesse
. The current order of rotation of the presidency of the Bundesrat is as follows:
If the Federal President is outside of the country, or the position is vacant, the President of the Bundesrat fills in as acting head of state
. While doing so he or she does not continue to exercise the role of chair of the Bundesrat. If the president dies, or is removed from office, a successor is elected within thirty days. This has occurred once, when Jens Böhrnsen
acted as president after the resignation of Horst Köhler
in June 2010.
If the Federal President is abroad on a state visit the President of the Bundesrat does not assume all of the Federal President's responsibilities but may "deputise" for him or her, performing on the Federal President's behalf merely those tasks that require his or her physical presence, such as the signing of documents.
Bundesrat of Germany
The German Bundesrat is a legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder of Germany at the federal level...
(Federal Council). The presidency of the Bundesrat rotates among the heads of government (most of them holding the title minister-president
Minister-President
A minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers...
) of each of the states
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
(in German, Länder) on an annual basis. As well as acting as a chairperson the President of the Bundesrat acts in place of the President of Germany
President of Germany
The President of the Federal Republic of Germany is the country's head of state. His official title in German is Bundespräsident . Germany has a parliamentary system of government and so the position of President is largely ceremonial...
in the latter's absence.
The President of the Bundesrat convenes and chairs plenary sessions of the body and is formally responsible for representing the Federal Republic in the Bundesrat. He or she is aided by three vice-presidents who play an advisory role and deputise in the president's absence. The four together constitute the Präsidium of the Bundesrat.
Election
The President of the Bundesrat usually is elected on the 1 November in a given year, and serves until the 31 October in the year that follows. The Basic Law merely provides, in Article 52.1, that "the Bundesrat elects its President for one year". However, in practice the position rotates among all Länder equally, in accordance with a predetermined order. The order in which the position rotates from one Land to another is altered periodically and is determined by population, the presidency descending in order from the most populous states to the least.If the head of government of a Land changes during the term of the President of the Bundesrat then the presidency passes to the new minister-president for the remainder of its one year duration. This occurred in April 1999 when Roland Koch
Roland Koch
Roland Koch is a German jurist and former conservative politician. He was Minister-President of Hesse from April 7, 1999, immediately becoming President of the Bundesrat, completing the term begun by his predecessor as Minister President, Hans Eichel, until his resignation on August 31, 2010...
replaced Hans Eichel
Hans Eichel
Hans Eichel , German politician , was Minister of Finance from 1999-2005.-Background:He was brought up in Kassel where he did his Abitur in 1961. He then completed a degree in German, philosophy, political science, history and education at the universities of Marburg and Berlin, graduating in 1970...
as minister-president of Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
. The current order of rotation of the presidency of the Bundesrat is as follows:
- North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
- BavariaBavariaBavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
- Baden-WürttembergBaden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
- Lower SaxonyLower SaxonyLower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
- HesseHesseHesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
- SaxonySaxonyThe Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
- Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-PalatinateRhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
- BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
- Saxony-AnhaltSaxony-AnhaltSaxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
- ThuringiaThuringiaThe Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
- BrandenburgBrandenburgBrandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
- Schleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
- HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
- SaarlandSaarlandSaarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
- BremenBremen (state)The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is the smallest of Germany's 16 states. A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen .-Geography:...
Deputy to the Federal President
Article 57 of the Basic Law provides that:- If the Federal President is unable to perform his duties, or if his office falls prematurely vacant, the President of the Bundesrat shall exercise his powers.
If the Federal President is outside of the country, or the position is vacant, the President of the Bundesrat fills in as acting head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
. While doing so he or she does not continue to exercise the role of chair of the Bundesrat. If the president dies, or is removed from office, a successor is elected within thirty days. This has occurred once, when Jens Böhrnsen
Jens Böhrnsen
Jens Böhrnsen is a German politician of the SPD. Since 2005, he has served as the President of the Senate and Mayor of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, that is, the head of government of the city-state of Bremen...
acted as president after the resignation of Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler
Horst Köhler is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union. He was President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the CDU and the CSU, and the liberal FDP, Köhler was elected to his first five-year term by the Federal Assembly on...
in June 2010.
If the Federal President is abroad on a state visit the President of the Bundesrat does not assume all of the Federal President's responsibilities but may "deputise" for him or her, performing on the Federal President's behalf merely those tasks that require his or her physical presence, such as the signing of documents.
List of presidents
- 1949-1950 Karl Arnold, North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
, CDU - 1950-1951 Hans EhardHans EhardHans Ehard was a German lawyer and politician, a member of the Christian Social Union party.-Life:...
, BavariaBavariaBavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, CSU - 1951-1952 Hinrich Wilhelm KopfHinrich Wilhelm Kopfthumb|right|Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf 1948Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf was a German politician, who served as Prime Minister of Lower Saxony from 1946 to 1955 and from 1959 to 1961...
, Lower SaxonyLower SaxonyLower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
, Social Democratic PartySocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
SPD - 1952-1953 Reinhold MaierReinhold MaierReinhold Maier was a German politician and the leader of the FDP from 1957–1960.Maier was born in Schorndorf. In the Weimar Republic Maier was a member of the German Democratic Party...
, Baden-WürttembergBaden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, FDPFree Democratic Party (Germany)The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... - 1953-1954 Georg August ZinnGeorg August ZinnGeorg August Zinn was German lawyer and a politician of the . He was Minister-President of Hesse and a member of the Bundestag . He was born and died in Frankfurt am Main....
, HesseHesseHesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, SPD - 1954-1955 Peter AltmeierPeter AltmeierPeter Altmeier was a German politician . From 1947 to 1969 he was the Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate. He was born in Saarbrücken and died in Koblenz. He was the longest governing German Ministers-Presidents in one single state - longest at all was Bernhard Vogel.- External links :* * *...
, Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-PalatinateRhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, CDU - 1955-1956 Kai-Uwe von HasselKai-Uwe von HasselKai-Uwe von Hassel was a German politician from Schleswig-Holstein associated with the CDU party.Von Hassel was born in Gare, German East Africa ....
, Schleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
, CDU - 1956-1957 Kurt SievekingKurt Sieveking-External links:...
, HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, CDU - 1957-1958 Willy BrandtWilly BrandtWilly Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm , was a German politician, Mayor of West Berlin 1957–1966, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1964–1987....
, Berlin, SPD - 1958-1959 Wilhelm KaisenWilhelm KaisenCarl Wilhelm Kaisen was a German politician from the Social Democratic Party of Germany . Between 1945 and 1965 he was mayor of the city Bremen which also made him the head of the state of Bremen....
, BremenBremen (state)The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is the smallest of Germany's 16 states. A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen .-Geography:...
, SPD - 1959-1960 Franz Josef Röder, SaarlandSaarlandSaarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
, CDU - 1960-1961 Franz MeyersFranz MeyersFranz Meyers was a German politician and Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia . He was born and died in Mönchengladbach.- External links :...
, North Rhine-Westphalia, CDU - 1961-1962 Hans EhardHans EhardHans Ehard was a German lawyer and politician, a member of the Christian Social Union party.-Life:...
, Bavaria, CSU - 1962-1963 Kurt Georg KiesingerKurt Georg KiesingerKurt Georg Kiesinger was a German politician affiliated with the CDU and Chancellor of West Germany from 1 December 1966 until 21 October 1969.-Early career and wartime activities:...
, Baden-Württemberg, CDU - 1963-1964 Georg DiederichsGeorg DiederichsGeorg Diederichs was a German politician, a member of the SPD, who served as Prime Minister of Lower Saxony.He was born at Northeim and died in Hanover....
, Lower Saxony, SPD - 1964-1965 Georg August ZinnGeorg August ZinnGeorg August Zinn was German lawyer and a politician of the . He was Minister-President of Hesse and a member of the Bundestag . He was born and died in Frankfurt am Main....
, Hesse, SPD - 1965-1966 Peter AltmeierPeter AltmeierPeter Altmeier was a German politician . From 1947 to 1969 he was the Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate. He was born in Saarbrücken and died in Koblenz. He was the longest governing German Ministers-Presidents in one single state - longest at all was Bernhard Vogel.- External links :* * *...
, Rhineland-Palatinate, CDU - 1966-1967 Helmut LemkeHelmut LemkeHelmut Lemke was a German politician and Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein . He was born in Kiel and died in Lübeck.- External links :...
, Schleswig-Holstein, CDU - 1967-1968 Klaus SchützKlaus SchützKlaus Schütz is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party .-Biography:He was Mayor of West Berlin from 1967 to 1977, serving as President of the Bundesrat in 1967/68. After his resignation he worked as German Ambassador to Israel until 1981 and Director General of the Deutsche Welle...
, Berlin, SPD - 1968-1969 Herbert WeichmannHerbert WeichmannHerbert Weichmann was a German lawyer and politician and First Mayor of Hamburg . In his position as mayor of Hamburg, he served as President of the Bundesrat .-Life:Weichmann was born in Landsberg, Upper Silesia, then part of the German Reich, to a Jewish family of physicians...
, Hamburg, SPD - 1969-1970 Franz Josef Röder, Saarland, CDU
- 1970-1971 Hans KoschnickHans KoschnickHans Koschnick is a German politician and elder statesman. He was the President of the Senate and Mayor of the German city-state of Bremen from 1967 to 1985 and afterwards served as a member of the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, from 1987 to 1998.Between 1994 and 1996, Koschnick was...
, Bremen, SPD - 1971-1972 Heinz KühnHeinz KühnHeinz Kühn was a German politician and Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia . He was born in Cologne.- External links :*...
, North Rhine-Westphalia, SPD - 1972-1973 Alfons GoppelAlfons GoppelAlfons Goppel was a German politician of the CSU party and Prime Minister of Bavaria .-Life:...
, Bavaria, CSU - 1973-1974 Hans FilbingerHans FilbingerHans Karl Filbinger was a conservative German politician and a leading member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union in the 1960s and 1970s, serving as the first chairman of the CDU Baden-Württemberg and vice chairman of the federal CDU...
, Baden-Württemberg, CDU - 1974-1975 Alfred KubelAlfred KubelAlfred Kubel was a German politician; in his later career, he was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.In 1928, after attending Middle School, Kubel became an industrial clerk...
, Lower Saxony, SPD - 1975-1976 Albert OsswaldAlbert OsswaldAlbert Osswald was a German politician . He served as minister-president of the federal state of Hesse from 1969 to 1976.- Biography :...
, Hesse, SPD - 1976-1977 Bernhard Vogel, Rhineland-Palatinate, CDU
- 1977-1978 Gerhard StoltenbergGerhard StoltenbergGerhard Stoltenberg was a German politician and minister in the cabinets of Ludwig Erhard, Kurt Georg Kiesinger and Helmut Kohl. He served as minister-president of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein from 1971 to 1982 and as such as President of the Bundesrat in 1977/78.-Life:Stoltenberg was...
, Schleswig-Holstein, CDU - 1978-1979 Dietrich StobbeDietrich StobbeDietrich Stobbe was a German politician from Weepers, East Prussia.Stobbe served as Mayor of West Berlin from 2 May 1977 till 23 January 1981...
, Berlin, SPD - 1979-1980 Hans-Ulrich KloseHans-Ulrich KloseHans-Ulrich Klose is a German politician from the Social Democratic Party and is now as of 2007 member of the German Federal Diet...
, Hamburg, SPD - 1980-1981 Werner Zeyer, Saarland, CDU
- 1981-1982 Hans KoschnickHans KoschnickHans Koschnick is a German politician and elder statesman. He was the President of the Senate and Mayor of the German city-state of Bremen from 1967 to 1985 and afterwards served as a member of the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, from 1987 to 1998.Between 1994 and 1996, Koschnick was...
, Bremen, SPD - 1982-1983 Johannes RauJohannes RauJohannes Rau was a German politician of the SPD. He was President of Germany from 1 July 1999 until 30 June 2004, and Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1978 to 1998.-Education and work:...
, North Rhine-Westphalia, SPD - 1983-1984 Franz Josef StraußFranz Josef StraußFranz Josef Strauss was a German politician. He was the leader of the Christian Social Union, member of the federal cabinet in different positions and long-time minister-president of the state of Bavaria....
, Bavaria, CSU - 1984-1985 Lothar SpäthLothar SpäthLothar Späth is a German politician of the CDU.From 30 August 1978 to 13 January 1991 he was minister-president of Baden-Württemberg and chairman of the CDU Baden-Württemberg, serving as President of the Bundesrat in 1984/85.Later on he worked for Jenoptik AG until 2003...
, Baden-Württemberg, CDU - 1985-1986 Ernst Albrecht, Lower Saxony, CDU
- 1986-1987 Holger BörnerHolger BörnerHolger Börner was a German politician of the SPD.He was Minister-President of Hesse from 1976 until 1987. In this position, he served as President of the Bundesrat in 1986/87, but only served until the Landtag elections of 24 April 1987.In 1984, he and his SPD lost the majority in the Hesse Landtag...
, Hesse, SPD - 1987-1987 Walter WallmannWalter WallmannWalter Wallmann is a German politician who has served as Lord Mayor of Frankfurt .Between 1986 and 1987 he was the first Federal Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety...
, Hesse, CDU - 1987-1988 Bernhard Vogel, Rhineland-Palatinate, CDU
- 1988-1989 Björn EngholmBjörn EngholmBjörn Engholm is a Lübeck born German SPD politician. He was Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein from 1988 to 1993 and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany between 1991 and 1993....
, Schleswig-Holstein, SPD - 1989-1990 Walter MomperWalter MomperWalter Momper is a German politician and former Mayor of West Berlin 1989–1990 and Berlin 1990-1991. Whilst Governing Mayor, he served as President of the Bundesrat in 1989/90...
, Berlin, SPD - 1990-1991 Henning VoscherauHenning VoscherauHenning Voscherau is a German notary and Social Democratic politician. He was the First Mayor of his home city from 1988 to 1997, serving as President of the Bundesrat in 1990 – 91.-Education:...
, Hamburg, SPD - 1991-1992 Alfred GomolkaAlfred GomolkaAlfred Gomolka is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He was a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany, part of the European People's Party from 1994 to 2008...
, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, CDU - 1992-1992 Berndt Seite, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, CDU
- 1992-1993 Oskar LafontaineOskar LafontaineOskar Lafontaine is a German politician, former German finance minister, former chairman of the Social Democratic Party and former Minister-President of the state of Saarland. Since 2007 he was co-chairman of The Left...
, Saarland, SPD - 1993-1994 Klaus WedemeierKlaus WedemeierKlaus Wedemeier is a German politician and was President of the Senate and Mayor of Bremen .-References:...
, Bremen, SPD - 1994-1995 Johannes RauJohannes RauJohannes Rau was a German politician of the SPD. He was President of Germany from 1 July 1999 until 30 June 2004, and Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1978 to 1998.-Education and work:...
, North Rhine-Westphalia, SPD - 1995-1996 Edmund StoiberEdmund StoiberEdmund Rüdiger Stoiber is a German politician, former minister-president of the state of Bavaria and former chairman of the Christian Social Union...
, Bavaria, CSU - 1996-1997 Erwin TeufelErwin TeufelErwin Teufel is a German politician of the CDU. Teufel was the leader of the CDU parliamentary faction in the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg from 1978 to 1991. He was minister-president of Baden-Württemberg and chairman of the CDU state party group from 1991 to 2005, serving as President...
, Baden-Württemberg, CDU - 1997-1998 Gerhard SchröderGerhard SchröderGerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder is a German politician, and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor...
, Lower Saxony, SPD - 1998-1999 Hans EichelHans EichelHans Eichel , German politician , was Minister of Finance from 1999-2005.-Background:He was brought up in Kassel where he did his Abitur in 1961. He then completed a degree in German, philosophy, political science, history and education at the universities of Marburg and Berlin, graduating in 1970...
, Hesse, SPD - 1999-1999 Roland KochRoland KochRoland Koch is a German jurist and former conservative politician. He was Minister-President of Hesse from April 7, 1999, immediately becoming President of the Bundesrat, completing the term begun by his predecessor as Minister President, Hans Eichel, until his resignation on August 31, 2010...
, Hesse, CDU - 1999-2000 Kurt BiedenkopfKurt BiedenkopfKurt Hans Biedenkopf is a German politician. He was Ministerpräsident of the Free State of Saxony from 1990 until 2002, as such serving as President of the Bundesrat in 1999/2000.- Biography :...
, SaxonySaxonyThe Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
, CDU - 2000-2001 Kurt BeckKurt BeckKurt Beck is a German politician , serving as the Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate since 1994 and as President of the Bundesrat in 2000/01. On May 14, 2006, he succeeded Matthias Platzeck as Chairman of the German Social Democratic Party...
, Rhineland-Palatinate, SPD - 2001-2002 Klaus WowereitKlaus WowereitKlaus Wowereit is a German politician, member of the SPD , and has been the Mayor of Berlin since the 2001 state elections, where his party won a plurality of the votes, 29.7%. He served as President of the Bundesrat in 2001/02. His SPD-led coalition was re-elected in the 2006 elections...
, Berlin, SPD - 2002-2003 Wolfgang BöhmerWolfgang BöhmerProf. Dr. Wolfgang Böhmer is a German politician and former Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt from 16 May 2002 to 19 April 2011. He served as President of the Bundesrat in 2002/03....
, Saxony-AnhaltSaxony-AnhaltSaxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
, CDU - 2003-2004 Dieter AlthausDieter AlthausDieter Althaus is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union .Althaus was teaching Physics and Mathematics at the Polytechnic Secondary School in Geismar, Thuringia, from 1983 to 1989, where he became deputy headteacher in 1987.Since 1985 Althaus has been a member of the CDU, remaining...
, ThuringiaThuringiaThe Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
, CDU - 2004-2005 Matthias PlatzeckMatthias PlatzeckMatthias Platzeck is a German politician. He has been Minister-President of Brandenburg since 2002 and party chairman of the SPD from November 2005 to April 2006.-Private life:...
, BrandenburgBrandenburgBrandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
, SPD - 2005-2006 Peter Harry CarstensenPeter Harry CarstensenPeter Harry Carstensen is a German politician, in the Christian Democratic Union party.Since 2005 he has been Minister President of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, serving as President of the Bundesrat in 2005/06....
, Schleswig-Holstein, CDU - 2006-2007 Harald RingstorffHarald RingstorffDr. Harald Ringstorff is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party and was minister-president of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He has been heading a coalition government of SPD and PDS from 1998 until 2006, and since then was heading a coalition between SPD and CDU...
, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, SPD - 2007-2008 Ole von BeustOle von BeustCarl-Friedrich Arp Ole Freiherr von Beust, generally called Ole von Beust, born April 13, 1955, in Hamburg, Germany, was First Mayor of the city-state of Hamburg from 31 October 2001 to 25 August 2010, serving as President of the Bundesrat from 1 November 2007 on for one year...
, Hamburg, CDU - 2008-2009 Peter MüllerPeter Müller (German politician)Peter Aloysius Müller is a German politician belonging to the Christian Democratic Union . From 1999 to 2011, he has held the position of Premier of the state of Saarland, serving as President of the Upper House of Germany's federal parliament, the Bundesrat from 1 November 2008 to 1 November...
, Saarland, CDU - 2009-2010 Jens BöhrnsenJens BöhrnsenJens Böhrnsen is a German politician of the SPD. Since 2005, he has served as the President of the Senate and Mayor of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, that is, the head of government of the city-state of Bremen...
, Bremen, SPD - 2010-2011 Hannelore KraftHannelore KraftHannelore Kraft is a German politician. She is the leader of the Social Democratic Party in North Rhine-Westphalia and the current Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia. Kraft is the first woman to fill this post since it was created in 1946...
, North Rhine-Westphalia, SPD - 2011-2012 Horst SeehoferHorst SeehoferHorst Lorenz Seehofer is a German politician . He was Federal Minister for Health and Social Security from 1992 to 1998 and served as Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection in the cabinet of Angela Merkel from 2005 to 2008...
, Bavaria, CSU
External links
- The Bundesrat - President and Presidium (Official Bundesrat website)
- "Präsidenten des Bundesrates seit 1949"
- Official Bundesrat website (English).