Presidents of the German Bundestag

German Presidents of the Bundestag

As President of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany, the President of the German Bundestag, also known as President of the Bundestag or President of the Bundestag, holds the second highest state office after the Federal President, and in state protocol is ahead of the Federal Chancellor, the President of the Bundesrat and the President of the Federal Constitutional Court. At the same time, the President of the Bundestag is also the President of the Federal Assembly.

Election of the President:

The President of the Bundestag is elected after the Bundestag elections in the constitutive session of the Bundestag by all members of parliament from among themselves. The legal basis for this is Article 40 of the Basic Law. Until the election, the meeting is chaired by the past president. Even if there is no legal provision, practice since the Weimar Republic has shown that the parliamentary group with the most MPs nominates the President of the Bundestag.

The term of office of the President of the Bundestag ends with the respective legislative period. The President of the Bundestag can be re-elected if the incumbent becomes a member of the new Bundestag.

With the 13th electoral term in 1994, the minimum number of vice-presidents was changed so that each parliamentary group must be represented by at least one vice-president. As late as 1983, an attempt by the Greens to increase the number of vice-presidents from the previous 4 to 5 in order to be represented by a vice-president on the executive committee failed.
From 1998 to 2002 there were 5 vice-presidents, in the 16th electoral term (2005-2009) even 6 vice-presidents were elected - SPD and CDU/CSU had pushed through two vice-presidents for the SPD against the votes of the FDP, Greens and Left Party.

Duties of the President:

He fulfills his most important task, the chairing of the Bundestag sessions, by taking a seat on the podium in the plenary hall of the Bundestag and thus sitting opposite all other members of parliament. All bills and bills submitted by the Federal Government, the Bundesrat or the Bundestag are addressed to him. He also receives all submissions that come from the ranks of Parliament or are addressed to the Bundestag.
He also receives the statements of accounts of the political parties, monitors compliance with party donation laws and regulates the reimbursement of campaign costs.

The President is entitled to domiciliary rights and police powers; other rights and duties are regulated in the Rules of Procedure.

Members of the Bureau:

Ludwig Schneider (1953-1956) 1957 - 1961 Richard Jager (1960-1961) (1958-1960) - 1965 Eugene Gerstenmaier - Carlo Schmid (1965-1966) (1969) -/- - Hermann Schmitt-Vockenhausen (CSU) - Annemarie Renger Hermann Schmitt-Vockenhausen -/- 1976 1980 Annemarie Renger Hermann Schmitt-Vockenhausen Georg Leber (1979-1980) (1976-1979) (1976-1979) Richard Stuecklen Richard von Weizsacker (1980-1981) Heinrich Windelen (1981-1983) -/- Annemarie Renger Heinz Westphal (1984-1987) Richard Stuecklen Dieter Julius Cronenberg -/- Richard Stuecklen (CSU) -/- Rita Süssmuth Hans Klein -/- 1998 Hans Klein Michaela Geiger -/- - Rudolf Seiters Hermann Otto Solms Norbert Lammert Antje Vollmer -/- -/- 2005 - 2009 Katrin Goering-Eckardt Petra Pau - 2013 Norbert Lammert Hermann Otto Solms respective President in

Legislative period	SPD	CDU/CSU	Free Democratic Party	Alliance 90/ The Greens	PDS/ The Left	FVP/DP
1949 - 1953	Carlo Schmid	Erich Koehler (1949-1950) Hermann Ehlers (1950-1953)	Herman Schaefer	-/-	-/-	-/-
1953 - 1957	Carlo Schmid	Hermann Ehlers (1953-1954) Eugene Gerstenmaier (1954-1957) Richard Jager (CSU)	Max Becker (1956-1957) -/-	-/-	Ludwig Schneider (1956-1957)
Carlo Schmid	Eugene Gerstenmaier	(CSU) Victor Emanuel Preusker (1956-1957) Max Becker (1957-1960) Thomas Dehler	-/- -/-	Victor Emanuel Preusker		1961
Carlo Schmid Erwin Schoettle	Richard Jager (CSU)	Thomas Dehler -/- -/-	-/-		1965	1969
Karl Mommer (1966-1969) Erwin Schoettle	Eugene Gerstenmaier (1965-1969) Kai-Uwe von Hassel	Maria Probst (CSU, 1965-1967) Richard Jager (CSU, 1967-1969) Thomas Dehler (1965-1967) Walter Scheel (1967-1969) -/-	-/-	1969	1972	Carlo Schmid
Kai-Uwe von Hassel Richard Jager	Liselotte Funcke	-/- -/- -/-		1972	1976
Kai-Uwe von Hassel Richard Jager (CSU)	Liselotte Funcke -/-	-/-		-		(1976-1979)
Karl Carstens	Richard Stuecklen (1979-1980) Richard Stuecklen	Richard von Weizsacker (1979-1980) Liselotte Funcke (1976-1979) Richard Wurbs (1979-1980) -/- -/- -/-	1980 - 1983	Annemarie Renger Georg Leber
Richard Wurbs -/-	-/-	1983 - 1987		Rainer Barzel	(1983-1984)	Philip Jenninger
(CSU) Richard Wurbs (1983-1984)	(1984-1987)	-/- -/- 1987 - 1990	Annemarie Renger Heinz Westphal Philip Jenninger	(1987-1988)	Rita Süssmuth	(1988-1990)
Dieter Julius Cronenberg -/-	-/-	1990 - 1994 Helmut Becker Renate Schmidt		(CSU)	Dieter Julius Cronenberg	-/-
-/-	1994 -	Hans-Ulrich Klose Rita Süssmuth	(CSU, 1994-1996)	(CSU, 1997-1998)	Burkhard Hirsch	Antje Vollmer
-/-	1998	2002 Wolfgang Thierse Anke Fox		Antje Vollmer	-/-	-/-
2002 - 2005	Wolfgang Thierse Susanne Kastner	Hermann Otto Solms
Wolfgang Thierse Susanne Kastner	Norbert Lammert Gerda Hasselfeldt (CSU) Hermann Otto Solms		(2006-2009)	-/-		2009
Wolfgang Thierse	Gerda Hasselfeldt (CSU)	Katrin Goering-Eckardt Petra Pau -/-		*	fatter Font