Editing President of Germany (section)

== List of presidents ==
{{See also|List of presidents of Germany}}
Twelve persons have served as President of the Federal Republic of Germany. Six of them were members of the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]] (Lübke, Carstens, von Weizsäcker, Herzog, Köhler, Wulff), three were members of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]] (Heinemann, Rau, Steinmeier), two were members of the [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|FDP]] (Heuss, Scheel) and one was an [[Independent politician|independent]] (Gauck). Four presidents were ministers in the federal government before entering office (Lübke ''Agriculture'', Heinemann ''Justice'', Scheel, Steinmeier ''Foreign Affairs''), two of them (Scheel, Steinmeier) having been [[Vice-Chancellor of Germany]]. Three were [[Minister president (Germany)|head of a state government]] (von Weizsäcker ''[[West Berlin]]'', Rau ''[[North Rhine-Westphalia]]'', Wulff ''[[Lower Saxony]]''), Rau having been [[President of the German Bundesrat|President of the Bundesrat]]. Two were members of the Bundestag (Heuss, Carstens), Carstens having been [[President of the Bundestag]]. One was president of the Federal Constitutional Court (Herzog), director of the [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]] (Köhler), and Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Records (Gauck). Only five presidents (Heuss, Lübke, von Weizsäcker, Köhler, Steinmeier) have been re-elected for a second five-year-term and only two of those (Heuss, von Weizsäcker) served the full ten years. Christian Wulff served the shortest tenure (1 year, 7 months and 18 days) of all presidents.

The president is (according to Art. 57 GG) deputised by the president of the Bundesrat who can perform any of the president's duties, if the president is temporarily unable to do so and delegates these duties to them (this frequently happens during state visits), or if the Presidency falls vacant, in which case they become acting President until a successor is elected, which has to happen within thirty days. This has happened three times:
* In 1949, [[Karl Arnold]] acted as President after the ''Grundgesetz'' came into effect on 7 September 1949 and before [[Theodor Heuss]] was elected by the [[1949 West German presidential election|1st Federal Convention]] on 12 September 1949.
* In 2010, [[Jens Böhrnsen]] acted as President after the resignation of [[Horst Köhler]] and before the election of Christian Wulff.
* In 2012, [[Horst Seehofer]] acted as President after the resignation of Christian Wulff and before the election of Joachim Gauck.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ {{sronly|List of presidents of Germany from 1949 – till date.}}
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{abbr|No.|Number}}
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Portrait
! scope="col" | Name<br />{{Small|(Birth–Death)}}
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Term
! scope="col" colspan=2 | Party
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Election
! scope="col" | Deputies<br />{{Small|(Presidents of the Bundesrat)}}
|-
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan=10 | ''President of the Bundesrat [[Karl Arnold]] acted as President from 7 to 12 September 1949.''
|-
|- style="height:6em;"
! scope="row" rowspan=2 | 1
| rowspan="2" | [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1983-098-20a, Heuss.jpg|110px]]
| rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Heuss" | '''[[Theodor Heuss]]'''<br />{{Small|(1884–1963)}}
| rowspan=2 | {{dts|12 September 1949}}<br/>–<br/>{{dts|12 September 1959}}
| rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}" |
| rowspan=2 | [[Free Democratic Party of Germany|FDP]]
| class=nowrap | [[1949 West German presidential election|1949]]
| rowspan=2 | {{small|Karl Arnold (1949–1950)<br />[[Hans Ehard]] (1950–1951)<br />[[Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf]] (1951–1952)<br />[[Reinhold Maier]] (1952–1953)<br />[[Georg August Zinn]] (1953–1954)<br />[[Peter Altmeier]] (1954–1955)<br />[[Kai-Uwe von Hassel]] (1955–1956)<br />[[Kurt Sieveking]] (1956–1957)<br />[[Willy Brandt]] (1957–1958)<br />[[Wilhelm Kaisen]] (1958–1959)}}

|- style="height:6em;"
| [[1954 West German presidential election|1954]]
 
|- style="height:6em;"
! scope="row" rowspan=2 | 2
| rowspan="2" | [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1994-034-22A, Heinrich Lübke.jpg|110px]]
| rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Lübke" | '''[[Heinrich Lübke]]'''<br />{{Small|(1894–1972)}}
| rowspan=2 | {{dts|13 September 1959}}<br/>–<br/>{{dts|30 June 1969}}{{efn|On 14 October 1968, Lübke announced his resignation with effect to 30 June 1969, to make possible the election of his successor before the federal election campaign in the fall of 1969.}}
| rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{party color|CDU}}" |
| rowspan=2 | [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|CDU]]
| class=nowrap | [[1959 West German presidential election|1959]]
| rowspan=2 | {{small|Wilhelm Kaisen (1959)<br />[[Franz Josef Röder]] (1959–1960)<br />[[Franz Meyers]] (1960–1961)<br />[[Hans Ehard]] (1961–1962)<br />[[Kurt Georg Kiesinger]] (1962–1963)<br />[[Georg Diederichs]] (1963–1964)<br />[[Georg August Zinn]] (1964–1965)<br />[[Peter Altmeier]] (1965–1966)<br />[[Helmut Lemke]] (1966–1967)<br />[[Klaus Schütz]] (1967–1968)<br />[[Herbert Weichmann]] (1968–1969)}}

|- style="height:6em;"
| [[1964 West German presidential election|1964]]

|- style="height:12em;"
! scope="row" | 3
|  | [[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F029021-0010, Gustav Heinemann.jpg|110px]]
|  data-sort-value="Heinemann" | '''[[Gustav Heinemann]]'''<br />{{Small|(1899–1976)}}
|  {{dts|1 July 1969}}<br/>–<br/>{{dts|30 June 1974}}
| style="background-color:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}" |
|  [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]]
| class=nowrap | [[1969 West German presidential election|1969]]
|  {{small|Herbert Weichmann (1969)<br />[[Franz Josef Röder]] (1969–1970)<br />[[Hans Koschnick]] (1970–1971)<br />[[Heinz Kühn]] (1971–1972)<br />[[Alfons Goppel]] (1972–1973)<br />[[Hans Filbinger]] (1973–1974)}}

|- style="height:12em;"
! scope="row" | 4
|  | [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1989-047-20, Walter Scheel.jpg|110px]]
|  data-sort-value="Scheel" | '''[[Walter Scheel]]'''<br />{{Small|(1919–2016)}}
|  {{dts|1 July 1974}}<br/>–<br/>{{dts|30 June 1979}}
| style="background-color:{{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}" |
|  FDP
| class=nowrap | [[1974 West German presidential election|1974]]
|  {{small|Hans Filbinger (1974)<br />[[Alfred Kubel]] (1974–1975)<br />[[Albert Osswald]] (1975–1976)<br />[[Bernhard Vogel (politician)|Bernhard Vogel]] (1976–1977)<br />[[Gerhard Stoltenberg]] (1977–1978)<br />[[Dietrich Stobbe]] (1978–1979)}}

|- style="height:12em;"
! scope="row" | 5
|  | [[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F054633-0020, Ludwigshafen, CDU-Bundesparteitag, Carstens (cropped).jpg|110px]]
|  data-sort-value="Carstens" | '''[[Karl Carstens]]'''<br />{{Small|(1914–1992)}}
|  {{dts|1 July 1979}}<br/>–<br/>{{dts|30 June 1984}}
| style="background-color:{{party color|CDU}}" |
|  CDU
| class=nowrap | [[1979 West German presidential election|1979]]
|  {{small|Dietrich Stobbe (1979)<br />[[Hans-Ulrich Klose]] (1979–1980)<br />[[Werner Zeyer]] (1980–1981)<br />[[Hans Koschnick]] (1981–1982)<br />[[Johannes Rau]] (1982–1983)<br />[[Franz Josef Strauß]] (1983–1984)}}

|- style="height:6em;"
! scope="row" rowspan=2 | 6
| rowspan="2" | [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1991-039-11, Richard v. Weizsäcker.jpg|110px]]
| rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Weizsäcker" | '''[[Richard von Weizsäcker]]'''<br />{{Small|(1920–2015)}}
| rowspan=2 | {{dts|1 July 1984}}<br/>–<br/>{{dts|30 June 1994}}
| rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{party color|CDU}}" |
| rowspan=2 | CDU
| class=nowrap | [[1984 West German presidential election|1984]]
| rowspan=2 | {{small|Franz Josef Strauß (1984)<br />[[Lothar Späth]] (1984–1985)<br />[[Ernst Albrecht (politician, born 1930)|Ernst Albrecht]] (1985–1986)<br />[[Holger Börner]] (1986–1987)<br />[[Walter Wallmann]] (1987)<br />[[Bernhard Vogel (politician)|Bernhard Vogel]] (1987–1988)<br />[[Björn Engholm]] (1988–1989)<br />[[Walter Momper]] (1989–1990)<br />[[Henning Voscherau]] (1990–1991)<br />[[Alfred Gomolka]] (1991–1992)<br />[[Berndt Seite]] (1992)<br />[[Oskar Lafontaine]] (1992–1993)<br />[[Klaus Wedemeier]] (1993–1994)}}

|- style="height:6em;"
| [[1989 West German presidential election|1989]]

|- style="height:12em;"
! scope="row" | 7
|  | [[File:Roman Herzog 2012.JPG|110px]]
|  data-sort-value="Herzog" | '''[[Roman Herzog]]'''<br />{{Small|(1934–2017)}}
|  {{dts|1 July 1994}}<br/>–<br/>{{dts|30 June 1999}}
| style="background-color:{{party color|CDU}}" |
|  CDU
| class=nowrap | [[1994 German presidential election|1994]]
|  {{small|Klaus Wedemeier (1994)<br />[[Johannes Rau]] (1994–1995)<br />[[Edmund Stoiber]] (1995–1996)<br />[[Erwin Teufel]] (1996–1997)<br />[[Gerhard Schröder]] (1997–1998)<br />[[Hans Eichel]] (1998–1999)<br />[[Roland Koch]] (1999)}}

|- style="height:12em;"
! scope="row" | 8
|  | [[File:Johannes rau 2004-05-16 berlin (1).jpg|110px]]
|  data-sort-value="Rau" | '''[[Johannes Rau]]'''<br />{{Small|(1931–2006)}}
|  {{dts|1 July 1999}}<br/>–<br/>{{dts|30 June 2004}}
| style="background-color:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}" |
|  SPD
| class=nowrap | [[1999 German presidential election|1999]]
|  {{small|Roland Koch (1999)<br />[[Kurt Biedenkopf]] (1999–2000)<br />[[Kurt Beck]] (2000–2001)<br />[[Klaus Wowereit]] (2001–2002)<br />[[Wolfgang Böhmer]] (2002–2003)<br />[[Dieter Althaus]] (2003–2004)}}

|- style="height:6em;"
! scope="row" rowspan=2 | 9
| rowspan="2" | [[File:Horst Köhler.jpg|110px]]
| rowspan="2" data-sort-value="Köhler" | '''[[Horst Köhler]]'''<br />{{Small|(1943–2025)}}
| rowspan=2 | {{dts|1 July 2004}}<br/>–<br/>{{dts|31 May 2010}}{{efn|On 31 May 2010, Köhler declared his resignation with immediate effect.}}
| rowspan=2 style="background-color:{{party color|CDU}}" |
| rowspan=2 | CDU
| class=nowrap | [[2004 German presidential election|2004]]
| rowspan=2 | {{small|Dieter Althaus (2004)<br />[[Matthias Platzeck]] (2004–2005)<br />[[Peter Harry Carstensen]] (2005–2006)<br />[[Harald Ringstorff]] (2006–2007)<br />[[Ole von Beust]] (2007–2008)<br />[[Peter Müller (politician)|Peter Müller]] (2008–2009)<br />[[Jens Böhrnsen]] (2009–2010)}}

|- style="height:6em;"
| [[2009 German presidential election|2009]]

|--
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan=10 | ''President of the Bundesrat [[Jens Böhrnsen]] acted as President from 31 May to 30 June 2010.''
|--

|- style="height:12em;"
! scope="row" | 10
|  | [[File:Christian Wulff crop.jpg|110px]]
|  data-sort-value="Wulff" | '''[[Christian Wulff]]'''<br />{{Small|(b. 1959)}}
|  {{dts|30 June 2010}}<br/>–<br/>{{dts|17 February 2012}}{{efn|On 17 February 2012, Wulff declared his resignation with immediate effect.}}
| style="background-color:{{party color|CDU}}" |
|  CDU
| class=nowrap | [[2010 German presidential election|2010]]
|  {{small|Jens Böhrnsen (2010)<br />[[Hannelore Kraft]] (2010–2011)<br />[[Horst Seehofer]] (2011–2012)}}

|--
| bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan=10 | ''President of the Bundesrat [[Horst Seehofer]] acted as President from 17 February to 18 March 2012.''
|--

|- style="height:12em;"
! scope="row" | 11
|  | [[File:Joachim Gauck (2012 passport).jpg|110px]]
|  data-sort-value="Gauck" | '''[[Joachim Gauck]]'''<br />{{Small|(b. 1940)}}
|  {{dts|18 March 2012}}<br/>–<br/>{{dts|18 March 2017}}
| style="background-color:{{party color|Independent politician}}" |
|  [[Independent politician|Independent]]
| class=nowrap | [[2012 German presidential election|2012]]
| {{small|Horst Seehofer (2012)<br />[[Winfried Kretschmann]] (2012–2013)<br />[[Stephan Weil]] (2013–2014)<br />[[Volker Bouffier]] (2014–2015)<br />[[Stanislaw Tillich]] (2015–2016)<br />[[Malu Dreyer]] (2016–2017)}}

|- style="height:6em;"
! rowspan="2" scope="row" | 12
| rowspan="2" | [[File:German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Helsinki 8.4.2022 (51990863165).jpg|110px]]
| rowspan="2"   data-sort-value="Steinmeier" | '''[[Frank-Walter Steinmeier]]'''<br />{{Small|(b. 1956)}}
| rowspan=2 | {{dts|19 March 2017}}<br/>–<br/>''Incumbent''
| rowspan=2  style="background-color:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}" |
| rowspan=2|  SPD
| class=nowrap | [[2017 German presidential election|2017]]
| rowspan="2"|  {{small|Malu Dreyer (2017)<br />[[Michael Müller (politician, born 1964)|Michael Müller]] (2017–2018)<br />[[Daniel Günther]] (2018–2019)<br />[[Dietmar Woidke]] (2019–2020)<br />[[Reiner Haseloff]] (2020–2021)<br />[[Bodo Ramelow]] (2021–2022)<br />[[Peter Tschentscher]] (2022–2023)<br />[[Manuela Schwesig]] (2023–2024)<br />[[Anke Rehlinger]] (''Incumbent'')}}

|- style="height:6em;"
| [[2022 German presidential election|2022]]

|-
|}