Federal Convention (Germany)

The Federal Convention (also known as the Federal Assembly; German: Bundesversammlung) is a special body in the institutional system of Germany, convened solely for the purpose of electing the President of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundespräsident), either every five years or within 30 days of a president's resignation, death or removal from office.

The Bundesversammlung includes the entire membership of the Bundestag, and an equal number of state delegates selected by the state or 'Länder' parliaments specifically for this purpose, proportional to their population. The Länder representatives are not solely politicians: it is customary for some states to nominate celebrities or other prominent and notable people. From the time of their nomination until the closing of the session of the Federal Convention its members enjoy parliamentary immunity with regard to prosecution by public authorities in very much the same way as members of the Bundestag do.

Since 1979, the Bundesversammlung has traditionally met on May 23, the anniversary of the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany and the anniversary of the Basic Law coming into force on this day in 1949. This has changed since the resignations of former presidents Horst Koehler and Christian Wulff. It is chaired by the President of the Bundestag (or one of the Vice Presidents, if the President stands as a candidate - as was the case with Karl Carstens in 1979). The Bundesversammlung is dissolved once the elected President declares that they accept their election, which decision may be delayed for up to two days (however, no would-be president-elect has ever done so).

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 an absolute majority, a plurality is sufficient in the third and final vote. 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 candidate whose party or parties have the majority in the Bundestag is considered to be the likely winner and, in the main, has achieved the necessary majority - however, the Assembly can be turned around by state delegates (if the Bundestag opposition has done well in state elections), this can indicate the result of an upcoming general election (If you can create a president, you can form a government). The Speaker of the Bundestag closes the session of the Bundesversammlung once the elected candidate accepts.

The last assembly of the Bundesversammlung was held on 18 March 2012, when Joachim Gauck was elected as president with an absolute majority of 991 out of 1228 votes in the first round of voting.

On 12 September 1949, the first Bundesversammlung met in Bonn. From 1954-1969 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 (and West Berlin) with MiG-21 war planes. From 1974 to 1989, the Bundesversammlung met in the Beethovenhalle in Bonn. Since 1994, the meeting 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.