Minister president (Germany)

The Minister President (Ministerpräsident) is the head of state and government in thirteen of Germany's sixteen states.

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In the three states of Berlin, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg the heads of the state hold different titles:

In the since-1952 defunct states of Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern the heads of state held the title State President (Staatspräsident). Nevertheless, in Germany it is common practice, to call all sixteen heads of the states ministers president if they are referred to collectively. For example, the regular meetings of the sixteen office-holders are called Conference of Ministers President (Ministerpräsidentenkonferenz).

Constitutional roles and powers

As the German constitution (Basic Law) defines the Federal Republic of Germany as a federation, each German state has its own constitution. The Basic Law gives the states a broad discretion to determine their respective state structure, only stating that each German state has to be a social and democratic republic under the rule of law (Article 28.1). In practice all German states have adopted some form of a mixed parliamentary republican system: Despite some differences between the individual state constitutions, the Ministers President have both typical powers of an executive leader (for example appointing and dismissing cabinet members or defining the political guidelines of the cabinet) and typical powers and functions of a head of state (for example the power to grant pardons on behalf of the state and to perform certain ceremonial duties). As such, their powers and functions resemble those of an executive president, but in contrast to a presidential system, they are not directly elected and depend on the confidence of the respective state parliament. Thus, the constitutional position of a minister president differs from that of the Chancellor of Germany at the federal level, who only holds the role of a chief executive leader, while the President of Germany performs the more ceremonial powers and functions of the federal head of state.

Even though all sixteen ministers president hold roughly the same position in their states, there are also some important differences between the provisions of the state constitutions with regard to the head of state and government. This begins with the election procedure: All ministers president are elected by the state parliament, but while in some states a majority of parliament members is needed for a successful election, in other states a simple majority (a majority of votes cast) is sufficient. The same goes for recall procedures: In some states, the parliament may simply vote an officeholder out of office, while in other states the parliament has to elect a new officeholder at the same time (Constructive vote of no confidence). In Bavaria, the constitution does not allow a recall of the minister president at all. In fifteen states, the state constitution defines the minister president as the leader of the cabinet, giving him or her the right, to determine the cabinet's political guidelines, but this is not the case in Bremen, where the President of the Senate and Mayor only has a ceremonial precedence over the other cabinet members. There are also differences regarding the ministers president power, to shape his or her cabinet: While in some states the office-holder is free to appoint or dismiss cabinet ministers at his or her discretion, in other states there are limits to this power, while the constitution of Bremen does not give the President of the Senate and Mayor any power, to directly influence the composition of his or her cabinet.

StateTitleElection thresholdRecall procedurePosition in cabinetPower to shape the cabinetRight to grant pardonMinimum ageOther provisions
Baden-Württemberg[1]Minister Presidentmajority of membersconstructive vote of no confidenceguideline competencecabinet appointments subject to parliamentary approval, the state parliament may recall individual cabinet ministers with a two-thirds majorityyes35
Bavaria[2]Minister Presidentsimple majoritynoneguideline competencecabinet appointments subject to parliamentary approvalyes40
Berlin[3]Governing Mayorsimple majorityvote of no confidence, but if the state parliament does not elect a new Governing Mayor within 21 days, the former officeholder is reinvested automaticallyguideline competencefullno (whole cabinet)18 (de facto)
Brandenburg[4]Minister Presidentmajority of members (first and second ballot), plurality (third ballot)constructive vote of no confidenceguideline competencefullyes18 (de facto)
Bremen[5]President of the Senate and Mayorsimple majorityconstructive vote of no confidenceceremonial precedencenoneno (whole cabinet)18may not be a member of the state parliament
Hamburg[6]First Mayormajority of membersconstructive vote of no confidenceguideline competencecabinet appointments subject to parliamentary approvalno (whole cabinet)18may not be a member of the state parliament
Hesse[7]Minister Presidentmajority of membersvote of no confidenceguideline competencedismissal of cabinet appointments subject to parliamentary approvalyes18 (de facto)members of noble houses, which have reigned in Germany before 1918, are ineligible for office
Lower Saxony[8]Minister Presidentmajority of members or plurality, if the state parliament does not elect a minister president in 21 days and does not dissolve itself thereuponconstructive vote of no confidenceguideline competencecabinet appointments subject to parliamentary approvalyes18 (de facto)
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern[9]Minister Presidentmajority of members or plurality, if the state parliament does not elect a minister president in 28 days and does not dissolve itself thereuponconstructive vote of no confidenceguideline competencefullyes18 (de facto)
North Rhine-Westphalia[10]Minister Presidentmajority of members (first ballot), simple majority (second and third ballot), runoff (fourth ballot)constructive vote of no confidenceguideline competencefullyes18has to be a member of the state parliament
Rhineland-Palatinate[11]Minister Presidentmajority of membersvote of no confidenceguideline competencefullyes18 (de facto)
Saarland[12]Minister Presidentmajority of membersvote of no confidenceguideline competencecabinet appointments and dismissals subject to parliamentary approvalno (whole cabinet)18 (de facto)
Free State of Saxony[13]Minister Presidentmajority of members (first ballot), simple majority (following ballots)constructive vote of no confidenceguideline competencefullyes18 (de facto)
Saxony-Anhalt[14]Minister Presidentmajority of members or simple majority, if the state parliament does not elect a minister president in 14 days and does not dissolve itself thereuponconstructive vote of no confidenceguideline competencefullyes18 (de facto)
Schleswig-Holstein[15]Minister Presidentmajority of members (first and second ballot), plurality (third ballot)constructive vote of no confidenceguideline competencefullyes18 (de facto)
Free State of Thuringia[16]Minister Presidentmajority of members (first and second ballot), plurality (third ballot)constructive vote of no confidenceguideline competencefullyes18 (de facto)

By virtue of their position in the Bundesrat, the ministers president can exert considerable influence on national politics within the federal structure. Along with several of their ministers, they commonly represent their state in the Bundesrat (the German Federal Council). Each state government is represented in the Bundesrat by three to six delegates, depending on the state's population.

Deputies

The Ministers President appoint one (or in some states two) member(s) of their cabinet as their deputies. In most states the deputy of the minister president holds the title Deputy Minister President. Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein have a higher ranking First Deputy Minister President and a lower ranking Second Deputy Minister President. Bavaria has a higher ranking Deputy Minister President and a lower ranking Additional Deputy Minister President. Berlin has two equally ranking Mayors deputizing for the Governing Mayor, while Bremen has a Mayor deputizing for the President of the Senate and Mayor and Hamburg has a Second Mayor deputizing for the First Mayor.

List of current office-holders

The longest-serving incumbent office-holder is Volker Bouffier, who serves as the 8th Minister President of Hesse since 31 August 2010. Bodo Ramelow, the 7th Minister President of Thuringia (since 4 March 2020), is the shortest-serving incumbent, although he already held this office from 2014 until 5 February 2020.

PortraitNameTitleentered officePartyDeputy
Title

Baden-Württemberg		Winfried Kretschmann9th Minister President of Baden-Württemberg12 May 2011Alliance 90/The GreensThomas Strobl
(CDU)
Deputy Minister President

Free State of Bavaria		Markus Söder13th Minister President of Bavaria16 March 2018CSUHubert Aiwanger
(Free Voters)
Deputy Minister President
Joachim Herrmann
(CSU)
Additional Deputy Minister President

Berlin		Michael Müller14th Governing Mayor of Berlin11 December 2014SPDKlaus Lederer
(The Left)
Mayor
Ramona Pop
(Alliance 90/The Greens)
Mayor

Brandenburg		Dietmar Woidke3rd Minister President of Brandenburg28 August 2013SPDMichael Stübgen
(CDU)
First Deputy Minister President
Ursula Nonnenmacher
(Alliance 90/The Greens)
Second Deputy Minister President

Free Hanseatic City of Bremen		Andreas Bovenschulte9th President of the Senate and Mayor of Bremen15 August 2019SPDMaike Schaefer
(Alliance 90/The Greens)
Mayor

Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg		Peter Tschentscher15th First Mayor of Hamburg28 March 2018SPDKatharina Fegebank
(Alliance 90/The Greens)
Second Mayor

Hesse		Volker Bouffier8th Minister President of Hesse31 August 2010CDUTarek Al-Wazir
(Alliance 90/The Greens)
Deputy Minister President

Lower Saxony		Stephan Weil12th Minister President of Lower Saxony19 February 2013SPDBernd Althusmann
(CDU)
Deputy Minister President

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern		Manuela Schwesig5th Minister President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern4 July 2017SPDLorenz Caffier
(CDU)
Deputy Minister President

North Rhine-Westphalia		Armin Laschet11th Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia27 June 2017CDUJoachim Stamp
(FDP)
Deputy Minister President

Rhineland-Palatinate		Malu Dreyer8th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate16 January 2013SPDVolker Wissing
(FDP)
Deputy Minister President

Saarland		Tobias Hans11th Minister President of Saarland1 March 2018CDUAnke Rehlinger
(SPD)
Deputy Minister President

Free State of Saxony		Michael Kretschmer4th Minister President of Saxony13 December 2017CDUWolfram Günther
(Alliance 90/The Greens)
First Deputy Minister President
Martin Dulig
(SPD)
Second Deputy Minister President

Saxony-Anhalt		Reiner Haseloff6th Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt19 April 2011CDUPetra Grimm-Benne
(SPD)
First Deputy Minister President
Claudia Dalbert
(Alliance 90/The Greens)
Second Deputy Minister President

Schleswig-Holstein		Daniel Günther14th Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein28 June 2017CDUMonika Heinold
(Alliance 90/The Greens)
First Deputy Minister President
Hainer Garg
(FDP)
Second Deputy Minister President

Free State of Thuringia		Bodo Ramelow7th Minister President of Thuringia4 March 2020The LeftWolfgang Tiefensee
(SPD)
Deputy Minister President

Last office-holders in former states of the Federal Republic of Germany
PortraitNameTitlein officePartyDeputy
Title

Baden		Leo WohlebState President of Baden24 June 1947 - 25 April 1952CDUAlfred Schühly
(CDU)
Deputy State President

Württemberg-Baden		Reinhold MaierMinister President of Württemberg-Baden19 September 1945 - 25 April 1952FDPHermann Veit
(SPD)
Deputy Minister President

Württemberg-Hohenzollern		Gebhard Müller3rd State President of Württemberg-Hohenzollern13 August 1948 - 25 April 1952CDUViktor Renner
(SPD)
Deputy State President

Trivia

The office of a minister president is both highly prestigious in its own right and acts as a potential "career springboard" for German politicians.

Three out of twelve Presidents of Germany have been head of a state before becoming President:

One out of 13 Presidents of the Bundestag has been head of a state before becoming President:

Four out of eight Chancellors of Germany have been head of a state before becoming Chancellor:

  • Kurt-Georg Kiesinger, 3rd Minister President of Baden-Württemberg (1958–1966)
  • Willy Brandt, 4th Governing Mayor of Berlin (1957–1966)
  • Helmut Kohl, 3rd Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate (1969–1976)
  • Gerhard Schröder, 7th Minister President of Lower Saxony (1990–1998)

One out of nine Presidents of the Federal Constitutional Court has been head of a state before becoming President:

  • Gebhard Müller, 3rd State President of Württemberg-Hohenzollern (1948–1952), 2nd Minister President of Baden-Württemberg (1953–1958)

Many more Ministers President went on to become members of the federal government, EU institutions or associate judges of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany for example.

The three longest serving office-holders were:

  • Peter Altmeier, 2nd Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate (1947–1969, 21 years, 10 months, 9 days)
  • Franz-Josef Röder, 5th Minister President of Saarland (1959–1979, 20 years, 2 months, 3 days)
  • Wilhelm Kaisen, 2nd President of the Senate and Mayor of Bremen (1945–1965, 19 years, 11 months, 19 days)

The three shortest serving office-holders were:

There have been six female heads of a German state:

One person has managed to become Minister President of two different states, which did not merge into one another:

  • Bernhard Vogel, 4th Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate (1976–1988) and 2nd Minister President of Thuringia (1992–2003)

Two persons have been Ministers President of two states before and after they had merged into one another:

  • Reinhold Maier, Minister President of Württemberg-Baden (1945–1952), 1st Minister President of Baden-Württemberg (1952–1953)
  • Gebhard Müller, 3rd State President of Württemberg-Hohenzollern (1948–1952), 2nd Minister President of Baden-Württemberg (1953–1958)

So far, there has been already one Minister President from a recognized national minority: Stanislaw Tillich, who served as the 3rd Minister President of Saxony between 2008–2017, is of Sorbian origin and speaks Sorbian and German as his mother tongue.

David McAllister, who served as the 11th Minister President of Lower Saxony between 2010–2013, has been the first office-holder with dual nationality (Germany and United Kingdom).

See also
  • Ministerpräsident (Prussia)

References
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  6. "Landesrecht - Justiz - Portal Hamburg". Landesrecht-hamburg.de. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
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  11. "Verfassung für Rheinland-Pfalz" (PDF). Rlp.de. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
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  13. "REVOSax Landesrecht Sachsen : Verfassung". Revosax.sachsen.de. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  14. "Landesrecht Sachsen-Anhalt Verf ST - Landesnorm Sachsen-Anhalt - Gesamtausgabe - Verfassung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt vom 16. Juli 1992 - gültig ab: 18.07.1992". Landesrecht.sachsen-anhalt.de. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  15. "Gesetze-Rechtsprechung Schleswig-Holstein Verf SH 2014 - Landesnorm Schleswig-Holstein - Gesamtausgabe - Verfassung des Landes Schleswig-Holstein in der Fassung vom 2. Dezember 2014 - gültig ab: 11.12.2014". Gesetze-rechtsprechung.sh.juris.de. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  16. "Landesrecht TH Verf TH - Landesnorm Thüringen - Gesamtausgabe - Verfassung des Freistaats Thüringen vom 25. Oktober 1993 - gültig ab: 30.10.1993". Landtag.thueringen.de. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
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