1.
Federal Convention (German Confederation)
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The Federal Convention was the only central institution of the German Confederation from 1815 until 1848, and from 1850 until 1866. The Federal Assembly had its seat in the Palais Thurn und Taxis in Frankfurt and it was organized as a permanent congress of envoys. The German Confederation and its Federal Assembly came into existence as a result of the Congress of Vienna in 1815 after the defeat of Napoleon, the original task was to create a new constitutional structure for Germany after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire eight years before. The founding act was the German Federal Act of June 8,1815, the Federal Assembly was created as a permanent congress of envoys of all member states, which replaced the former imperial central power of the Holy Roman Empire. The Federal Assembly took its seat at the palais Thurn und Taxis in Frankfurt, the Federal Assembly was presided over by the Austrian delegate and consisted of two executive bodies, the inner council and the plenary session. Its members were not elected, neither by popular vote nor by state parliaments, the inner council consisted of 17 envoys. The inner council determined the agenda and decided which issues should be discussed by the plenary session. Decisions of the circle required an absolute majority. The plenary session had 69 seats, according roughly to the states sizes, the plenary session was involved especially in decisions regarding constitutional changes, which required a majority of 2/3 of the plenary session. The decisions of the Federal Assembly had been mandatory for the member states, as well, the member states remained fully sovereign regarding customs, police and military. For example during 1835/36 the Federal Assembly decreeded rules for censorship, after the failure of the revolution the German Confederation was restored between 1850 and 1851. The Federal Assembly was reestablished in September 1850 and was used to suppress all democratic, the Federal Assembly was dissolved after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Although the North German Confederation was legally not the successor of the German Confederation, translation of corresponding German Wikipedia article
2.
Reichstag (Nazi Germany)
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The Reichstag, officially the Großdeutscher Reichstag after 1938, was the pseudo-Parliament of the Third Reich from 1933 to 1945. In this purely ceremonial role, the Reichstag convened only 20 times, the President of the Reichstag throughout this period was Hermann Göring. During this period, the Reichstag was sometimes referred to by the German public as the teuerste Gesangsverein Deutschlands due to frequent singing of the national anthem during sessions. To avoid holding scheduled elections during World War II, in 1943 Hitler extended the term of office of the current Reichstag to serve a special eight-year term ending on 30 January 1947. Due to the Reichstags complex system of representation, it was extremely difficult for a government to have a stable majority. Frequently, when a Chancellor was voted out of office, his successor could not be assured of a majority, as a result, Chancellors were forced to use Article 48 simply to conduct the ordinary business of government. In ratifying the act, the Reichstag voted by a majority to allow the government—in practice. With certain exceptions, those laws could deviate from articles in the constitution, from then on, though officially only the Reich Government as a whole could enact laws, the de facto power always lay with the Führer and Chancellor, Hitler. In effect, the Reichstag abandoned all responsibility for the exercise of legislative power, several other SPD deputies saw the writing on the wall and fled into exile. Ultimately, the Enabling Act passed by a margin of 444-94, in the parliamentary elections of 12 November 1933, voters were presented with a single list from the Nazi Party under far-from-secret conditions. The list carried with 92.1 percent of the vote, as a measure of the great care Hitler took to give his dictatorship the appearance of legal sanction, the Enabling Act was subsequently renewed by the Reichstag in 1937 and 1941. The Reichstag only met 12 times between 1933 and 1939, and enacted only four laws—the Law for the Reconstruction of the Reich of 1934 and it would only meet eight more times after the start of the war. It was chosen both for its convenient location facing the Reichstag building and for its seating capacity, the Kroll Opera House was devastated by Allied bombing on November 12,1943. It was then destroyed in the Battle of Berlin in 1945. The federal election in March 1933 was the last all-German election prior to World War II that was at least partly free, from then on, while elections were still held, voters were presented with a single list comprising Nazis and guests of the party. These guests, however, fully supported Hitler, elections during this time were not secret, voters were often threatened with severe reprisals if they failed to vote or dared to vote no. Under the circumstances, the Nazi list carried with well over 90 percent of the each time. Until enactment of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935, Jews, Poles, Special referendums were held, under similar conditions
3.
Volkskammer
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The Peoples Chamber was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic. Despite the appearance of a multi-party system, all these Bloc parties were completely subservient to the SED, in addition, seats were also allocated to various mass organizations affiliated with the SED, such as the Free German Youth. Initially, it was the house of a bicameral legislature. The upper chamber was the Chamber of States, or Länderkammer, but in 1952 the states of East Germany were dissolved, in theory, the Volkskammer was the highest organ of state power in the GDR. Both GDR constitutions vested it with great lawmaking powers and it also formally appointed the Council of State, the Council of Ministers, and the National Defence Council. All other branches of government—including the judiciary—were theoretically responsible to it, in practice, like most other legislatures in Communist countries, the Peoples Chamber did little more than rubber-stamp decisions already made by the SED and its Politburo. All parties were expected to respect the principles of democratic centralism, as a result, all but two measures put before it before the Peaceful Revolution passed unanimously. A1972 vote on liberalising abortion laws saw 14 CDU representatives vote nay and eight abstain, during Peoples Chamber elections, voters were presented with a single list from the National Front, with seats allocated based on a set quota rather than actual vote totals. By ensuring that its candidates dominated the list, the SED effectively predetermined the composition of the legislature, the democratic centralist principle extended to the ballot box as well. A voter simply took the paper, which contained only one name. A voter could vote against the candidate by crossing out his or her name, the consequences for such an act of defiance were severe—loss of ones job or expulsion from school, and close surveillance by the Stasi. The table below shows an overview of the results of all parliamentary elections before 1990. ¹Eastern Bureau of the Social Democratic Party of Germany In 1976, the Volkskammer moved into a building on Marx-Engels-Platz. On paper, the president of the Peoples Chamber was the third-highest post in the GDR and was vice president of the country. The last president of the Peoples Chamber, Sabine Bergmann-Pohl, was interim head of state during the last six months of East Germanys existence due to the State Council having been abolished. Presidium of the Peoples Chamber Show election A Successful Policy Seared to the Needs of the People Deliberations of the Volkskammer on nuclear disarmament,1981
4.
President of the Bundestag
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The President of the Bundestag presides over the sessions of the Bundestag, the parliament of Germany, with functions similar to that of a speaker in other countries. In the German order of precedence, his office is ranked second after the President, the current President of the Bundestag is Norbert Lammert, since October 18,2005. The president has to be a member of the Bundestag, until the election of the president, the session is chaired by the Father of the House, the so-called Alterspräsident, the oldest member of the Bundestag. Usually, the President of the Bundestag is a member of the largest parliamentary group and this custom had emerged already in times of the Weimar Republic, but this is not required by law. The term ends with the period, and there is no provision for an early deposition. He can be reelected in the election period provided he becomes a member of the Bundestag again. Traditionally, the President of the Bundestag is elected uncontested, after the unexpected death of Hermann Ehlers, Ernst Lemmer competed with the official CDU/CSU candidate Eugen Gerstenmaier and lost after three ballots with a difference of 14 votes. The President of the Bundestag has several deputies, the Vice Presidents of the Bundestag, the number of vice presidents was not fixed in the Bundestags Geschäftsordnung until 1994, when it was decided that each parliamentary group should be represented by one vice president. This move was opposed by the other parties, in 2009 there were 5 Vice Presidents and in 20136 once again. Due to a 1952 Federal Constitutional Court decision, the Geschäftsordnung has to be enacted afresh in every election period, the Geschäftsordnung regulates the duties of the President of the Bundestag and his vice presidents as well as their number. The presidents most important duty is to chair the sessions of the Bundestag and he determines the order of speakers and opens and closes the debates, and ensures that debates take place in an orderly fashion. In the case of disruption, he may exclude a member of parliament for up to 30 session days. All draft legislation initiated by the Federal Government, the Bundestag or the Bundesrat is addressed to him as well as all submissions and petitions from within or addressed to the Bundestag. The President of the Bundestag also chairs the Council of Elders, for the election of a new Federal President, the President of the Bundestag convenes and chairs the Bundesversammlung. Additionally, he receives the statements of account of the parties, monitors party financing. Political Party CDU SPD The Presidium of the German Bundestag consists of the President of the Bundestag, the president is elected by all members of the Bundestag during its first meeting, he almost always comes from the largest Fraktion in the Bundestag. His administration ends with the end of a legislature, he can, however, be re-elected, in 1994 it was decided that every Fraktion in the Bundestag should be represented by a Vice President. The most important role of the president is the direction of the Bundestag sittings, to demonstrate the importance of the parliament in Germanys democracy, the parliaments president receives a higher salary than the Chancellor and the Federal President
5.
Christian Democratic Union of Germany
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The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and liberal-conservative political party in Germany. It is the major party of the centre-right in German politics. The CDU forms the CDU/CSU grouping, also known as the Union, the leader of the CDU, Angela Merkel, is the current Chancellor of Germany. The CDU is a member of the Centrist Democrat International, International Democrat Union, immediately following the collapse of the Nazi dictatorship at the end of World War II, the need for a new political order in Germany was paramount. Simultaneous yet unrelated meetings began occurring throughout Germany, each with the intention of planning a Christian-democratic party, the Christlich-Demokratische Union was established in Berlin on 26 June 1945, and in Rheinland and Westfalen in September of the same year. The founding members of the CDU consisted primarily of members of the Centre Party, German Democratic Party, German National Peoples Party. In the Cold War years, after World War II up to the 1960s, a prominent anti-Nazi member was theologian Eugen Gerstenmaier who became Acting Chairman of the Foreign Board. One of the lessons learned from the failure of the Weimar Republic was that disunity among the parties ultimately allowed for the rise of the Nazi Party. It was therefore crucial to create a party of Christian Democrats – a Christian Democratic Union. The result of meetings was the establishment of an inter-confessional party influenced heavily by the political tradition of liberal conservatism. The latter was more nationalist and sought German reunification, even at the expense of concessions to the Soviet Union, the Western powers appreciated the CDUs moderation, its economic flexibility and its value as an oppositional force to the Communists, which appealed to European voters at the time. Also, Adenauer was trusted by the British, the party was split over issues of rearmament within the Western alliance and German unification as a neutral state. Adenauer staunchly defended his position and outmanoeuvred some of his opponents. He also refused to consider the SPD as a party of the coalition until he felt sure that they shared his anti-Communist position, the CDU was the dominant party for the first two decades following the establishment of West Germany in 1949. Konrad Adenauer remained the leader until 1963, at which point the former minister of economics Ludwig Erhard replaced him. As the Free Democratic Party withdrew from the coalition in 1966 due to disagreements over fiscal and economic policy. Consequently, a coalition with the SPD took over government under CDU Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger. The CDU continued its role as opposition until 1982, when the FDP’s withdrawal from the coalition with the SPD allowed the CDU to regain power, CDU Chairman Helmut Kohl became the new Chancellor of West Germany and his CDU-FDP coalition was confirmed in the 1983 federal election
6.
Presidium of the Bundestag
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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 number of Vice Presidents. The president is elected by all members of the Bundestag during its first meeting and his administration ends with the end of the legislature, but he can be re-elected, as long as he is re-elected to the Bundestag. In 1994 it was decided that every faction in the Bundestag should be represented by a Vice President, rulers. org Parlamentarierportal | Deutscher Bundestag Presidium of the Bundestag
7.
Thomas Oppermann
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Thomas Ludwig Albert Oppermann is a German politician with the Social Democratic Party. From 1998-2003, he was the Minister for Science and Culture in the German state of Lower Saxony and he has been the First Secretary of the SPD Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag from November 2007 to December 2013. Currently, he serves as Chairman of the SPD Parliamentary Group, Oppermann belongs to the right wing of the SPD, known as reformists and moderates. Oppermann received his diploma from the Goetheschule in Einbeck. Afterwards, he studied German studies and English studies at Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen, from 1976 to 1978, he worked at Action Reconciliation Service for Peace in the United States. After his return to Germany, he went to law school at Georg August University in Göttingen, from then until 1990, he was an administrative court judge in Hannover and later in Braunschweig. From 1988 to 1989, he was the judge at the court in the city of Hann. Oppermann has three daughters and one son, Oppermann has been a member of the since 1980 and president of the regional SPD in Göttingen since 1989. He was a member of the Lower Saxon Landtag from 1990-2005 and he was speaker for legal affairs there from 1990-1998. Between 1998 and 2003, Oppermann served as State Minister for Education and Cultural Affairs in the cabinets of Minister-Presidents Gerhard Schröder, Gerhard Glogowski, in 1999, after Glogowski’s resignation, Oppermann lost an internal party vote against Gabriel on becoming the next Minister-President. From 2003 to 2005, Oppermann was the speaker of the state SPD parliamentary group. From 2001-2005, he was also a member of the county council in Göttingen, since the 2005 federal election, Oppermann has been a member of the Bundestag. From March 2006 to November 2007, he was speaker of the working group, Oppermann was elected as the First Parliamentary Secretary of the SPD parliamentary group in November 2007, succeeding Olaf Scholz, he was subsequently re-elected in 2011 and 2013. He also became a member of the Parliamentary Control Panel, which provides oversight of Germany’s intelligence services BND, BfV. Between 2006 and 2013, Oppermann was the Deputy Chairman of the German-Israeli Parliamentary Friendship Group, during the campaign, Oppermann served as shadow minister for interior affairs and therefore as counterpart of incumbent Wolfgang Schäuble. Oppermann also serves on the Committee on the Election of Judges, in late 2015, the SPD’s board under the leadership of Sigmar Gabriel mandated Oppermann and Manuela Schwesig with the task of drafting an electoral program for the 2017 federal elections. In 2011, Oppermann publicly spoke out in favor of holding a referendum over fundamental principles of the European Union on the day of the 2013 parliamentary election. Edathy claimed senior SPD members, particularly Oppermann, breached legal privilege by discussing the case with colleagues and staff. “ Official website Retrieved 12 March 2010
8.
Social Democratic Party of Germany
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The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany. The party, led by Chairman Martin Schulz since 2017, has one of the two major contemporary political parties in Germany, along with the Christian Democratic Union. The SPD has governed at the level in Germany as part of a grand coalition with the CDU. The SPD participates in 14 state governments, nine of them governed by SPD Minister-Presidents, the SPD is a member of the Party of European Socialists and of the Socialist International, and became a founding member of the Progressive Alliance on 22 May 2013. Established in 1863, the SPD is the oldest extant political party represented in the German Parliament and was one of the first Marxist-influenced parties in the world. The General German Workers Association, founded in 1863, and the Social Democratic Workers Party, founded in 1869, merged in 1875, under the name Socialist Workers Party of Germany. From 1878 to 1890, any grouping or meeting that aimed at spreading socialist principles was banned under the Anti-Socialist Laws, in 1890, when the ban was lifted and it could again present electoral lists, the party adopted its current name. In the years leading up to World War I, the party remained ideologically radical in official principle, by 1912, the party claimed the most votes of any German party. Despite the agreement of the Second International to oppose the First World War, after 1918 the SPD played an important role in the political system of the Weimar Republic, although it took part in coalition governments only in few years. Adolf Hitler prohibited the party in 1933 under the Enabling Act – party officials were imprisoned, killed or went into exile, in exile, the party used the name Sopade. In the Soviet Zone of Occupation, the Soviets forced the Social Democrats to form a party with the Communists. In the Western zones, the Communist Party was later banned by West Germanys Federal Constitutional Court, since 1949, in the Federal Republic of Germany, the SPD has been one of the two major parties, with the other being the Christian Democratic Union. From 1969 to 1982 and 1998 to 2005 the Chancellors of Germany were Social Democrats whereas the other years the Chancellors were Christian Democrats, the SPD was established as a Marxist party in 1875. After World War II, under the leadership of Kurt Schumacher, the SPD re-established itself as a socialist party, representing the interests of the working class and the trade unions. With the Godesberg Program of 1959, however, the party evolved from a socialist working-class party to a modern social-democratic party working within capitalism. The current party platform of the SPD espouses the goal of social democracy, according to the party platform, freedom, justice, and social solidarity, form the basis of social democracy. The coordinated social market economy should be strengthened, and its output should be distributed fairly, the party sees that economic system as necessary in order to ensure the affluence of the entire population. The SPD also tries to protect the poor with a welfare state
9.
Hans-Peter Friedrich
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Hans-Peter Friedrich is a German politician, representative of the Christian Social Union. On 3 March 2011 he succeeded Thomas de Maizière as Federal Minister of the Interior and held this ministry until 17 December 2013 when he was appointed Federal Minister for Food, Friedrich resigned from that position in February 2014. Friedrich has a history with minorities in Germany, causing outrage in 2013 after telling journalists that Islam in Germany is not something supported by history at any point. Born in 1957 in Naila, near the northern Bavarian town of Hof, Friedrich has a PhD in law, from 1990 to 1991, Friedrich worked in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and the economy department of the Germany Embassy in Washington, D. C. Friedrich began his political career as an aide to Michael Glos. Friedrich has been a member of the Bundestag since the 1998 federal elections and he was deputy chairman of the investigating committee for party donations from 1999 until 2002 and for electoral fraud from 2002 until 2004. From 2002 until 2005 he was also judicial counselor of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, from 2009, Friedrich led the CSU in parliament, replacing Peter Ramsauer. During that time, he was said to have enjoyed a relationship with Merkel. Economic policy was seen as his passion as he has supported raising the retirement age to 67 despite opposition from CSU leader Horst Seehofer. He also played a part in crafting Germanys response to the euro zone crisis. On 3 March 2011 Friedrich succeeded Thomas de Maizière as Federal Minister of the Interior who replaced Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. The fact that Friedrich, like Guttenberg, came from the northern Bavarian area of Upper Franconia meant that his appointment ensured the regional balance of power within the CSU was maintained. On June 7,2011, he attended the dinner hosted by President Barack Obama in honor of Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House. European integration In early 2012, Friedrich became Chancellor Angela Merkel’s first Cabinet member to suggest Greece’s exit from the euro, in an interview with Der Spiegel, he said Greece would have better chances of overhauling its economy and restoring growth if it left the euro area. Instead, he defended the NSAs methods and promptly demanded legislation changes, in a later interview with Münchner Merkur newspaper, Friedrich held that Edward Snowden was not a victim of political persecution. Friedrich was sworn in as Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture in the cabinet of Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel on 17 December 2013. He resigned on 14 February 2014, reacting to imminent legal investigations into incidents during his tenure as Federal Minister of the Interior and he is accused of betraying state secrets about legal investigations into Social Democrat Party heads during the coalition negotiations after the federal elections in 2013. Prosecutors complained that the leak may have compromised their inquiry, the investigations showed MP Sebastian Edathys link to a globally-operating child pornography syndicate, and plans to take up an investigation against Edathy on suspicion of possessing such material
10.
Christian Social Union in Bavaria
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The Christian Social Union in Bavaria is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. The CSU operates only in Bavaria, while its larger counterpart, the CSU has 56 seats in the Bundestag making it the smallest of the five parties represented. The CSU was founded in some ways as a continuation of the Weimar-era Catholic Bavarian Peoples Party, at the federal level, the CSU forms a common CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag with the CDU, which is frequently referred to as the Union Faction. Until the 2013 federal election, the CDU/CSU formed federal government in coalition with the Free Democratic Party. In the state of Bavaria, the CSU has governed alone with a majority since 1966 until 2008-2013. The CSU differs from their partners, the CDU, by being more conservative in social matters while the CSU is economically a bit more pro-interventionist. The CSU is a member of the European Peoples Party and the International Democrat Union, franz Josef Strauß had left behind the strongest legacy as a leader of the party, having led the party from 1961 until his death in 1988. His political career in the cabinet was unique in that he had served four ministerial posts in the years between 1953 and 1969. From 1978 until his death in 1988, Strauß served as the Minister-president of Bavaria, Strauß was the first leader of the CSU to be a candidate for the German chancellery, in 1980. Before the 2008 elections in Bavaria, the CSU perennially achieved absolute majorities at the level by itself. This level of dominance is unique among Germanys 16 states, edmund Stoiber took over the CSU leadership in 1999. He ran for Chancellor of Germany in 2002, but his preferred CDU/CSU–FDP coalition lost against the SPD candidate Gerhard Schröders SPD-Green alliance, in the 2003 Bavarian state election, the CSU won 60. 7% of the vote and 124 of 180 seats in the state parliament. This was the first time any party had won a 2/3 majority in a German state parliament, the Economist later suggested that this exceptional result was due to a backlash against Schröders government in Berlin. The CSUs popularity declined in subsequent years, Stoiber stepped down from the posts of Minister-President and CSU chairman in September 2007. A year later, the CSU lost its majority in the 2008 Bavarian state election, the CSU remained in power by forming a coalition with the Free Democratic Party. In the 2009 general election, the CSU received only 42. 5% of the vote in Bavaria in the 2009 election, the CSU made gains in the 2013 Bavarian state election and the 2013 federal election, which were held a week apart in September 2013. The CSU regained their majority in the Bavarian Landtag and remained in government in Berlin and they have three ministers in Angela Merkels current cabinet, Christian Schmidt, Alexander Dobrindt and Gerd Müller. The CSU is the party of the Christian Democratic Union
11.
Alternative for Germany
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Alternative for Germany is a right-wing populist and Eurosceptic political party in Germany. Founded in April 2013, the party won 4. 7% of the votes in the 2013 federal election, as of September 2016, the AfD had gained representation in 10 of the 16 German state parliaments. The party is led by Frauke Petry and Jörg Meuthen. Their manifesto was endorsed by 68 economists, journalists, and business leaders, the group stated that the eurozone had proven to be unsuitable as a currency area and that southern European states were sinking into poverty under the competitive pressure of the euro. In February 2013 the group decided to found a new party to compete in the 2013 federal elections, the Free Voters leadership declined to join forces, according to a leaked email from Bernd Lucke. Advocating the abolition of the Euro, Alternative for Germany took a radical stance than the Free Voters. Likewise, the Pirate Party of Germany opposed any coalition with the AfD at their 2013 spring convention, on 14 April 2013, the AfD announced its presence to the wider public when it held its first convention in Berlin, elected the party leadership and adopted a party platform. Bernd Lucke, entrepreneur Frauke Petry and Konrad Adam were elected as speakers, the AfD federal board also chose three deputy speakers, Alexander Gauland, Roland Klaus and Patricia Casale. The party elected treasurer Norbert Stenzel and the three assessors Irina Smirnova, Beatrix Diefenbach and Wolf-Joachim Schünemann, the economist Joachim Starbatty, along with Jörn Kruse, Helga Luckenbach, Dirk Meyer and Roland Vaubel were elected to the partys scientific advisory board. Between 31 March and 12 May 2013 the AfD founded affiliates in all 16 German states in order to participate in the federal elections, on 15 June 2013 the Young Alternative for Germany was founded in Darmstadt as the AfDs youth organisation. In June 2013, Bernd Lucke gave a question and answer session organised by the Conservative Party-allied Bruges Group think tank in Portcullis House, the party was created Bernd Lucke, Alexander Gauland and Konrad Adam to confront German-supported bailouts for poorer southern European countries. On 22 September 2013, the AfD won 4. 7% of the votes in the 2013 federal election, the party won about 2 million party list votes and 810,000 constituency votes, which was 1. 9% of the total of these votes cast across Germany. The AfD did not participate in the 2013 Bavaria state election held on 15 September 2013. In the 2013 Hesse state election held on 22 September 2013, the day as the 2013 federal election. The AfD held a party conference on 25 January 2014 at Frankenstolz Arena, Aschaffenburg, eventually a compromise was reached by using the slogan MUT ZU D*EU*TSCHLAND, with the EU in DEUTSCHLAND encircled by the 12 stars of the European flag. The conference elected the top six candidates for the European elections on 26 January 2014, candidates from 7th–28th place on the party list were selected in Berlin on 1 February. Party chairman Bernd Lucke was elected as lead candidate, in April 2014 Hans-Olaf Henkel, AfDs second candidate on the European election list, ruled out forming a group with UKIP after the 2014 European election. Stating that he saw the British Conservatives as the partner in the European Parliament
12.
Free Democratic Party (Germany)
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The Free Democratic Party is a liberal and classical liberal political party in Germany. The FDP is led by Christian Lindner, the FDP was founded in 1948 by members of the former liberal political parties existing in Germany before World War II, the German Democratic Party and the German Peoples Party. For most of the Federal Republics history, it has held the balance of power in the Bundestag and it was a junior coalition partner to either the CDU/CSU or the Social Democratic Party of Germany. However, in the 2013 federal election the FDP failed to win any directly elected seats in the Bundestag, the FDP was therefore left without representation in the Bundestag for the first time in its history. The FDP strongly supports human rights, civil liberties, and internationalism, the party is traditionally considered centre-right, but it has shifted to the centre according to polls in recent years. Since the 1980s, the party has firmly pushed economic liberalism and it is a member of the Liberal International and Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. Currently the FDP is represented in eight state parliaments and in the European Parliament, soon after World War II, the Soviet Union forced the creation of political parties. In September 1945, citizens in Hamburg established the Party of Free Democrats as a bourgeois Left Party, in the first state elections in Hamburg in October 1946 the party won 18.2 percent of the vote. The FDP secured between 7.8 and 29.9 percent of the 1946 vote in Greater Berlin and Saxony, the only states in Soviet-occupied territories that held free parliamentary elections. The FDP won Hesses 1950 state election with 31.8 percent, the Democratic Party of Germany was established in Rothenburg ob der Tauber on 17 March 1947 as a pan-German Party. Its leaders were Theodor Heuss and Wilhelm Külz, however, the project failed as a result of disputes over Külzs political direction. The Free Democratic Party was established on 11–12 December 1948 in Heppenheim, in Hesse, the proposed name, Liberal Democratic Party, was rejected by the delegates, who voted 64 to 25 in favour of the name Free Democratic Party. The partys first chairman was Theodor Heuss, his deputy was Franz Blücher, the place for the partys foundation was chosen deliberately, it was at the Heppenheim Assembly that the moderate liberals had met in October 1847 before the March Revolution. Some regard the Heppenheim Assembly, which was held at the Halber Mond Hotel on 10 October 1847, the FDPs first Chairman, Theodor Heuss, was formerly a member of the DDP and after the war of the Democratic Peoples Party. In the first elections to the Bundestag on 14 August 1949, the FDP won a share of 11.9 percent. In September of the year the FDP chairman Theodor Heuss was elected the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany. In his 1954 re-election, he received the best election result to date of a President with 871 of 1018 votes of the Federal Assembly, Adenauer was also elected on the proposal of the new German President with an extremely narrow majority as the first Chancellor. The FDP participated with the CDU/CSU and the DP in Adenauers coalition cabinet, on the most important economic, social and German national issues, the FDP agreed with their coalition partners, the CDU/CSU
13.
Petra Pau
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Petra Pau is a member of The Left in the German parliament, the Bundestag. She is currently one of the presidents of the Bundestag and belongs to the reform-oriented members of her party. Paus first involvement in came in 1983 when she joined the Socialist Unity Party. After German reunification, the SED became the Party of Democratic Socialism and she was elected to the Berlin parliament in 1995 and remained a member until 1998 when she was elected to the Bundestag for the Berlin Mitte - Prenzlauer Berg constituency. Controversial boundary changes abolished this constituency and for the 2002 election, she moved to Marzahn-Hellersdorf and she was elected for that constituency in 2002 and re-elected at the subsequent elections in 2005,2009 and 2013. She used to be a leader of the East German pioneers, wahlperiode, München 2007, ISBN 978-3-7892-8201-0 Petrapau. de
14.
The Left (Germany)
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The Left, also commonly referred to as the Left Party, is a democratic socialist and left-wing populist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism, since mid-2012, its co-chairs have been Katja Kipping and Bernd Riexinger. Its parliamentary group is the third largest among the four groups in the German Bundestag, the Left is a founding member of the Party of the European Left, and is the largest party in the European United Left–Nordic Green Left group in the European Parliament. According to official party figures, the Left Party had 63,784 registered members as of December 2013, after protests, the party was forced to give up its monopoly of power on 1 December 1989. Honeckers successor, Egon Krenz, resigned two days later, and Gysi was named party chairman, by the end of 1989, the last hardline members of the partys Central Committee had either resigned or been pushed out. In 1990, 95% of SEDs 2.3 million members had left the party, by the time of a special congress in December 1989, the party was no longer a Marxist–Leninist party, though neo-Marxist and communist minority factions continued to be part of the party. At the congress, the party adopted a program of democratic reform, Gysi remained its leader, and soon became one of the most well-known faces within German politics. By the end of February, the PDS had expelled most of the remaining prominent Communist-era leaders from its ranks - including Honecker and Krenz. However, this was not enough to save the party when it faced the voters at the 18 March general election, the first free election in East Germany. The party came in a distant third with only 16. 4% of the vote, behind the East German branches of the West German-based Christian Democratic Union and Social Democratic Party. The two major parties formed a coalition, led by the Alliance for Germany, built around the East German CDU. In the first all-German Bundestag elections in 1990, the PDS won only 2. 4% of the nationwide vote, under normal circumstances, a party must win at least five percent of the vote to qualify for mixed member proportional representation in the Bundestag. However, for the 1990 elections only, an exception allowed eastern-based parties to qualify for list representation if they won at least five percent of the vote in the former East Germany. Also, Gysi was elected from a Berlin-area district, representatives elected directly through the First Vote are always guaranteed a seat regardless of their partys national vote. As a result, the PDS entered the 1990 Bundestag with 17 deputies led by Gysi, in the 1994 federal election the PDS managed to increase its share of the vote to 4.4 percent. e. More importantly, Gysi was reelected from his Berlin-area seat, and this allowed the PDS to qualify for MMP even though it came up just short of the five percent threshold. The PDS thus entered the new Bundestag with a caucus of 30 deputies. In 1998, the party reached its highest result to date, with 37 deputies elected on 5. 1% of the national vote, gysis resignation in 2000 after losing a policy debate with leftist factions brought conflict to the PDS
15.
Claudia Roth
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Claudia Roth is a German Green Party politician. She was one of the two party chairs from 2004 to 2013 and currently serves as one of the presidents of the Bundestag. Claudia Benedicta Roth began her work, which she always regarded as also being political. She then worked at the theatre in Dortmund and the Hoffmanns-Comic-Teater. She came into contact with the Green party on election campaign tours, in 1985, she became press spokesperson for the Green Partys parliamentary group in the Bundestag, despite being a newcomer to this line of work. In West Germany’s 1989 European elections, Roth was elected for the first time as a Member of the European Parliament for the Greens. Roth served as a member of the new Committee on Civic Liberties and Internal Affairs, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, from 1989 to 1990, Roth briefly served as deputy chairperson of the Green Group in the European Parliament. In the 1994 European elections, Roth was again elected to the European Parliament as a candidate of Alliance 90/The Greens. She was chairperson of the Green Group in the European Parliament until 1998 and she also remained involved with the Committee on Foreign Affairs as a substitute member. Claudia Roth ended her work as an MEP when she became part of the Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group in the Bundestag after the German federal election,1998. She became a member of the Committee on the Affairs of the European Union, furthermore, she was elected chairperson of the newly established Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid. On 9 March 2001, Roth was elected Federal chairperson of Alliance 90/The Greens at the party conference in Stuttgart, at the same time, she was spokesperson of the Alliance 90/The Greens on womens affairs. In the 2002 national elections, Roth was elected to the Bundestag as Bavarian lead candidate for Alliance 90/The Greens, since then, she has been a member of the Bundestags Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Cultural and Media Affairs. She is also cultural affairs spokesperson for the Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Roth became federal chairperson of Alliance 90/The Greens again in October 2004 and was re-elected as such several times, most recently in November 2010. In 2012, she failed to become the one woman in the campaign for the 2013 national elections. After this defeat she was unsure to run again for the position of leader of the partys board, fellow party member Volker Beck started a support campaign in favour of her in social media networks and called it candystorm. The party members subsequently re-elected Roth with 88.5 percent backing, Roth served as deputy chairwoman of the German-Iranian Parliamentary Friendship Group between 2005 and 2009 and held the same office in the German-Turkish Friendship Group between 2005 and 2013. Roth was elected as Vice-President of the German Bundestag on 22 October 2013 and she also serves as a member of the Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development as well as of the Sub-Committee on Cultural Relations and Education Policy
16.
Alliance 90/The Greens
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Alliance 90/The Greens, often simply Greens, is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. The focus of the party is on ecological, economic, and its leaders are Simone Peter and Cem Özdemir. In the 2013 federal elections, the party came fourth with 8. 4% of the votes and 63 out of 630 seats in the Bundestag, the Green Party was initially founded in West Germany as Die Grünen in January 1980. It rose out of the energy, environmental, peace, new left. Grüne Liste Umweltschutz were the names of branches in Lower Saxony. These groups were founded in 1977 and took part in several elections, most of them merged with The Greens in 1980. In 1993 it renamed to Alliance 90/The Greens Berlin after the merger with East Berlins Greens, the Hamburg state branch of the Green Party was called Grün-Alternative Liste Hamburg from its foundation in 1982 until 2012. In 1984 it became the official Hamburg branch of The Greens, in the 1970s, environmentalists and peace activists politically organised amongst thousands of action groups. The political party The Greens was founded January 13,1980 in Karlsruhe to give this movement political, opposition to pollution, use of nuclear power, NATO military action, and certain aspects of industrialised society were principal campaign issues. The Greens originated from civil initiatives, new movements of the protests of 1968. It was at this congress, that the Greens lay their ideological foundations, proclaiming the famous Four Pillars of the Green Party, in 1982, the conservative factions of the Greens broke away to form the Ecological Democratic Party. Those who left the party at the time might have felt similarly about some of these issues, but did not identify with the forms of protest that Green party members took part in. After some success at elections, the party won 27 seats with 5. 7% of the vote in the Bundestag. The newly formed party was able to draw on this movement to recruit support. Around this time, Joschka Fischer emerged as the leader of the party. Until 1987, the Greens comprised a faction involved in pedophile activism and this faction campaigned for repealing §176 of the German penal code, dealing with child sexual abuse. This group was controversial within the party itself, and was seen as responsible for the poor election result of 1985. In November 2014 the political scientist Franz Walter presented the report about his research on a press conference
17.
CDU/CSU
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CDU/CSU, unofficially the Union parties or Union, is the political alliance of two political parties in Germany, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany and Christian Social Union in Bavaria. Both parties share a common group in the Bundestag known as the CDU/CSU faction or Union faction. According to German Federal Electoral Law, members of a group which share the same basic political aims must not compete with one another in any federal state. The CSU is only organised and contests elections in Bavaria, while the CDU operates in the other 15 states of Germany, the CSU also reflects the particular concerns of the largely rural, Catholic south. Both the CDU and CSU are members of the European Peoples Party and International Democrat Union, and share a common youth organisation, both parties sit in the European Peoples Party Group in the European Parliament. The CSU is usually considered the de facto successor of the Weimar Republic era Bavarian Peoples Party, the CDUs foundation however was the result of a major re-organisation of the centre-right political camp compared to the Weimar Republic. However, the CDU was and still is stronger in Catholic-dominated areas than in Protestant areas of Germany. On their political stances, the CDU and the CSU usually only differ slightly, the CSU is usually considered a bit more socially conservative, Eurosceptic and regionalist. The differences between the CDU and the more socially conservative CSU have sometimes led to conflicts in the past. With a vote of 30–18 and one abstention, the CSU deputies decided to separate from their common faction with the CDU deputies in the Bundestag, the decision had been initiated by CSU chairman Strauss, then himself a Bundestag deputy. The official reasons were to create an effective opposition and gain more speaking time in parliament. Strauss therefore coined the term Vierte Partei and this term was technically misleading, since the CSU had always been a distinct party from the CDU, therefore four parties had already been represented during previous Bundestag terms. On December 12,1976, the vote was rescinded after the CDU had threatened in turn to local associations within Bavaria
18.
Mixed-member proportional representation
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Mixed-member proportional representation is a hybrid two-tier voting system. MMP was originally used to elect representatives to the German Bundestag and it was used in Romania, in the 2008 and 2012 legislative elections. MMP is a method that uses party list proportional representation as its proportional component. It is considered a system, which is a distinct voting system. An electoral system is mixed if more than one formula is employed to distribute legislative seats, biproportional apportionment, first used in Zürich in 2006, is a hybrid method for adjusting an elections result to achieve overall proportionality. In Germany, where it is used on the level and on most state levels. In the United Kingdom such systems used in Scotland, Wales, in the Canadian province of Quebec, where an MMP model was studied in 2007, it is called the compensatory mixed-member voting system. In most models the voter two votes, one for a constituency representative and one for a party. In the original variant used in Germany, both votes were combined into one, so voting for a representative automatically meant also voting for the representatives party. Most of Germany changed to the variant to make local MPs more personally accountable. Voters can vote for the person they prefer for local MP without regard for party affiliation. In the 2005 New Zealand election, 20% of local MPs were elected from electorates which gave a different party a plurality of votes, in each constituency, the representative is chosen using a single winner method, typically first-past-the-post. Most systems used closed party lists to elect the non-constituency MPs, depending on the jurisdiction, candidates may stand for both a constituency and on a party list, or may be restricted to contend either for a constituency or for a party list, but not both. If a candidate is on the party list, but wins a constituency seat, in Bavaria the second vote is not simply for the party but for one of the candidates on the partys regional list, Bavaria uses seven regions for this purpose. A regional open-list method was recommended for the United Kingdom by the Jenkins Commission. This can be done by the largest remainder method or a highest averages method, subtracted from each partys allocation is the number of constituency seats that party won, so that the additional seats are compensatory. If a party wins more FPTP seats than the proportional quota received by the party-list vote, in most German states, but not federally until the federal election of 2013, balance seats are added to compensate for the overhang seats and achieve complete proportionality. In the last election in Scotland, the highest averages method resulted in a majority government for the Scottish National Party with only 44% of the party vote, however, Scotland uses the term Additional Member System which, like MMP can either be proportional or semi-proportional
19.
Next German federal election
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Federal elections will be held in Germany on 24 September 2017 to elect the members of the Bundestag. The FDP failed to get over 5% of the vote, denying the party seats in the Bundestag for the first time in their history. In contrast, the CDU/CSU obtained their best result since 1990, with nearly 42% of the vote, the CDU/CSU successfully negotiated with the Social Democrats to form a grand coalition for the third time. In March 2017, the SPD chose Martin Schulz, the former President of the European Parliament, as their leader, since then support for the SPD has increased sharply. German law requires that the Bundestag election shall take place on a Sunday between 46–48 months after the assemblys first sitting, by convention, recent elections have been held in late September, avoiding the school holidays. Elections can be held earlier under certain conditions, such as the government losing a confidence motion, in January 2017, the election was scheduled for 24 September 2017. The Bundestag has 598 nominal members, elected for a four-year term, voters vote once for a constituency representative, and a second time for a party, and the lists are used to make the party balances match the distribution of second votes. Seats are allocated using the Sainte-Laguë method, if a party receives more seats than its vote share entitles it to, additional compensatory seats are added to the total of 299 to give other parties a proportional number of seats. Voters have two votes, one for the candidate in the constituency and one for the party list in the multi-member constituency. The major parties participating in the election are, The polls are from September 2013 up to the current date, each colored line specifies a political party
20.
Reichstag building
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The Reichstag building is a historical edifice in Berlin, Germany, constructed to house the Imperial Diet, of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Diet until 1933, after its completion in 1999, it once again became the meeting place of the German parliament, the modern Bundestag. The term Reichstag, when used to connote a diet, dates back to the Holy Roman Empire, the building was built for the Diet of the German Empire, which was succeeded by the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic. The latter would become the Reichstag of Nazi Germany, which left the building after the 1933 fire and never returned, in todays usage, the German word Reichstag refers mainly to the building, while Bundestag refers to the institution. Construction of the building began well after the unification of Germany in 1871, after lengthy negotiations, the Raczyński Palace was purchased and demolished, making way for the new building. In 1882, another architectural contest was held, with 200 architects participating and this time the winner, the Frankfurt architect Paul Wallot, would actually see his Neo-Baroque project executed. The direct model for Wallots design was Philadelphias Memorial Hall, the building of the 1876 Centennial Exhibition. Some of the Reichstags decorative sculptures, reliefs, and inscriptions were by sculptor Otto Lessing, on 29 June 1884, the foundation stone was finally laid by Wilhelm I, at the east side of the Königsplatz. Before construction was completed by Philipp Holzmann A. G. in 1894 and his eventual successor, Wilhelm II, took a more jaundiced view of parliamentary democracy than his grandfather. The original building was acclaimed for the construction of a cupola of steel and glass. But its mixture of architectural styles drew widespread criticism, the building continued to be the seat of the parliament of the Weimar Republic, which was still called the Reichstag. The building caught fire on 27 February 1933, under circumstances still not entirely known, during the 12 years of National Socialist rule, the Reichstag building was not used for parliamentary sessions. Instead, the few times that the Reichstag convened at all, it did so in the Kroll Opera House, the main meeting hall of the building was instead used for propaganda presentations and, during World War II, for military purposes. It was also considered for conversion to a tower but was found to be structurally unsuitable. The building, having never fully repaired since the fire, was further damaged by air raids. During the Battle of Berlin in 1945, it one of the central targets for the Red Army to capture due to its perceived symbolic significance. Today, visitors to the building can still see Soviet graffiti on walls inside as well as on part of the roof. Yevgeny Khaldei took the picture, Raising a flag over the Reichstag
21.
Mitte
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Mitte is the first and most central borough of Berlin. It was created in Berlins 2001 administrative reform by the merger of the districts of Mitte proper, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs which comprises former West and East Berlin districts, note that when Berliners speak of Mitte, they usually refer to the smaller locality and not to the larger borough. Mitte is located in the part of Berlin along the Spree River. It borders on Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in the west, Reinickendorf in the north, Pankow in the east, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in the southeast, in the middle of the Spree lies Museum Island with its museums and Berlin Cathedral. The central square in Mitte is Alexanderplatz with the prominent Fernsehturm, Germanys highest building, juni to the Victory Column and the centre of former West Berlin in Charlottenburg, or Karl-Marx-Allee from Alexanderplatz to Friedrichshain and the eastern suburbs. The former Mitte district had established by the 1920 Greater Berlin Act and comprised large parts of the historic city around Alt-Berlin. Brandenburg Gate was the exit at the Berlin city boundary until 1861. Between 1961 and 1990, Mitte was the part of East Berlin, however at the same time it was surrounded by the Berlin Wall at its north, south. The immigrant community is diverse, however, Turks, Africans, Eastern Europeans. Kerület, Budapest, Hungary since 2005 Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow, Russia since 2006 Berlin Mitte Official homepage Official homepage of Berlin
22.
Berlin
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Berlin is the capital and the largest city of Germany as well as one of its constituent 16 states. With a population of approximately 3.5 million, Berlin is the second most populous city proper, due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one-third of the area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers. Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world, following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all-Germany. Berlin is a city of culture, politics, media. Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations. Berlin serves as a hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination, significant industries also include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology, construction and electronics. Modern Berlin is home to world renowned universities, orchestras, museums and its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions. The city is known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts. Since 2000 Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene, the name Berlin has its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of todays Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl-. All German place names ending on -ow, -itz and -in, since the Ber- at the beginning sounds like the German word Bär, a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city. It is therefore a canting arm, the first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920, the central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document,1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod. In 1307, they formed an alliance with a common external policy, in 1415 Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. In 1443 Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln
23.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
24.
Politics of Germany
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Germany is a democratic, federal parliamentary republic, and federal legislative power is vested in the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. There is a multi-party system that, since 1949, has been dominated by the Christian Democratic Union, the judiciary of Germany is independent of the executive and the legislature. The political system is out in the 1949 constitution, the Grundgesetz. West Germany was a member of the European Community in 1958. It is part of the Schengen Area, and has been a member of the eurozone since 1999 and it is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20 and the OECD. After 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany had Christian Democratic chancellors for 20 years until a coalition of Social Democrats, since 1982, Christian Democratic leader Helmut Kohl was chancellor in a coalition with the Liberals for 16 years. In this period fell the reunification of Germany, in 1990, on the GDR territory, five Länder were established or reestablished. The two parts of Berlin united as one Land, the political system of the Federal Republic remained more or less unchanged. Specific provisions for the former GDR territory were enabled via the treaty between the Federal Republic and the GDR prior to the unification day of October 3rd,1990. After 16 years of the Christian–Liberal coalition, led by Helmut Kohl, SPD vice chairman Gerhard Schröder positioned himself as a centrist candidate, in contradiction to the leftist SPD chairman Oskar Lafontaine. The Kohl government was hurt at the polls by slower growth in the East in the previous two years, and constantly high unemployment. The final margin of victory was high to permit a red-green coalition of the SPD with Alliance 90/The Greens. Initial problems of the new government, marked by disputes between the moderate and traditional left wings of the SPD, resulted in some voter disaffection. Lafontaine left the government in early 1999, the CDU won in some important state elections but was hit in 2000 by a party donation scandal from the Kohl years. As a result of this Christian Democratic Union crisis, Angela Merkel became chair, the next election for the Bundestag was on 22 September 2002. Gerhard Schröder led the coalition of SPD and Greens to a victory over the Christian Democrat challengers headed by Edmund Stoiber. In its second term, the coalition lost several very important state elections. On 20 April 2003, chancellor Schröder announced massive labor market reforms, called Agenda 2010, on 22 May 2005 the SPD received a devastating defeat in its former heartland, North Rhine-Westphalia
25.
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany
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The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is the constitutional law of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Basic Law was approved on 8 May 1949 in Bonn and its original field of application comprised the states of the Trizone that were initially included in the then West German Federal Republic of Germany, but not West Berlin. As part of the Two Plus Four Agreement of 1990 between the two parts of Germany and all four Allied Powers, a series of amendments were agreed to be implemented. In the subsequent Unification Treaty of 1990, this amended Basic Law was adopted as the constitution for a united Germany, the German word Grundgesetz may be translated as either Basic Law or Fundamental Law. Nevertheless, although the amended Basic Law was finally to be approved in 1990 by the full Allied Powers, the authors of the Basic Law sought to ensure that a potential dictator would never again have the chance to come into power in the country. Although some of the Basic Law is based on the Weimar republic constitution, Fundamental rights are guaranteed in Germany by the Federal Constitution and in some state constitutions. In the Basic Law, most fundamental rights are guaranteed in the first section of the same name and they are subjective public rights with constitutional rank which bind all authorities of the state. Hence, these rights are called the rights identical to fundamental rights, since initially the Basic Law did not apply for all of Germany, its legal provisions were only valid in its field of application. This legal term was used in West German legislation when West German laws did not apply to the entirety of Germany. Article 23 of the Basic Law provided other de jure German states, initially not included in the field of application of the Basic Law, therefore, although the Basic Law was considered provisional, it allowed more parts of Germany to join its field of application. In other parts of Germany it shall be put into force on their accession, the Saar held no separate referendum on its accession. The Communist regime in East Germany fell in 1990, East Germanys declaration of accession included the East German territories into the field of application of the Basic Law. After the changes of the Basic Law, mostly pertaining to the accession in 1990, the negotiations ended with the conclusion that a democratic and federal West German state was to be established. These papers—amongst other points—summoned the Ministerpräsidenten to arrange a constitutional assembly, with the specific request of a federal structure of a future German state the Western Powers followed German constitutional tradition since the foundation of the Reich in 1871. The Ministerpräsidenten were reluctant to fulfill what was expected from them, a few days later they convened a conference of their own on Rittersturz ridge near Koblenz. They decided that any of the Frankfurt requirements should only be implemented in a formally provisional way, so the constitutional assembly was to be called Parlamentarischer Rat and the constitution given the name of Grundgesetz instead of calling it a constitution. The Ministerpräsidenten prevailed and the Western Powers gave in concerning this highly symbolic question, the draft was prepared at the preliminary Herrenchiemsee convention on the Herreninsel in the Chiemsee, a lake in southeastern Bavaria. The delegates at the Convention were appointed by the leaders of the newly formed Länder, on 1 September 1948 the Parlamentarischer Rat began working on the exact wording of the Grundgesetz
26.
Human rights in Germany
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Human rights in Germany are protected extensively by the Grundgesetz. The country has ratified most international human rights treaties, the 2008 Freedom in the World report by US-funded Freedom House gives Germany a score of 1 for both political rights and civil liberties. The constitution of Germany, the Grundgesetz, which came into effect in May 8,1949 and its first sentence, Human dignity is inviolable, is being interpreted as protecting the sum of human rights. This paragraph is protected by an eternity clause and cannot be changed, however, following experiences from the Weimar Republic, Germany sees itself as a wehrhafte Demokratie, actions targeted towards removing the democratic order are not covered by human rights. The constitution guarantees all rights from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights allows citizens to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Mandatory military service for citizens was established in 1956. At any time, conscientious objectors can opt to do Zivildienst instead, for the time of both services, many human rights such as freedom of movement are suspended. Since 1 July 2011, the government no longer has the ability to exercise the right under this article, however, there are no plans to abolish laws allowing conscription. Germany is also a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council and it recognizes the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The 2008 Freedom in the World report by US-funded Freedom House gives Germany a score of 1 for both political rights and civil liberties, remand must be ordered by a judge. Usually, a suspect cannot be detained for more than six months without a conviction, the German citizen Khalid El-Masri was abducted by the CIA in 2005 and interred without trial for months, although innocent. German intelligence was informed early about this, but undertook nothing, Freedom of speech is guaranteed by the constitution. However, Volksverhetzung is a crime, defined as spreading hate against or insult against a part of the population, in 1994, a paragraph explicitly forbidding denial of Nazi crimes was added. Open-air public rallies require prior announcement to the authorities. Local authorities can prohibit rallies only on grounds of safety concerns or involvement of outlawed organizations. Freedom of press is very established in Germany, the 2009 Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders rates Germany at place 18 of 175 countries. The scandal led to the dismissial of Strauß from office and severely damaged the reputation of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. In 2005, minister of the interior Otto Schily authorized a raid of offices of the periodical Cicero, the raid was based on a substantiated suspicion of leaking of state secrets
27.
Federal Constitutional Court
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The Federal Constitutional Court is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law of Germany. The main task of the court is judicial review, and it may declare legislation unconstitutional, the courts jurisdiction is focused on constitutional issues and the compliance of all governmental institutions with the constitution. Article 20 Section 3 of the Basic Law stipulates that all three branches of the state are bound directly by the constitution, as a result, the court can rule acts of any branches unconstitutional, whether as formal violations or as material conflicts. The powers of the Federal Constitutional Court are defined in article 93 of the Grundgesetz and this constitutional norm is set out in a federal law, the Federal Constitutional Court Act, which also defines how decisions of the court on material conflicts are put into force. Although only a fraction of these are actually successful, several have resulted in major legislation being invalidated. The large majority of the courts procedures fall into category,135,968 such complaints were filed from 1957 to 2002. Abstract regulation control, Several political institutions, including the governments of the Bundesländer, a well-known example of this procedure was the 1975 abortion decision, which invalidated legislation intended to decriminalise abortion. Federal dispute, Federal institutions, including members of the Bundestag, state–federal dispute, The Länder may bring disputes over competences and procedures between the states and federal institutions before the court. Investigation committee control Federal election scrutiny, Violations of election laws may be brought before the court by political institution or any involved voter, prohibition of a political party, Only the Constitutional Court has the power to ban a political party in Germany. This has happened just twice, both times in the 1950s, the Socialist Reich Party, a group, was banned in 1952. Three judges objected to continuing which was sufficient as banning a party requires a two-thirds-majority, the court did not decide on the ban itself. Up to 2009, the Constitutional Court had struck down more than 600 laws as unconstitutional, the court consists of two senates, each of which has eight members, headed by a senate’s chairman. The members of each senate are allocated to three chambers for hearings in constitutional complaint and single regulation control cases, each chamber consists of three judges, so each senate chairman is at the same time a member of two chambers. Decisions by a senate require a majority, in some cases a two-thirds vote is required. Decisions by a chamber need to be unanimous, a chamber is not authorized to overrule a standing precedent of the senate to which it belongs, such issues need to be submitted to the senate as a whole. Similarly, a senate may not overrule a standing precedent of the other senate, unlike all other German courts, the court often publishes the vote count on its decisions and even allows its members to issue a dissenting opinion. This possibility, introduced only in 1971, is a deviation from German judicial tradition. One of the two senate chairmen is also the president of the court, the one being the vice-president
28.
President of Germany
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The President of Germany, officially the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of state of Germany. Germany has a system of government in which the Chancellor is the nations leading political figure. However, the President has a role which, while not an executive post, is more than ceremonial, Presidents have extensive discretion regarding the way they exercise their official duties. The President gives direction to general political and societal debates and has some important reserve powers in case of political instability. Furthermore, all laws must be signed by the President before they can come into effect. The President, by his or her actions and public appearances, represents the state itself, its existence, its legitimacy, the Presidents office involves an integrative role and the control function of upholding the law and the constitution. In order to exercise power, he/she traditionally acts above party politics. The 12th and current officeholder is Frank-Walter Steinmeier who was elected on 12 February 2017, the convention consists of all Bundestag members as well as an equal number of electors elected by the state legislatures in proportion to their respective population. However it is not required that state electors themselves be members of a legislature, the body is convened and chaired by the President of the German Bundestag. From 1979 to 2009, all these conventions were held on 23 May, in the first two rounds of the election, the Federal Convention attempts to elect a president by an absolute majority of votes cast. If, after two votes, no candidate has received this level of support, in the third. The result of the election is determined by party politics. Usually, the candidate of the majority party or coalition in the Bundestag is considered to be the likely winner, however, if the opposition has turned in a strong showing in state elections, it can potentially have enough support to defeat the governments candidate. For this reason, presidential elections can indicate the result of a general election. According to a long-standing adage in German politics, if you can create a president, you can form a government. 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. As yet, only four Presidents have been elected for a second term, the president must not be a member of the federal government or of a legislature at either the federal or state level. On taking office the President must take the oath, stipulated by Article 56 of the Basic Law, in a joint session of the Bundestag
29.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
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Frank-Walter Steinmeier is the President of Germany, serving since 19 March 2017. He previously served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017 and he was chairman-in-office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2016. Steinmeier is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and he was a close aide of Gerhard Schröder when Schröder was Prime Minister of Lower Saxony during most of the 1990s, and served as Schröders chief of staff from 1996. When Schröder became Chancellor of Germany in 1998, Steinmeier was appointed Under-Secretary of State in the German Chancellery with the responsibility for the intelligence services, from 1999 to 2005 he served as Chief of Staff of the Chancellery. Following the 2005 federal election, Steinmeier became Foreign Minister in the first grand coalition government of Angela Merkel, in 2008, he briefly served as acting chairman of his party. He was the SPDs candidate for chancellor in the 2009 federal election, following the 2013 federal election he again became Minister for Foreign Affairs in Merkels second grand coalition. He was elected as President by the Federal Convention on 12 February 2017 and he acquired the necessary majority in the first round of voting by receiving 931 electoral votes out of a total of 1260 votes. Steinmeier belongs to the wing of the SPD, known as reformists. As chief of staff he was an architect of Agenda 2010. Steinmeier was born in Detmold, the son of a carpenter, although his full name is Frank-Walter, he only goes by the name Frank among those who know him. His father was affiliated with the Church of Lippe, one of Germanys few Calvinist regional church bodies and his mother, born in Breslau, came as a refugee from a Lutheran part of Silesia during the flight and expulsion of Germans after World War II. Frank-Walter was baptized into his fathers church—the Church of Lippe, a church of the Evangelical Church of Germany. Following his Abitur, he served his military service from 1974 until 1976 and he then studied law and political science at the Justus Liebig University Giessen, where his fellow students included Brigitte Zypries. In 1982 he passed his first and 1986 his second examination in law. He worked as an assistant to the professor of public law. His dissertation explored the role of the state in the prevention of homelessness, Steinmeier became an adviser in 1991 for law of communication media and media guidelines in the state Chancellery of Lower Saxony in Hanover. In 1993, he director of the personal office for the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony. In 1996, he became the Undersecretary of State and Director of the State Chancellery of Lower Saxony, Steinmeier was appointed in November 1998 as undersecretary of state at the office of the chancellor following Schröders election victory
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Angela Merkel
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Angela Dorothea Merkel is a German politician who is currently Chancellor of Germany. She is also the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, Merkel has been described at various times as the de facto leader of the European Union, the most powerful woman in the world, and the worlds second most powerful person. Following German reunification in 1990, Merkel was elected to the Bundestag for the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Merkel was appointed as the Minister for Women and Youth in the federal government under Chancellor Helmut Kohl in 1991, and became the Minister for the Environment in 1994. In the 2009 federal election, the CDU obtained the largest share of the vote, in 2007, Merkel was President of the European Council and chaired the G8, the second woman to do so. Merkel played a role in the negotiation of the Treaty of Lisbon. One of Merkels consistent priorities has been to strengthen economic relations. Merkel played a role in managing the financial crisis at the European and international level. On 26 March 2014, Merkel became the incumbent head of government in the European Union. On 20 November 2016, Merkel announced she would seek re-election to a fourth term and she has two younger siblings, her brother Marcus Kasner, a physicist, and her sister Irene Kasner, an occupational therapist. In her childhood and youth, Merkel was known among her peers by the nickname Kasi, Merkel is of Polish and German descent. Her paternal grandfather Ludwik Kaźmierczak was a German policeman of Polish ethnicity and he married Merkels grandmother Margarethe, a German girl from Berlin, and relocated to her hometown where he worked in the police. In 1930 they Germanized the Polish name Kaźmierczak to Kasner, Merkels maternal grandparents were the Danzig politician Willi Jentzsch and Gertrud Alma née Drange, a daughter of the city clerk of Elbing Emil Drange. Merkel has mentioned her Polish heritage on several occasions, but her Polish roots became better known as a result of a 2013 biography, religion played a key role in the Kasner familys migration from West Germany to East Germany. In 1954, he received a pastorate at the church in Quitzow, the family moved to Templin and Merkel grew up in the countryside 80 km north of East Berlin. Like most young people in the German Democratic Republic, Merkel was a member of the Free German Youth, membership was nominally voluntary, but those who did not join found it difficult to gain admission to higher education. She did not participate in the coming of age ceremony Jugendweihe, however. Later, at the Academy of Sciences, she became a member of the FDJ district board, Merkel claimed that she was secretary for culture. When Merkels one-time FDJ district chairman contradicted her, she insisted that, According to my memory, I believe I wont know anything when Im 80
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Vice-Chancellor of Germany
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The Deputy to the Federal Chancellor, widely known as the Vice Chancellor of Germany is, according to protocol, the second highest position in the Cabinet of Germany. He is the equivalent of a deputy minister in other parliamentary systems. The current Vice Chancellor is Sigmar Gabriel, who is the president of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, as provided by the Basic Law, Vice Chancellor is not an independent office, but a position held by one of the ministers. Since 1966, it has often held by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It is the Chancellor who chooses which minister serves as Vice Chancellor, since coalition governments are common in German politics, the Vice Chancellor is in most cases the president of the junior coalition partner. In case of the Chancellors absence, the Vice Chancellor acts in his or her place, the Vice Chancellor will not automatically become Chancellor for the rest of the term if the Chancellor dies or becomes unable to fulfill his or her duties in any other way. It is the President who asks a minister to fulfill the Chancellors duties until the Bundestag elects a new Chancellor and this has happened only once, Vice Chancellor Walter Scheel was acting Chancellor for a few days in May 1974 between Chancellor Willy Brandt’s resignation and Helmut Schmidt’s election. In addition to the deputy, who would be responsible for all the affairs of the Chancellor. The act was revised on 28 October 1918, when the possibility of appointing deputies with limited responsibilities was removed, Political Party, FKP FVP Political Party, DDP Centre DVP SPD DNVP Political Party, NSDAP Political Party, FDP CDU SPD Green
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Olaf Scholz
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Olaf Scholz is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and First Mayor of Hamburg since 7 March 2011. A former Vice President of the International Union of Socialist Youth, Scholz served as the SPD parliamentary group’s spokesperson on the inquiry committee investigating the German Visa Affair in 2005. Following the federal elections later that year, he served as First Parliamentary Secretary of the SPD parliamentary group, in this capacity, he worked closely with the CDU parliamentary floor manager Norbert Röttgen to manage and defend the grand coalition led by Chancellor Angela Merkel in parliament. He also served as member of the Parliamentary Control Panel, which provides oversight of Germany’s intelligence services BND, MAD. Scholz succeeded Franz Müntefering as Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the first cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel, following the 2009 elections, Scholz served as deputy chairman of the SPD parliamentary group. Between 2009 and 2011, he served on the group’s Afghanistan/Pakistan Task Force, in 2010 he also participated in the annual Bilderberg Meeting in Sitges, Spain. On 20 February 2011 the Social Democrats led by Scholz won the 2011 Hamburg state election with 48. 3% of the votes, resulting in 62 out of 121 seats in the Hamburg Parliament. Scholz resigned as a member of the seventeenth Bundestag on 11 March 2011 shortly after his election as First Mayor, Dorothee Stapelfeldt, on June 7,2011, Scholz attended the state dinner hosted by President Barack Obama in honor of Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House. As host of Hamburg’s annual St, Scholz participated in the exploratory talks between the CDU, CSU and SPD parties to form a coalition government following the 2013 federal elections. In the subsequent negotiations, he led the SPD delegation in the financial policy working group, alongside fellow Social Democrats Jörg Asmussen and Thomas Oppermann, Scholz was considered a possible successor to Schäuble in the post of finance minister at the time. Since January 2015, he has been serving as Commissioner of the Federal Republic of Germany for Cultural Affairs under the Treaty on Franco-German Cooperation, under Scholz’ leadership, the Social Democrats handily won the 2015 state elections in Hamburg, receiving around 47 percent of the vote. His coalition government with the Green Party – with Green leader Katharina Fegebank serving as Deputy First Mayor – was sworn in on 15 April 2015. When the editors said they would go ahead and publish it without authorization, olaf Scholz is married with Britta Ernst, they have no children
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Cabinet of Germany
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The Cabinet of Germany is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Chancellor and the cabinet ministers, the Chancellor is elected by the federal parliament after being proposed by the President. Following the election, the Chancellor is appointed by the President, the ministers are appointed by the President upon proposal of the Chancellor. Eventually, before taking office, the Chancellor and ministers swear an oath in front of the parliament, the Chancellor is responsible for guiding the cabinet and deciding its political direction. According to the principle of departmentalization, the ministers are free to carry out their duties independently within the boundaries set by the Chancellors political directives. The Chancellor also decides the scope of each ministers duties, if two ministers disagree on a particular point, the cabinet resolves the conflict by a majority vote. The Chancellor is in charge of the administrative affairs, which are usually delegated to the head of the Chancellery. Details are laid down in the rules for internal procedures. These state, for example, that the cabinet is quorate only if at least half of the ministers including the chair are present, the cabinet regularly convenes Wednesday mornings in the Chancellery. According to established practice, decisions on important armaments exports are made by the Federal Security Council, pursuant to its rules of procedure, its sessions are confidential. As a general rule, the Federal Government, if asked, is required to inform the Bundestag that the Federal Security Council has approved a given armaments export transaction or not
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Federal Convention (Germany)
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The Federal Convention mirrors the aggregated majority situation of the Bundestag and the parliaments of the 16 German federal states. The Basic Law mandates that a maximum of three votes can be held, on the first two rounds a candidate must receive an absolute majority of delegates to be elected. After that, in the round, a plurality of all delegates voting is sufficient for election to the office of Federal President. Any delegate may nominate candidates, usually every parliamentary group puts forth candidates, the Basic Law charges the President of the Bundestag the responsibility and authority to call a meeting of the Bundesversammlung. Each member of the Bundesversammlung may suggest candidates for the office of the Federal President, in practice however only the candidates designated in advance by the parliamentary groups are suggested. The procedure of the election of the Bundespräsident consists of a maximum of three secret votes by written ballot, if one of the first two votes ends with an absolute majority for one of the candidates, this candidate is elected immediately. If the first two votes do not lead to a majority, a plurality is sufficient in the third. According to the Grundgesetz, the President is elected without a debate at the Federal Convention, the candidates are usually nominated by one or more parties, but do not generally run a campaign. The President of the Bundestag closes the session of the Bundesversammlung once the candidate accepts. The Bundesversammlung is chaired by the President of the Bundestag, the Bundesversammlung is dissolved once the elected President declares that they accept their election, which decision may be delayed for up to two days. The Länder representatives are not solely politicians and it is common that the parties nominate several notable people from television, sports and the music industry. Still most of the Länder representatives are politicians, especially those in the state cabinet are often nominated. This has changed since the resignations of former presidents Horst Koehler, the most recent assembly of the Bundesversammlung was held on 12 February 2017, after Frank-Walter Steinmeier was chosen as the single candidate of the ruling coalition in November. On 12 September 1949, the first Bundesversammlung met in Bonn, from 1954 to 1969 the Bundesversammlung was convened at the Ostpreußenhalle in Berlin, leading to protests from the German Democratic Republic on each occasion it met. As a consequence, on March 5,1969, the Soviet Union overflew the venue with MiG-21 war planes, from 1974 to 1989, the Bundesversammlung met in the Beethovenhalle in Bonn. Since 1994, the place has been the Reichstag building in Berlin. After the renovation of the Reichstag building, the German Bundestag moved to the building in April 1999, since the meeting of the Bundesversammlung held in May 1999, the body has convened in the plenary chamber of the Bundestag at the Reichstag building
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Bundesrat of Germany
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The German Bundesrat is a legislative body that represents the sixteen Länder of Germany at the national level. The Bundesrat meets at the former Prussian House of Lords in Berlin and its second seat is located in the former West German capital of Bonn. For its similar function, it is described as an upper house of parliament along the lines of the US Senate. Bundesrath was the name of similar bodies in the North German Confederation and its predecessor in the Weimar Republic was the Reichsrat. The political makeup of the Bundesrat is affected by changes in power in the states of Germany, each state delegation in the Bundesrat is essentially a representation of the state government and reflects the political makeup of the ruling majority or plurality of each state legislature. The German Bundesrat was first founded, together with the North German Confederation and it was continued under the same name and with the same functions by the German Empire, in 1871. Under the Weimar Constitution,1919, it was replaced by the Reichsrat, whilst appointed by state governments just as today, the delegates of the original Bundesrat—as those of the Reichsrat—were usually high-ranking civil servants, not cabinet members. The original Bundesrat was very powerful, every bill needed its consent and it could also, with the Emperors agreement, dissolve the Reichstag. The Reichsrat of the Weimar Republic had considerably less influence, since it could only veto bills—and even then be overruled by the Reichstag, however, overruling the Reichsrat needed a majority of two-thirds in the Reichstag, which consisted of many parties differing in opinion. So, in most cases, bills vetoed by the Reichsrat failed due to the lack of unity among the Reichstags constituent parties. The Bundesrat met in the building as the Reichstag and Bundestag from 1871 until 2000. The composition of the Bundesrat, 1871–1919, was as follows, Bundesrat members are not elected—either by popular vote or by the state parliaments—but are delegated by the respective state government. Normally, a state consists of the Minister President and other cabinet ministers. The state cabinet may appoint as many delegates as the state has votes, in any case, the state has to cast its votes en bloc, i. e. without vote splitting. As state elections are not coordinated across Germany and can occur at any time, the number of votes a state is allocated is based on a form of degressive proportionality according to its population. This way, smaller states have more votes than a proportional to the population would grant. The allocation of votes is regulated by the German constitution, all of a states votes are cast en bloc—either for or against or in abstention of a proposal. Each state is allocated at least three votes, and a maximum of six, states with more than 2 million inhabitants have 4 votes,6 million inhabitants have 5 votes,7 million inhabitants have 6 votes
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Judiciary of Germany
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The judiciary of Germany is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in Germany. The German legal system is a civil law based on a comprehensive compendium of statutes. In Germany, the independence of the judiciary is historically older than democracy, the organisation of courts is traditionally strong, and almost all federal and state actions are subject to judicial review. Judges follow a career path. They then must pass a state examination that qualifies them to practice law. At that point, the individual can choose either to be a lawyer or to enter the judiciary, judicial candidates start working at courts immediately. However, they are subjected to a period of up to five years before being appointed as judges for life. The judicial system is established and governed by part IX of the Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the court system adjudicates public law, that is, administrative law and criminal law, and private law. German law - especially private law - is mainly based on early Byzantine law, specifically Justinians Code, in contrast to the adversarial system used by common law countries, the German system of criminal procedure is inquisitorial. Rather than allowing cross-examination between the defense and prosecutors, the conduct the majority of the trial. The primary legislation concerning court organization is the Courts Constitution Act, the courts are characterized by being specialist, regional, and hierarchically integrated at the federal level. There are 5 basic types of courts, plus the Federal Constitutional Court, Constitutional law courts, focusing on judicial review and constitutional interpretation. Only the Constitutional Court can declare an Act of Parliament invalid, Ordinary courts are the most numerous by far. Currently there are 828 ordinary courts,142 labour courts,69 administrative courts,20 tax courts,86 social courts and 17 constitutional courts, specialized courts deal with five distinct subject areas, administrative, labour, social, fiscal, and patent law. Like the ordinary courts, they are organized hierarchically with the court systems under a federal appeals court. Administrative law courts consist of local courts, higher administrative courts. In these courts, individuals can have wrongful administrative acts overturned, for instance, many lawsuits have been brought in administrative courts by citizens against the government concerning the location and safety standards of nuclear power plants. The Federal Administrative Court is the highest administrative law court, Labour law courts also function on three levels and address disputes over collective bargaining agreements and working conditions
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Federal Administrative Court (Germany)
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The Federal Administrative Court is one of the five federal supreme courts of Germany. It is the court of the last resort for all cases of administrative law. It hears appeals from the Oberverwaltungsgerichte, or Superior Administrative Courts, the Bundesverwaltungsgericht has its seat at the former Reichsgericht building in Leipzig. Everhardt Franßen, 1991-2002 Media related to Reichsgericht Leipzig - Seat of the Federal Administrative Court of Germany at Wikimedia Commons Official homepage
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Federal Court of Justice
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The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction in Germany. It is the court in all matters of criminal and private law. A decision handed down by the BGH can be reversed only by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany in rare cases when the Constitutional Court rules on constitutionality, as from 1870, in the time of the North German Confederation, there was the Bundesoberhandelsgericht in Leipzig. Later, in 1871, it was renamed to Reichsoberhandelsgericht and its area of responsibility was amplified as well and this court was unsoldered by the Reichsgericht at October 1,1879, which was also in Leipzig. On 1 October 1950, five years after the German Reich had collapsed, the general function of the Federal Court of Justice is to save the uniformity of the jurisdiction on the one side, and to do law-development on the other side. So usually it just reconsiders the legal assessment of a case as a court of last resort, in some special cases they also reconsider first-instance decrees of the local courts and the regional courts. Here it can decide that an application for revision is improper —then the application gets discarded— or that it is valid – then it has to decide about the case. In the criminal law it has to decide about applications for revision against first-instance decrees of the regional courts, here it has to decide whether an application is blatantly reasonless or whether it is blatantly reasonable in support of the defendant. In both of these cases it can decide without a main trial, in any other case, it has to decide about the legal remedy after a main trial. This is to save the homogeneity of the jurisdiction, since 2000, the judgments of the Federal Court of Justice have been published on the official court website. Once a judge has been chosen by committee, he or she is appointed by the President of Germany. Only individuals who possess German citizenship within the meaning of Art and this admission is the only special admission within the German court system, in that an attorney at the Federal Court of Justice for civil cases cannot appear in any other court in the country. Admission at the Bundesgerichtshof is highly selective, as of May 2015 there are only 46 attorneys so admitted, candidates for admission are nominated by an electoral committee and are then chosen and appointed by the Federal Ministry of Justice. The requirement for a representative specifically admitted to the Federal Court of Justice does not apply in criminal cases, here, representation by any lawyer admitted to the Bar in Germany suffices. Meyers Großes Taschenlexikon in 24 Bänden, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Federal Court of Justice of Germany
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