Editing President of Germany (section)

==Succession==
[[File:2022-03-27 Wahlabend Saarland by Sandro Halank–061 (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|225x225px|[[Anke Rehlinger]], the current President of the Bundesrat and Deputy of the President of Germany]]
{{Presidential orders of succession}}
The Basic Law did not create an office of Vice President, but designated the [[President of the German Bundesrat|President of the Bundesrat]] (by constitutional custom the [[Minister president (Germany)|head of government of one of the sixteen German states]], elected by the Bundesrat in a predetermined order of annual alternation) as deputy of the president of Germany (Basic Law, Article 57). If the office of president falls vacant, they assume the powers of the president on an acting basis until a successor is elected. While doing so, they do not continue to exercise the role of chair of the Bundesrat.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bundesrecht/brgo_1966/gesamt.pdf |title= Geschäftsordnung des Bundesrates|trans-title= Rules of Procedure of the Bundesrat|access-date=7 November 2016|at =§7 (1)|quote= Die Vizepräsidenten vertreten den Präsidenten im Falle seiner Verhinderung oder bei vorzeitiger Beendigung seines Amtes nach Maßgabe ihrer Reihenfolge. Ein Fall der Verhinderung liegt auch vor, solange der Präsident des Bundesrates nach Artikel 57 des Grundgesetzes die Befugnisse des Bundespräsidenten wahrnimmt.}}</ref> If the president is temporarily unable to perform their duties (this happens frequently, for example if the president is abroad on a state visit), he can at his own discretion delegate his powers or parts of them to the president of the Bundesrat.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.bundesrat.de/SharedDocs/termine/DE/praesident/2015-10-10_15.html | title=Bouffier und Tillich vertreten Bundespräsidenten}}</ref> For example, in early November 2022, then President of the Bundesrat [[Peter Tschentscher]] deputised President Steinmeier when the latter was on a trip to Asia.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/hamburg/Hamburgs-Buergermeister-Tschentscher-zum-Bundesratspraesidenten-gewaehlt,bundesrat174.html | title=Hamburgs Bürgermeister Tschentscher zum Bundesratspräsidenten gewählt |publisher=ndr.de |access-date=3 November 2022}}</ref>

If the president dies in office, resigns, or is otherwise removed from office, a successor is to be elected within thirty days. So far, there have been three instances of the premature end of a president's term of office:

*1969: [[Heinrich Lübke]] (resignation). Since Lübke had already announced his resignation in October 1968 (9 months in advance), the Federal Convention could be held early as in the case of a regular end of term. Therefore no vacancy occurred.
*2010: [[Horst Köhler]] (resignation). [[Jens Böhrnsen]], [[List of mayors of Bremen|President of the Senate of Bremen]] and President of the Bundesrat, became Acting President.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/koehlerruecktritt102.html |title=Interview zum Köhler-Rücktritt: "Das hat es noch nicht gegeben" |publisher=tagesschau.de |access-date=22 November 2012}}</ref> 
*2012 [[Christian Wulff]] (resignation). [[Horst Seehofer]], Minister-President of [[Bavaria]] and President of the Bundesrat, who became Acting President. 

Back in 1949, [[Karl Arnold]], at the time Minister-President of [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] and President of the Bundesrat, also acted as head of state for a few days: after the Basic Law had come into effect and he himself was elected as President of the Bundesrat, the first President of Germany was not yet elected and the office therefore vacant.

None of these three presidents of the Bundesrat acting as President, has used any of the more important powers of the president, as for example vetoing a law or dissolving the Bundestag, although they would have been entitled to do so under the same conditions as the president.