Status: 02/13/2022 05:00 a.m
Twelve men, 0 women. The youngest was 51, the oldest 72. One received 37 years of honorary pay, one gave up. Interesting figures regarding the elections of Germany’s number 1.
736 plus 736 …
… totals 1472. That’s how many men and women are electing the Federal President this time. This makes the Federal Assembly larger than ever before. This is also due to the record size of the Bundestag. 736 MPs currently sit in Parliament – together they make up half of the Federal Assembly. The 16 state parliaments send an equal number – also 736. They do not necessarily have to be state parliamentarians. Again and once more people from sports, culture and society are sent – this time too. Or alumni from politics: The CDU in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania sent Angela Merkel.
Twelve – and no woman
In the history of the Federal Republic there have been twelve Federal Presidents. All men, there has never been a woman as head of state in Germany. Six of these men came from the CDU, three from the SPD and two from the FDP. Only one was without party affiliation: Joachim Gauck.
At least 40
The minimum age for a Federal President is 40 years. With his 51 years was Christian Wolff the youngest landlord to date at Bellevue Palace – and at the same time the one with the shortest tenure: he resigned following 598 days.
72
There is no maximum age for heads of state. Joachim Gauck was the oldest so far: At the age of 72, the pastor and GDR civil rights activist took office on March 23, 2012. Gauck was also the first non-party Federal President. For reasons of age, he decided not to run once more in 2017.
Two made two
The Federal President is elected for five years, a one-time re-election is possible without any problems. Whether a third term would also be conceivable is constitutionally disputed – that has never happened before. Of the four Federal Presidents who have been re-elected to date, none have stood for a third time. And only two managed the full second term: Heuss and Weizsacker. Lübke and Köhler resigned earlier.
Number plate 0 – 1
Anyone who sees a dark luxury limousine with the official special number plate 0 – 1 is likely to have met the Federal President or at least his company car. If the standard of the Federal President is also waving on the right fender – a floating federal eagle in a gold-colored square with a red border – and the car is surrounded by a police escort, there is little doubt: the head of state is on official duty here.
Ten ninths
The Federal President receives an official salary – currently amounting to ten ninths of the Federal Chancellor’s salary. In addition, he or she is provided with an official apartment with furnishings plus an expense allowance. In figures: According to the website of the Office of the Federal President, in the 2020 budget year the official salaries were around 254,000 euros plus an expense allowance of 78,000 euros. After leaving, there is an honorary salary for life plus official equipment, such as an office and company car. Stricter financial rules have been in force here since 2019. got the longest Walter Scheel the honorary pay: 37 years. At the other end of the scale is Horst Koehler: He renounced.
1970
It was actually clear from 1949: the Federal Chancellor would give the Christmas speech, and the Federal President would be responsible for the New Year’s speech. The duo Willy Brandt and Gustav Heineman swapped in 1970, however. Heinemann gave the Christmas speech for the first time on December 25, Brandt that at the turn of the year. And this is how the distribution of tasks has remained to this day.
Number 1
In the ranking of the representatives of the highest constitutional bodies, the Federal President is the first in terms of protocol. After the head of state follows – no, not the federal chancellor and not the chancellor either. Rather, number 2 is the President of the Bundestag. After all, he or she represents the parliament, a constitutional body directly elected by the people. The chancellor is in turn elected by the members of parliament. Protocol number 4 is the head of the Federal Council, followed by the President of the Federal Constitutional Court.