The Federal Convention ( ), is a non-permanent constitutional body in the institutional framework of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is convened solely for the purpose of electing the President of Germany and has no other function.
The Federal Convention consists of all members of the federal parliament (Bundestag) and the same number of state electors, who are allocated proportionally to the sixteen German states on the basis of the number of inhabitants eligible to vote on federal level. Those state delegations are elected by the state parliaments ad hoc.
Convening the Federal Convention Each Federal Convention is convened by the incumbent president of the Bundestag in due course. Normally, this takes place during the last months of a sitting president's current term of office. However, the Convention must convene no later than thirty days before the end of the term, with the state parliaments needing sufficient time between the announcement and the meeting to elect the state delegations. The state electors are elected by the state parliaments through a list voting system. In practice, this means that the composition of the state delegations is proportional to the distribution of seats in the respective state parliaments. However, since the list voting must be conducted by secret ballot, deviations may (and sometimes do) occur.
If the term of office of a president ends prematurely through resignation, death or impeachment, the Federal Convention must meet within thirty days. This has happened two times so far (2010, Resigantion of Horst Köhler, and 2012, resignation of Christian Wulff). Heinrich Lübke's resignation (1968/69) is a special case: he announced in October 1968 that he would resign with effect from June 30, 1969, in order to enable the Federal Convention to be held before the start of the Bundestag election campaign in the fall of that year. Since the resignation was announced about nine months in advance, the Federal Convention could be held as usual before the (early) end of his term of office.
Procedure The President of the Bundestag chairs the Federal Convention ex officio. At the start of the session, the President usually delivers a short address. The Federal Convention must then decide standing rules. In theory, the Federal Convention is a constitutional body of it's own and has an absolute power of self organisation. In practice however, at every Federal Convention to date, it has been decided that the current version of the Bundestag’s rules of procedure shall be applied by analogy. This is immediatly followed by the election, for which every member of the Convention may propose candidates; however, nominations require the consent of the nominee in order to be accepted. In the first two rounds of voting, an absolute majority of all members of the Federal Convention is required for a successful election. From the third round onwards, a plurality of votes is sufficient. Before each ballot, nominees may withdraw their candidacy or new candidates may be proposed. If a person has been elected in accordance with these rules, they have two days to accept the election; otherwise, it is deemed to have been rejected. In the latter case, too, further ballots would have to take place. Once an elected candidate accepts the election, the Federal Convention is dissolved.
The new president takes office, after the term of his predecessor has ended. Only in the case of a vacancy (e.g. after the resignation of the predecessor, as happened in 2010 and 2012), the elected person takes office immediately upon acceptance of the election. Irrespective of this, a newly elected president does not take the oath of office before the Federal Convention, but after taking office in a joint session of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.
Membership The Federal Convention includes the entire membership of the Bundestag, and an equal number of state electors; the total number of state electors is distributed onto the 16 german states in proportion to their population (with regard only to citizens who are eligible to vote on federal level).
These delegetionas are elected by the state parliaments.German Bundestag - Election of the Federal President, retrieved 2024-11-15 According to federal law, every member of a state parliament has one vote. The delegates are elected with lists and proportional vote. Some details are dealt with by the standing orders of the state parliament. In many state parliaments, the members vote on a joint list that mirrors the strengths of the parliamentary groups.
A delegate for the Federal Convention must meet one certain standard: they must also be eligible for a candidacy for the Bundestag. The parliamentary groups sometimes elect delegates who are not politicians. For example, they choose artists, sports persons or other celebrities, or occasionally an ordinary citizen with an unusual story. Examples from 2017 are Joachim Löw, the coach of the national football team, for the Green Party in Baden-Württemberg and , Germany's most famous drag queen, for the Green Party in Lower Saxony. , daughter of a NSU terror victim, was elected by Die Linke in Thuringia.Der Tagesspielge: Diese Promis wählen den neuen Bundespräsidenten, 12 February 2017, last seen on 29 October 2020.
History
Since the founding of the Federal Republic in 1949, the Federal Convention has been convened 17 times. The 18th Federal Convention will convene on 30 January 2027. Since 1979, the Federal Convention has traditionally met on 23 May, the anniversary of the Basic Law (1949). This has changed since the resignations of presidents Horst Koehler and Christian Wulff.
Election Date Site Ballots Winner(endorsing parties) Electoral votes(percentage) Runner-up(endorsing parties) Electoral votes(percentage) 1st Federal Convention 12 September 1949 Bonn 2 Theodor Heuss(FDP, CDU, CSU) 416 (51.7%) Kurt Schumacher(SPD) 312 (38.8%) 2nd Federal Convention 17 July 1954 West Berlin 1 Theodor Heuss(FDP, CDU, CSU, SPD) 871 (85.6%) Alfred Weber(KPD) 12 (1.2%) 3rd Federal Convention 1 July 1959 West Berlin 2 Heinrich Lübke(CDU, CSU) 526 (50.7%) Carlo Schmid(SPD) 386 (37.2%) 4th Federal Convention 1 July 1964 West Berlin 1 Heinrich Lübke(CDU, CSU, SPD) 710 (68.1%) Ewald Bucher(FDP) 123 (11.8%) 5th Federal Convention 5 March 1969 West Berlin 3 Gustav Heinemann(SPD, FDP) 512 (49.4%) Gerhard Schröder(CDU, CSU, NPD) 506 (48.8%) 6th Federal Convention 15 May 1974 Bonn 1 Walter Scheel(FDP, SPD) 530 (51.2%) Richard von Weizsäcker(CDU, CSU) 498 (48.1%) 7th Federal Convention 23 May 1979 Bonn 1 Karl Carstens(CDU, CSU) 528 (51%) Annemarie Renger(SPD) 431 (41.6%) 8th Federal Convention 23 May 1984 Bonn 1 Richard von Weizsäcker(CDU, CSU, FDP, SPD) 832 (80%) Luise Rinser(Greens) 68 (6.5%) 9th Federal Convention 23 May 1989 Bonn 1 Richard von Weizsäcker(CDU, CSU, FDP, SPD) 881 (84.9%) None 108 (10.4%) no-votes 10th Federal Convention 23 May 1994 Berlin 3 Roman Herzog(CDU, CSU) 696 (52.6%) Johannes Rau(SPD) 605 (45.7%) 11th Federal Convention 23 May 1999 Berlin 2 Johannes Rau(SPD, Greens) 690 (51.6%) Dagmar Schipanski(CDU, CSU) 572 (42.8%) 12th Federal Convention 23 May 2004 Berlin 1 Horst Köhler(CDU, CSU, FDP) 604 (50.1%) Gesine Schwan(SPD, Greens) 589 (48.9%) 13th Federal Convention 23 May 2009 Berlin 1 Horst Köhler(CDU, CSU, FDP, FW) 613 (50.1%) Gesine Schwan(SPD, Greens) 503 (41.1%) 14th Federal Convention 30 June 2010 Berlin 3 Christian Wulff(CDU, CSU, FDP) 625 (50.2%) Joachim Gauck(SPD, Greens) 494 (39.7%) 15th Federal Convention 18 March 2012 Berlin 1 Joachim Gauck(CDU, CSU, FDP, SPD, Greens, Free Voters, SSW) 991 (79.9%) Beate Klarsfeld(The Left) 126 (10.2%) 16th Federal Convention 12 February 2017 Berlin 1 Frank-Walter Steinmeier(SPD, CDU, CSU, Greens, FDP, SSW) 931 (74.3%) Christoph Butterwegge(The Left) 128 (10.2%) 17th Federal Convention 13 February 2022 Berlin 1 Frank-Walter Steinmeier(SPD, Greens, FDP, CDU, CSU, SSW) 1045 (72.7%) Max Otte(AfD) 140 (9.74%) 18th Federal Convention 30 January 2027 Berlin
Venue On 12 September 1949, the first Federal Convention met in Bonn, which served as the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany before reunification with East Germany. From 1954 to 1969 the Federal Convention was convened at the Ostpreußenhalle in Berlin, leading to protests from the German Democratic Republic on each occasion it met. As a consequence, on 5 March 1969, the Soviet Union sent MiG-21 warplanes to fly over the venue in West Berlin. From 1974 to 1989, the Federal Convention met in the Beethovenhalle in Bonn. Since 1994, the meeting place has been the Reichstag building in Berlin. After the renovation of the Reichstag, the German Bundestag moved to the building in April 1999. Since the meeting of the Federal Convention held in May 1999, the body has convened in the plenary chamber at the Reichstag building, except that the 2022 Federal Convention took place at the Paul-Löbe-Haus in Berlin, with delegates spread over several floors, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
See also Politics of Germany Federalism in Germany Federal Assembly of Austria Federal Assembly of Switzerland
Notes
References
External links Distribution of seats in the Bundesversammlung Election of the Federal President Article 54 – Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (Grundgesetz, GG) Law on the Election of the President by the Federal Assembly (German)