The
President of Germany (known in German as
Bundespräsident, or Präsident for short) is
Germany
's head of
state. The position is largely a ceremonial one, with
the president acting in accordance with the advice and directives
of the legislature. The federal president is elected by the Federal
Convention, a body established solely for that purpose.
The first
official residence of the President is the Bellevue
Palace
in Berlin
.
The
President's second official residence is the Hammerschmidt
Villa
in Bonn
. The
current office-holder is
Horst
Köhler, elected in 2004 and re-elected in 2009.
History
The position of president (
German:
Reichspräsident,
President of the Empire) was first established in the
Weimar Constitution, which was drafted
in the aftermath of
World War I and the
abdication of
Wilhelm II,
German Emperor in 1918.
Friedrich Ebert (
SPD) served as Germany's first President. The office was
abolished in 1934 with the death of President
Paul von Hindenburg, and its powers
merged with those of
Chancellor.
Adolf Hitler's official title was changed to
"
Führer und Reichskanzler." The office
was briefly revived at the end of the
Second World War when Hitler appointed
Grand Admiral
Karl Dönitz as his
successor for President of Germany.
The German
Reich did not cease to exist in 1945 , but after four years of
Allied occupation, two German states were formed inside of Germany
as a whole in 1949: the Federal Republic of Germany
(West Germany) in the former U.S., British and
French zones of occupation, and the German
Democratic Republic
(East Germany) in the former Soviet Zone.
Both German republics had a head of state with the title of
President, although East Germany abandoned the title with the death
of the first president,
Wilhelm Pieck,
in 1960. There continued to be two heads of state on German soil
until the
Reunification of
Germany in 1990. At that point the President of the Federal
Republic (German:
Bundespräsident) became the president
of the whole of Germany.
Weimar Republic
During the
Weimar
Republic
of 1919-1933
the head of state had the German title Reichspräsident,
which means "President of the Reich" (Reich is variously translated as "dominion",
"empire" or "realm"). However in English he was usually
simply referred to, like the modern president, as the President of
Germany. The
Weimar constitution
created a
semi-presidential
system in which power was divided between the President, a
cabinet and a parliament. The President enjoyed far greater power
than the current president and had an active political role, rather
than a largely ceremonial one. The influence of the President also
increased greatly as a result of the instability of the Weimar
period.
The President had authority to appoint the Chancellor and could
dismiss the entire cabinet at any time. However it was also
necessary for the cabinet to enjoy the confidence of the
Reichstag (parliament) because it
could be removed by a
vote of no
confidence. All bills had to receive the signature of the
president to become law and, although he did not have an absolute
veto on legislation, he could insist that a law be submitted for
the approval of voters in a
referendum.
The president also had authority to dissolve the Reichstag, conduct
foreign affairs, and command the armed forces. Article 48 of the
constitution also provided the president sweeping powers in the
event of a crisis. If there was a threat to "public order and
security" he could legislate by decree and suspend civil
rights.
Unlike the current President of Germany, the Weimar constitution
provided that the president be directly elected and serve a
seven-year term. The election involved a form of the
two-round system. However the first
President was elected by the National Assembly and subsequently
only two direct presidential elections actually occurred. These
were the election of
Paul von
Hindenburg in 1925 and his re-election in 1932.
The system created by the Weimar constitution led to a number of
problems. In particular, the fact that the President could appoint
the cabinet, while the Reichstag had only a power of dismissal,
created a high cabinet turn-over as ministers were appointed by the
President only to be dismissed by the Reichstag shortly afterwards.
Eventually Hindenburg stopped trying to appoint cabinets that
enjoyed the confidence of the Reichstag and ruled by means of three
"presidential cabinets" (
Präsidialkabinette). Hindenburg
was also able to use his power of dissolution to by-pass the
Reichstag. If the Reichstag threatened to censure his ministers or
revoke one of his decrees he could simply dissolve the body and be
able to govern without its interference until elections had been
held.
The Weimar presidency effectively came to an end in 1934 when
Hindenburg died and Hitler became sole ruler of Germany. The office
of president was not abolished, but combined with that of Reich
Chancellor and
Nazi Party Leader
(
Führer).
The title of
Reichspräsident was briefly revived in the
final days of the Nazi regime when Grand Admiral
Karl Dönitz was appointed in Hitler's will
as
Reichspräsident in 1945. The legality of this
appointment is highly questionable, but Dönitz acted as
de
facto Reichspräsident by signing the capitulation to the
Allies. He was arrested for war crimes a few days later.
List of Presidents (Reichspräsident)
East Germany
The
German
Democratic Republic had an office of President from 1949 to
1960. When the President, the veteran Communist leader
Wilhelm Pieck, died, the ruling
Socialist Unity
Party abolished the position. Thereafter the Chairman of the
Council of State was the East German head of state until 1990. In
the last months of East Germany's existence, this post was also
abolished, and the President of the People's Chamber
(
Volkskammer) acted as head of state until East Germany
ceased to exist.
President of the GDR ( ) (1949-1960)
West Germany
With the promulgation of the
Grundgesetz
(the new German Constitution) in 1949, the office of President (in
German:
Bundespräsident, i.e. President of the Federation,
or Federal President) was recreated in the Federal Republic of
(West) Germany. The Federal President was to be elected by a
specially convened body called the
Federal Assembly
(
Bundesversammlung) to serve a five-year term. In
accordance with Germany's
parliamentary system of government, the
presidency has been limited by a mixture of law and
convention to
being a ceremonial position.
The Presidency today
Selection
The Federal President is elected by secret ballot, without debate,
by the Federal Convention, a body established solely for that
purpose.
The convention consists of all Bundestag
members as well as an equal number of delegates
chosen by the legislatures of the Länder (states). The
delegates of each
Land to the Federal Convention are
elected by the members of the
legislature of that jurisdiction under a form of
proportional
representation. However it is not required that
Land
delegates themselves be members of a legislature; often esteemed
local citizens are chosen.
In total, the Federal Convention numbers more than one thousand
members. The German constitution, the
Basic Law,
requires that it be convened no later than thirty days before the
expiration of the term of office of the President. In practice it
is convened every five years (in all years with year numbers ending
in 4 or 9). Since 1979 all these conventions have been held on 23
May, the date of the foundation of the Federal Republic in 1949.
The body is convened and chaired by the
President of the Bundestag.
The Federal Convention attempts to elect a president by an absolute
majority of votes cast. If, after two votes, no single candidate
has received this level of support, in the third and final vote the
candidate endorsed by a
plurality
of votes cast is deemed elected. The process of electing the
President is usually determined by party politics, the office being
in the gift of whichever party, or group of allied parties, can
muster a majority in the convention. The authors of the Basic Law
chose an indirect form of presidential election because they
believed it would produce a head of state who was widely acceptable
and yet at the same time insulated from public pressure and lacking
in sufficient popular legitimacy to undermine other institutions of
government.
Qualifications
The office of President is open to all Germans who are entitled to
vote in Bundestag elections and have reached the age of 40, but no
one may serve more than two consecutive five-year terms. The
president receives an annual payment of approximately €213,000 that
continues when he or she leaves office.
The President may not be a member of the government or of a
legislature at either the federal or
Land level.
On taking
office the president must take the following oath, stipulated by
Article 56 of the Basic Law, before the assembled members of the
Bundestag and Bundesrat
(however he or she is permitted to omit the
religious references if so desired):
I swear that I will dedicate my efforts to the
well-being of the German people, enhance their benefits, avert harm
from them, uphold and defend the Constitution and the statutes of
the Federation, fulfil my duties conscientiously, and do justice to
all.
(So help me God.)
Duties and functions
The degree of power actually conferred upon the President by the
Basic Law is ambiguous. However, in practice, holders of the office
treat it as a ceremonial, non-political one, and act in accordance
with the advice and directives of the Federal Government. Unlike
many constitutions the Basic Law does not designate the head of
state as the commander-in-chief of the military (ceremonially or
otherwise). This role is vested in times of peace in the Minister
of Defense, going to the Chancellor rather than the President in
times of war, by Article 65a. The President carries out the
following duties:
- Appointment of the Federal Government: The President proposes
an individual as Chancellor and
then, provided they are subsequently elected by the Bundestag,
appoints him or her to the office. However the Bundestag is free to
disregard the President's proposal and elect another individual to
the post, who the President is then obliged to appoint. The
President appoints and dismisses the remaining members of the
Federal Government "upon the
proposal of the Chancellor." The President can dismiss the
Chancellor but only in the event that the Bundestag passes a
Constructive Vote of
No Confidence. If this occurs the President must dismiss the
chancellor and appoint the successor requested by the
Bundestag.
- Other appointments: The President appoints federal judges,
federal civil servants and military officers. All such appointments
require the counter-signature of either the chancellor or the
relevant cabinet minister.
- Dissolution of the Bundestag: In the event that the Bundestag
elects an individual for the office of chancellor by a plurality of
votes, rather than a majority, the President can, at his
discretion, either appoint that individual as chancellor or
dissolve the Bundestag. In the event that a vote of confidence is
defeated in the Bundestag, and the incumbent chancellor proposes a
dissolution, the President may, at his discretion, dissolve the
body within 21 days. So far, this power has only been applied three
times in the history of the Federal Republic. In all three
occurrences it is doubtful whether the motives for that dissolution
were in accordance with the constitution's intentions. Each time
the incumbent chancellor called for the vote of confidence with the
stated intention of being defeated, in order to be able to call for
new elections before the end of their regular term. The most recent
occurrence was on 1 July 2005, when Chancellor Gerhard Schröder asked for a vote of
confidence, which was defeated.
- Promulgation of the law: All federal laws must, after
counter-signature, be signed by the president before they can come
into effect. Upon signing, the President has to check if the law
was passed according to the order mandated by the constitution
and/or if the content of the law is constitutional. If not, he has
the right (and, some argue, the duty) to refuse to sign the law.
This has happened only eight times. The constitution is not
explicit on whether the President can refuse to sign a law merely
because he disagrees with its content, i.e. if he has a power of
veto, but it is generally held that he does not
have such a power. In any case, no President has ever refused to
sign a law unless he believed the constitution was being
violated.
- Foreign relations: The President takes part in foreign visits
and receives foreign dignitaries. He or she also concludes treaties
with foreign nations (which do not come into effect until affirmed
by the Bundestag), accredits German diplomats and receives the
letters of accreditation of foreign diplomats.
- Pardons and honours: The President grants pardons if the person
concerned had been convicted under federal jurisdiction and confers
decorations and honours.
- State of emergency: In the event of a national crisis, the
emergency law reforms of 1968 designate the President as a
mediator. If the Bundestag rejects a motion of confidence, but
neither the chancellor is dismissed nor the Bundestag is dissolved,
the President may, by request of the cabinet, declare a
"legislative state of emergency", which is quite different from a
conventional state of emergency:
If it is declared, during a limited period of time, bills proposed
by the cabinet and designated as "urgent", but rejected by the
Bundestag, become law nonetheless, if the Bundesrat does pass them.
But the legislative state of emergency does not suspend basic human
rights nor does it grant the executive branch any exceptional
power. Such an emergency has never been declared.
Impartiality and influence
Though usually chosen as the candidate of a political party or
parties, the president nonetheless is expected to be non-partisan
after assuming office. Every President to date has let his or her
party membership rest dormant during his term of office. Although
the formal powers of the President are limited, the President's
role can be quite significant depending on his or her own
activities. The very fact that the President usually doesn't
interfere with day-to-day politics means that if he or she does
choose to speak out on an issue, the event is perceived as one to
take note of. There have been a number of occasions when certain
presidential speeches have dominated German political debate for a
year or more.
The standard of the President of
Germany was originally adopted in 1926.
This is the modern design.
The role of President is similar in some ways to that of a
constitutional monarch found in other
European states, with the important difference being that the
President is elected, and selected based on his or her
distinguished reputation. Therefore, true political power in
Germany is concentrated in the position of the
Chancellor of
Germany.
Other comparisons might be to a court philosopher, or a 'national
conscience'. The President is called on to develop, interpret and
communicate a long-term view of trends affecting Germany and its
role in the world. Formulating such vision calls for reflection
about Germany's past. Recent Presidents have been instrumental in
getting Germans to constructively confront their history during the
Nazi period, for instance.
Reserve powers
Some argue that the Basic Law does not require that the President
follow government directives in all circumstances. It is suggested,
for instance, that the President could refuse to sign legislation
merely because he disagrees with its content, thus vetoing it, or
refuse to approve a cabinet appointment. Because no President has
ever attempted to take either of these actions the
constitutionality of these points has never been tested.
In the few cases in which a bill was not signed, all presidents
have claimed that the bill in question was manifestly
unconstitutional. In the autumn of 2006, incumbent President
Köhler did so twice within three
months. Also, in some cases, a president has signed a law while
asking that the political parties refer the case to the Federal
Constitutional Court in order to test the law's constitutionality.
The most recent case of such an occurrence was the controversial
passing of an
immigration law in the
Bundesrat in 2002. This law was ultimately declared invalid by the
court for reasons of procedure.
Succession
The Basic Law did not create an office of
vice president. If the President is outside
of the country, or the position is vacant, the
President of the Bundesrat (a
position that is rotated among the state premiers on an annual
basis) fills in as temporary, acting president. While doing so, he
or she does not continue to exercise the role of chair of the
Bundesrat. If the President dies, or is removed from office, a
successor is elected within thirty days. However since the
establishment of the office this has never occurred.
While the President is abroad on a state visit the President of the
Bundesrat does not assume all of his responsibilities but may
deputise for the President, performing on the President's behalf
merely those tasks that require his or her physical presence, such
as the signing of documents.
Impeachment and removal
While in office the President enjoys immunity from prosecution and
cannot be voted out of office or recalled.
The only mechanism for
removing the President is impeachment by the Bundestag or Bundesrat
for willfully violating German law. Once the
Bundestag impeaches the President the Federal Constitutional Court
is charged with determining if he or she is guilty of the offence.
If the charge is sustained the court has authority to remove the
President from office. To date no President has ever been
impeached.
List of presidents
See also
References
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