The Bundesrat
… AT THE HEART OF HAMBURG
The Bundesrat – the federal council – will be present at the celebrations with an information pavilion directly in front of Hamburg’s Rathaus. Meet Hamburg’s First Mayor Dr Peter Tschentscher, presently the President of the Bundesrat.
Discover the Bundesrat’s wide range of duties and find out why the work of the Bundesrat affects your everyday life more than you think.
… AT THE CENTRE OF POLITICS
The Bundesrat, together with the Bundestag, debates and votes on federal laws in Germany. No federal law is passed without the participation of the Bundesrat. This puts the Bundesrat at the centre of politics. It is one of the five permanent constitutional bodies of the Federal Republic of Germany alongside the Federal President, the Bundestag, the Federal Government and the Federal Constitutional Court. The Bundesrat is the federal body that represents the Länder – the federal states.
GERMANY’S BASIC LAW STATES:
“The Länder shall participate through the Bundesrat in the legislation and administration of the Federation and in matters concerning the European Union.”
Article 50 GG
MEMBERS OF THE BUNDESRAT:
The members of the Bundesrat are the representatives of the governments of the federal states, i.e., the Minister Presidents, Ministers of the states or the Mayors and Senators from the city states of Hamburg, Bremen and Berlin.
GERMANY’S BASIC LAW STATES:
“The Bundesrat shall consist of members of the Land governments, which appoint and recall them.”
Article 51 (1)
TWO TASKS –
DUAL RESPONSIBILITY:
All members of the Bundesrat have a dual function: they hold a state office as a member of the state government and at the same time a federal office as a member of the Bundesrat; they are state politicians and federal politicians. The members of the Bundesrat therefore bear a special political responsibility.
LIVE ON THE STAGE OF THE BUNDESRAT
Meet the Minister Presidents on the 2nd and 3rd of October on the stage of the Bundesrat and learn how politics work in the Bundesrat.
THE STATES
TAKE IT IN TURNS
Every year on 1 November, the Bundesrat elects a different head of government to the office of President of the Bundesrat. The order is determined by the number of inhabitants of the Länder. The state with the most inhabitants takes first turn, so that each state holds the office once in 16 years. This is symbolic of the equality of the states in the Bundesrat.
GERMANY’S BASIC LAW STATES:
“The Bundesrat shall elect its President for one year.”
Article 52 (1)
THIS YEAR, IT WAS HAMBURG’S TURN
PRESIDENT OF THE BUNDESRAT,
DR PETER TSCHENTSCHER
The First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Dr Peter Tschentscher, has been President of the Bundesrat since the 1st of November 2022; his term ends on the 31st of October 2023. This is why the celebrations for German Unity Day are taking place in Hamburg this year. German Unity Day is celebrated in a different state each year. This is a symbol of the diversity of the German Länder.
SYMBOLIC TRANSFER OF THE BATON
On the 3rd of October at 4 pm, the baton of the Bundesrat Presidency will be symbolically handed over by Dr Peter Tschentscher to the Minister President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Manuela Schwesig on the Bundesrat stage. This is the traditional highlight of the Bundesrat’s stage programme. Come and join us!
Transfer of the baton MP Ramelow to Tschentscher on 3.10.2022 in Erfurt