Presidium of the Bundestag

Last updated September 06, 2024

The Presidium of the Bundestag is responsible for the routine administration of the Bundestag, including its clerical and research activities. The presidium consists of the President of the Bundestag and a variable number of Vice Presidents, currently six.^[1]^[2]

Composition

The presidium is elected by the Bundestag during its first meeting after an election; by tradition, the largest faction in the Bundestag has the right to nominate a candidate for the post of president. On the first two ballots, a nominee needs a majority of all Bundestag members (Chancellor majority) in order to be elected; on the third ballot a plurality (more yes- than no-votes) is sufficient. His or her term ends with the end of the legislature, but they can be re-elected, as long as he or she is re-elected as member of the Bundestag.^[3]

Besides the president, the presidium also consists of a varying number of vice presidents, who are also elected during the first session of each legislative period. Since 1994, the Bundestag's standing rules state that the minimum number of vice presidents has to equal the number of factions and give every faction the right to nominate one vice president. Nevertheless, like the president, each vice president has to be elected by a majority of the whole house on the first two or a plurality on the third ballot; this can result (and already has) in the outcome that the actual number of sitting vice presidents does not equal the number of factions, if a faction does not succeed in naming a candidate, who is acceptable to at least the necessary majority. The Bundestag may decide to elect additional vice presidents. For example, in the 18th Bundestag (2013–2017), which only consisted of four factions, the two biggest factions (CDU/CSU and SPD) were each entitled to nominate a second vice president, as a presidium of only five persons was considered too small to fulfill its tasks.

1st Bundestag (1949−1953)

President	Period	Party
Erich Köhler Hermann Ehlers	1949−1950 1950−1953	CDU CDU
Vice President	Period	Party
Carlo Schmid Hermann Schäfer	1949−1953 1949−1953	SPD FDP

2nd Bundestag (1953−1957)

President	Period	Party
Hermann Ehlers Eugen Gerstenmaier	1953−1954 1954−1957	CDU CDU
Vice President	Period	Party
Carlo Schmid Richard Jaeger Ludwig Schneider Max Becker Ludwig Schneider	1953−1957 1953−1957 1953−1956 1956−1957 1956−1957	SPD CSU FDP FDP FVP/DP

3rd Bundestag (1957−1961)

President	Period	Party
Eugen Gerstenmaier	1957−1961	CDU
Vice President	Period	Party
Carlo Schmid Richard Jaeger Max Becker Thomas Dehler Victor-Emanuel Preusker	1957−1961 1957−1961 1957−1960 1960−1961 1958−1960	SPD CSU FDP FDP DVP/DP/CDU

4th Bundestag (1961−1965)

President	Period	Party
Eugen Gerstenmaier	1961−1965	CDU
Vice President	Period	Party
Carlo Schmid Erwin Schoettle Richard Jaeger Thomas Dehler	1961−1965 1961−1965 1961−1965 1961−1965	SPD SPD CSU FDP

5th Bundestag (1965–1969)

President	Period	Party
Eugen Gerstenmaier Kai-Uwe von Hassel	1965−1969 1969	CDU CDU
Vice President	Period	Party
Carlo Schmid Karl Momper Erwin Schoettle Richard Jaeger Maria Probst Thomas Dehler Walter Scheel	1965−1966 1966−1969 1965−1969 1965, 1967–1969 1965−1967 1965−1967 1967−1969	SPD SPD SPD CSU CSU FDP FDP

6th Bundestag (1969−1972)

President	Period	Party
Kai-Uwe von Hassel	1969−1972	CDU
Vice President	Period	Party
Carlo Schmid Hermann Schmitt-Vockenhausen Richard Jaeger Liselotte Funcke	1969−1972 1969−1972 1969−1972 1969−1972	SPD SPD CSU FDP

7th Bundestag (1972−1976)

President	Period	Party
Annemarie Renger	1972−1976	SPD
Vice President	Period	Party
Hermann Schmitt-Vockenhausen Kai-Uwe von Hassel Richard Jaeger Liselotte Funcke	1972−1976 1972−1976 1972−1976 1972−1976	SPD CDU CSU FDP

8th Bundestag (1976−1980)

President	Period	Party
Karl Carstens Richard Stücklen	1976−1979 1979−1980	CDU CSU
Vice President	Period	Party
Annemarie Renger Hermann Schmitt-Vockenhausen Georg Leber Richard Stücklen Richard von Weizsäcker Liselotte Funcke Richard Wurbs	1976−1980 1976−1979 1979−1980 1976−1979 1979−1980 1976−1979 1979−1980	SPD SPD SPD CSU CDU FDP FDP

9th Bundestag (1980−1983)

President	Period	Party
Richard Stücklen	1980−1983	CSU
Vice President	Period	Party
Annemarie Renger Georg Leber Richard von Weizsäcker Heinrich Windelen Richard Wurbs	1980−1983 1980−1983 1980−1981 1981−1983 1980−1983	SPD SPD CDU CDU FDP

10th Bundestag (1983−1987)

President	Period	Party
Rainer Barzel Philipp Jenninger	1983−1984 1984−1987	CDU CDU
Vice President	Period	Party
Annemarie Renger Heinz Westphal Richard Stücklen Richard Wurbs Dieter-Julius Cronenberg	1983−1987 1983−1987 1983−1987 1983−1984 1984−1987	SPD SPD CSU FDP FDP

11th Bundestag (1987−1990)

President	Period	Party
Philipp Jenninger Rita Süssmuth	1987−1988 1988−1990	CDU CDU
Vice President	Period	Party
Annemarie Renger Heinz Westphal Richard Stücklen Dieter-Julius Cronenberg	1987−1990 1987−1990 1987−1990 1987−1990	SPD SPD CSU FDP

12th Bundestag (1990−1994)

President	Period	Party
Rita Süssmuth	1990−1994	CDU
Vice President	Period	Party
Helmut Becker Renate Schmidt Hans Klein Dieter-Julius Cronenberg	1990−1994 1990−1994 1990−1994 1990−1994	SPD SPD CSU FDP

13th Bundestag (1994−1998)

President	Period	Party
Rita Süssmuth	1994−1998	CDU
Vice President	Period	Party
Hans-Ulrich Klose Hans Klein Michaela Geiger Burkhard Hirsch Antje Vollmer	1994−1998 1994−1996 1997−1998 1994−1998 1995−1998	SPD CSU CSU FDP Alliance 90/The Greens

Hans Klein died on 26 November 1996. On 16 January 1997, Michaela Geiger was elected to the vacant post.

14th Bundestag (1998−2002)

President	Period	Party
Wolfgang Thierse	1998−2002	SPD
Vice President	Period	Party
Anke Fuchs Rudolf Seiters Hermann Otto Solms Antje Vollmer Petra Bläss	1998−2002 1998−2002 1998−2002 1998−2002 1998−2002	SPD CDU FDP Alliance 90/The Greens PDS

15th Bundestag (2002−2005)

President	Period	Party
Wolfgang Thierse	2002−2005	SPD
Vice President	Period	Party
Suzanne Kastner Norbert Lammert Hermann Otto Solms Antje Vollmer	2002−2005 2002−2005 2002−2005 2002−2005	SPD CDU/CSU FDP Alliance 90/The Greens

16th Bundestag (2005−2009)

President	Period	Party
Norbert Lammert	2005−2009	CDU
Vice President	Period	Party
Suzanne Kastner Wolfgang Thierse Gerda Hasselfeldt Hermann Otto Solms Katrin Göring-Eckardt Petra Pau	2005−2009 2005−2009 2005−2009 2005−2009 2005−2009 2006−2009	SPD SPD CSU FDP Alliance 90/The Greens The Left

17th Bundestag (2009−2013)

President	Period	Party
Norbert Lammert	2009−2013	CDU
Vice President	Period	Party
Gerda Hasselfeldt Eduard Oswald Wolfgang Thierse Hermann Otto Solms Katrin Göring-Eckardt Petra Pau	2009−2011 2011−2013 2009−2013 2009−2013 2009−2013 2009−2013	CSU CSU SPD FDP Alliance 90/The Greens The Left

18th Bundestag (2013−2017)

President	Period	Party
Norbert Lammert	2013−2017	CDU
Vice President	Period	Party
Johannes Singhammer Edelgard Bulmahn Petra Pau Claudia Roth Peter Hintze Michaela Noll Ulla Schmidt	2013−2017 2013−2017 2013−2017 2013−2017 2013−2016 2017 2013−2017	CSU SPD The Left Alliance 90/The Greens CDU CDU SPD

The CDU Vice President Peter Hintze died on 26 November 2016. On 19 January 2017, Michaela Noll was elected to the vacant post.^[4]

19th Bundestag (2017–2021)

President	Period	Party
Wolfgang Schäuble	2017–2021	CDU
Vice President	Period	Party
Hans-Peter Friedrich Thomas Oppermann Dagmar Ziegler — Wolfgang Kubicki Petra Pau Claudia Roth	2017–2021 2017–2020 2020–2021 2017–2021 2017–2021 2017–2021 2017–2021	CSU SPD SPD AfD FDP The Left Alliance 90/The Greens

The SPD's Vice President Thomas Oppermann died on 25 October 2020, Dagmar Ziegler was elected to the vacant post.

The AfD was represented in the 19th Bundestag with group status and had the right to nominate a vice president. However, in 18 election rounds during the entire legislative period, none of the six proposed candidates achieved the necessary majority.

20th Bundestag (2021–)

President	Period	Party
Bärbel Bas	2021–	SPD
Vice President	Period	Party
Aydan Özoğuz Yvonne Magwas Claudia Roth Katrin Göring-Eckardt Wolfgang Kubicki — Petra Pau	2021– 2021– 2021 2021– 2021– 2021– 2021–	SPD CDU Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens FDP AfD The Left

Claudia Roth resigned her post as vice president on 8 December 2021 upon entering office as State Minister and Federal Commissioner. Katrin Göring-Eckardt, who already had served as vice president in the 16th and 17th Bundestag, was elected to the post one day later, on 9 December 2021.

The AfD is represented in the 20th Bundestag with group status and has the right to nominate a vice president. However, as of summer 2024, none of the 30+ proposed candidates has achieved the necessary majority.

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References

↑ "The Presidium of the German Bundestag". bundestag.de. Deutscher Bundestag. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
↑ "Functions and duties of the President and Presidium of the German Bundestag". bundestag.de. Deutscher Bundestag. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
↑ "Election of the Presidium". bundestag.de. Deutscher Bundestag. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
↑ "Michaela Noll neue Vizepräsidentin im Bundestag". cdu.de (in German). CDU. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2020.

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[1] "The Presidium of the German Bundestag". bundestag.de. Deutscher Bundestag. Retrieved 22 February 2020.

[2] "Functions and duties of the President and Presidium of the German Bundestag". bundestag.de. Deutscher Bundestag. Retrieved 22 February 2020.

[3] "Election of the Presidium". bundestag.de. Deutscher Bundestag. Retrieved 22 February 2020.

[4] "Michaela Noll neue Vizepräsidentin im Bundestag". cdu.de (in German). CDU. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2020.

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