President of the German Bundestag

The President of the German Bundestag (German: Präsident des Deutschen Bundestages or Bundestagspräsident) is the person that is in charge of the meetings of the German Bundestag, the parliament of Germany, whos duties is similar to a speaker. In the German order of precedence, the office is ranked second after the President and before the Chancellor.

Elections and customs

The President of the Bundestag is elected by all members in the Bundestag, during a special time of the election period. The President has to be a member of the Bundestag. Until the election is over, the Father of the House is in charge of the Bundestag.

Usually, the President is part of the largest political party. The President can be reelected, but again he must be a member of the Bundestag again. The President also always has a Vice President^[1] (German: Vizepräsident des Deutschen Bundestages or Bundestagsvizepräsident).

Duties

The Presidents most important duty is to take charge of the meetings of the Bundestag. He decides the order of speakers and opens and closes the debates, and makes sure the meetings take place properly. If a big disruption happens, he has the power to not allow a certain member from meetings for up to 30 days.

List of presidents

Political parties CDU SPD

Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			Political party/parliamentary group	Legislative periods
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Took office	Left office	Days	Political party/parliamentary group	Legislative periods
1	Erich Köhler (1892–1958) (aged 66)	7 September 1949	18 October 1950	1 year, 41 days	CDU/CSU	1st
2	Hermann Ehlers (1904–1954) (aged 50)	19 October 1950	29 October 1954	4 years, 10 days	CDU/CSU	1st, 2nd
3	Eugen Gerstenmaier (1906–1986) (aged 79)	16 November 1954	31 January 1969	14 years, 76 days	CDU/CSU	2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
4	Kai-Uwe von Hassel (1913–1997) (aged 84)	5 February 1969	13 December 1972	3 years, 312 days	CDU/CSU	6th
5	Annemarie Renger (1919–2008) (aged 88)	13 December 1972	14 December 1976	4 years, 1 day	SPD	7th
6	Karl Carstens (1914–1992) (aged 77)	14 December 1976	31 May 1979	2 years, 168 days	CDU/CSU	8th
7	Richard Stücklen (1916–2002) (aged 85)	31 May 1979	29 March 1983	3 years, 302 days	CDU/CSU	8th, 9th
8	Rainer Barzel (1924–2006) (aged 82)	29 March 1983	25 October 1984	1 year, 210 days	CDU/CSU	10th
9	Philipp Jenninger (1932–2018) (aged 85)	5 November 1984	11 November 1988	4 years, 6 days	CDU/CSU	10th, 11th
10	Rita Süssmuth (born 1937)	25 November 1988	26 October 1998	9 years, 335 days	CDU/CSU	11th, 12th, 13th
11	Wolfgang Thierse (born 1943)	26 October 1998	18 October 2005	6 years, 357 days	SPD	14th, 15th
12	Norbert Lammert (born 1948)	18 October 2005	24 October 2017	12 years, 6 days	CDU/CSU	16th, 17th, 18th
13	Wolfgang Schäuble (1942–2023) (aged 81)	24 October 2017	26 October 2021	4 years, 2 days	CDU/CSU	19th
14	Bärbel Bas (born 1968)	26 October 2021	Incumbent	3 years, 28 days	SPD	20th

References

↑ "Presidents and Vice Presidents". Retrieved 20 March 2012.^{[dead link]}

[1] "Presidents and Vice Presidents". Retrieved 20 March 2012.^{[dead link]}

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