Lower Saxony is a German state in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area,with 47,614 km2 (18,384 sq mi),and fourth-largest in population among the 16 Länder federated as the Federal Republic of Germany. In rural areas,Northern Low Saxon and Saterland Frisian are still spoken,albeit in declining numbers.
Saxony,officially the Free State of Saxony,is a landlocked state of Germany,bordering the states of Brandenburg,Saxony-Anhalt,Thuringia,and Bavaria,as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden,and its largest city is Leipzig. Saxony is the tenth largest of Germany's sixteen states,with an area of 18,413 square kilometres (7,109 sq mi),and the sixth most populous,with more than 4 million inhabitants.
Saxony-Anhalt is a state of Germany,bordering the states of Brandenburg,Saxony,Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of 20,451.7 square kilometres (7,896.4 sq mi) and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants,making it the 8th-largest state in Germany by area and the 11th-largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Magdeburg.
The Kingdom of Saxony was a German monarchy that existed in Central Europe between 1806 to 1918. The territory of the Kingdom comprised from the former Electorate of Saxony. A member of historical confederacies,it joined the Confederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire,later joining the German Confederation after Napoleon was defeated in 1815. From 1871,it was part of the German Empire. It became a free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War I and the abdication of King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony. Its capital was the city of Dresden,and its modern successor state is the Free State of Saxony.
Christian Wilhelm Walter Wulff is a retired German politician and lawyer who served as President of Germany from 2010 to 2012. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU),he previously served as minister president of the state of Lower Saxony from 2003 to 2010. He was elected to the presidency in the 30 June 2010 presidential election,defeating opposition candidate Joachim Gauck and taking office immediately,although he was not sworn in until 2 July. With the age of 51,he became Germany's youngest president.
David James McAllister is a German politician who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union,part of the European People's Party. He is the current vice president of the European People's Party and he is also vice chairman of the International Democrat Union. He was appointed Chair of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee in February 2017.
Christian Meyer is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens who has been serving as State Minister for Environment,Energy and Climate Protection in the cabinet of Minister-President of Lower Saxony Stephan Weil since 2022.
Peer Stefan Wenzel is a German agricultural economist and politician for the Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since the 2021 elections,representing the Cuxhaven –Stade II district.
The Politics of Lower Saxony takes place within a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic,where the Federal Government of Germany exercises sovereign rights with certain powers reserved to the states of Germany including Lower Saxony. Since 1948 politics in the state has been dominated by the rightist Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the leftist Social Democratic Party. Lower Saxony was one of the origins of the German environmentalist movement in reaction to the state government's support for underground nuclear waste disposal. This led to the formation of the German Green Party in 1980.
The Lower Saxon Landtag or the Parliament of Lower Saxony is the state diet of the German state of Lower Saxony. It convenes in Hanover and currently consists of 146 members,consisting of four parties. Since 2022 the majority is a coalition of the Social Democratic Party and the Greens,supporting the cabinet of Minister-President Stephan Weil (SPD).
The Minister-President of Lower Saxony,also referred to as Premier or Prime Minister,is the head of government of the German state of Lower Saxony. The position was created in 1946,when the states of Brunswick,Oldenburg,Schaumburg-Lippe and the State of Hanover were merged to form the state of Lower Saxony. The current Minister President is Stephan Weil,heading a coalition government between the Social Democrats and the CDU. Weil succeeded David McAllister following the 2013 state election.
Stephan Weil is a German politician and the leader of the Social Democratic Party in Lower Saxony. On 20 January 2013,the SPD and the Green party won the 2013 Lower Saxony state election by one seat. On 19 February 2013,he was elected Minister President of Lower Saxony with the votes of SPD and Alliance '90/The Greens. From 1 November 2013 until 31 October 2014 he was President of the Bundesrat and ex officio deputy to the President of Germany. In November 2017,he was again elected Minister President with the votes of SPD and CDU.
Ulla Ihnen is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Lower Saxony from 2017 to 2021.
Falko Mohrs is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as State Minister for Science and Culture in the government of Lower Saxony since 2022. He previously was a member of the Bundestag from the state of Lower Saxony from 2017 to 2022.
The 2022 Lower Saxony state election was held on 9 October 2022 to elect the 19th Landtag of Lower Saxony. The incumbent government was a coalition of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) led by Minister-President Stephan Weil.
Helga Schuchardt is a German politician and engineer.
The second Weil cabinet was the state government of Lower Saxony between 2017 and 2022,sworn in on 22 November 2017 after Stephan Weil was elected as Minister-President of Lower Saxony by the members of the Landtag of Lower Saxony. It was the 29th Cabinet of Lower Saxony.
Mareike Lotte Wulf is a German politician (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since 2021. From 2017 to 2021,she was a member of the Lower Saxony state parliament.
Andreas Milan Gerhard Philippi is a German surgeon and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as State Minister of Social Affairs,Labour,Health and Equality in the government of Lower Saxony since 2023. He previously was a member of the Bundestag from the state of Lower Saxony from 2021 to 2022.
Frauke Heiligenstadt is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since 26 October 2021. She was a member of the Lower Saxony state parliament from 2003 to 2021,and Lower Saxony's Minister of Education from 2013 to 2017.
