President of the German Bundesrat

In Germany, the President of the Bundesrat or President of the Federal Council (German: Bundesratspräsident) is the chairperson or speaker of the Bundesrat (Federal Council). He or she is elected by the Bundesrat for a term of one year (usually from November 1 to October 31 in the next year). Traditionally, the Presidency of the Bundesrat rotates among the heads of government (most of them holding the title Minister President) of each of the states (in German, Länder). As well as acting as a chairperson the President of the Bundesrat acts in place of the President of Germany, if the latter is unable to perform his duties, dies or resigns.

The President of the Bundesrat convenes and chairs plenary sessions of the body and is formally responsible for representing the Federal Republic in the Bundesrat. He or she is aided by two vice-presidents who play an advisory role and deputise in the president's absence. The three together constitute the Präsidium of the Bundesrat.

The current President of the Bundesrat is Malu Dreyer, the Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate, whose one-year term started on 1 November 2016.

The President of the Bundesrat usually is elected in October of a given year, and serves from November 1 until the 31 October in the year that follows. The Basic Law merely provides, in Article 52.1, that "the Bundesrat elects its President for one year". However, in practice the position rotates among all Länder equally, in accordance with a predetermined order. The order in which the position rotates from one Land to another is altered periodically and is determined by population, the presidency descending in order from the most populous states to the least. This rotation is a constitutional convention known as the “Königstein agreement” (Königsteiner Vereinbarung), having been formulated at a 1950 seating in Königstein im Taunus, Hessen.

If the sitting President of the Bundesrat exits his office as Minister President of his state (for example, if he looses a state election, dies or resigns from his office) the new Minister President of that state is elected President of the Bundesrat, but only for the rest of his predecessors term; the last time this occurred was in April 1999, when Hans Eichel resigned as Minister President of Hesse to become Minister of Finance in the federal government. His successor Roland Koch served the end of his term until October 1999. The current order of rotation of the presidency of the Bundesrat is as follows:

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