Same-sex marriage has been legal in Germany since 1 October 2017. A bill for the legalisation of same-sex marriage passed the Bundestag on 30 June 2017 and the Bundesrat on 7 July. It was signed into law on 20 July by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and published in the Federal Law Gazette on 28 July 2017. Previously, the governing CDU/CSU had refused to legislate on the issue of same-sex marriage. In June 2017, Chancellor Angela Merkel unexpectedly said she hoped the matter would be put to a conscience vote. Consequently, other party leaders organised for a vote to be held in the last week of June during the final legislative session before summer recess. The Bundestag passed the legislation on 30 June by 393 votes to 226, and it went into force on 1 October. Germany was the first country in Central Europe, the fourteenth in Europe, and the 22nd in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry nationwide.
Federal elections were held in Germany on 24 September 2017 to elect the members of the 19th Bundestag. At stake were at least 598 seats in the Bundestag, as well as 111 overhang and leveling seats determined thereafter.
Alternative for Germany is a right-wing populist political party in Germany. AfD is known for its Euroscepticism, as well as for opposing immigration to Germany. Described as a party of the far-right, the AfD is commonly positioned on the radical right, a subset of the far-right within the family of European political parties that generally does not reject democracy.
Frank Heinrich is a German theologian, social pedagogue and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Petr Bystron is a German politician. He was a candidate for Munich North for the Bundestag during the German federal election in 2017 for the far-right Alternative for Germany party. Czech intelligent service BIS presented evidence in 2024 that Bystron was bribed by Russia to represent its interests in the European Parliament and German Bundestag.
Kay Gottschalk is a German politician of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and member of the German federal parliament.
Bernd Baumann is a German politician of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and chief whip of the AfD Group who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Hamburg since 2017.
Michael Espendiller is a German politician for the populist Alternative for Germany and since 2017 member of the Bundestag.
Roland Hartwig is a German politician for the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) and member of the Bundestag between 2017 and 2021.
Udo Hemmelgarn is a German politician for the party Alternative for Germany (AfD) and a member of the Bundestag from 2017 to 2021.
Waldemar Herdt is a German politician for the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and former member of the Bundestag (2017–2021).
Stephan Brandner is a German far-right politician. He has been a member of the Bundestag for the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) since 2017 and served as chairman of the Bundestag's Legal Affairs Committee from 31 January 2018 to November 2019. He was the front runner candidate of the AfD in the state of Thuringia for the 2017 German federal election. Since November 2019, Brandner has been one of three chairman deputies of the AfD.
Otto Fricke is a German lawyer and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has served as a member of the Bundestag from 2002 till 2013 and since 2017.
Benjamin Strasser is a German lawyer and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Baden-Württemberg since 2017, representing the Ravensburg district.
Jürgen Braun is a German politician. Born in Bergneustadt, North Rhine-Westphalia, he represents Alternative for Germany (AfD). Jürgen Braunhas served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Baden-Württemberg since 2017.
Norbert Kleinwächter is a German politician. Born in Augsburg, Bavaria, he represents Alternative for Germany (AfD). Norbert Kleinwächter has served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Brandenburg since 2017. Kleinwächter is deputy Chairman of the AfD parliamentary group since 2021.
Corinna Miazga was a German politician. Representing Alternative for Germany (AfD), Miazga served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Bavaria from 2017 until her death in 2023.
Dirk Spaniel is a German politician. Dirk Spaniel has served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Baden-Württemberg since 2017.
Uli Grötsch is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as the German Bundestag's Federal Police Commissioner since 2024. He previously was as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Bavaria from 2013 to 2024. Grötsch has been police officer within the Bavarian State Police for 21 years.
Heribert Hirte is a German legal scholar and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2013 until 2021.
