Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin

Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin
Type
Type	Landtag
Leadership
President	Ralf Wieland, SPD since 27 October 2011
Members	149
Political groups	SPD (47) CDU (39) Greens (29) The Left (19) Pirates (15)
Elections
Last election	18 September 2011
Meeting place
Preußischer Landtag
Website
abgeordnetenhaus.de

The Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin is the state parliament (Landtag) for the German state of Berlin, according to the state's constitution. The parliament is based at the building on Niederkirchnerstraße in Mitte which until 1934 was the seat of the lower house of the Preußischer Landtag. The current president of the parliament is Ralf Wieland, SPD.

History

The Abgeordnetenhaus ("House of Representatives") parliament was established by the new constitution of West Berlin in 1951. It replaced the former city legislature called Stadtverordnetenversammlung (city deputies assembly), established by the Prussian Reforms in 1808 and re-established by Allied-initiated state elections of 1946.

Between 1951 and 1990 Abgeordnetenhaus was a parliament of restricted autonomy, since according to the Allied Control Council all its legislation and its elections, such as those of mayors and the senators (then still elected and not yet appointed by the mayor), were subject to Western-Allied confirmation or rejection. Abgeordnetenhaus continued to be the parliament of united Berlin.

2011 Election

The parliament of Berlin is chosen every five years in a general, free, secret and direct ballot according to the principle of proportional representation. It consists of at least 130 representatives, 78 chosen directly in the electoral districts of the Berlin boroughs, and 52 indirectly from land or district lists. If a party wins more constituency seats than its overall share of the vote, the overall size of the Abgeordnetenhaus increases because of these overhang mandates. There is an election threshold of 5%.

The distribution of seats as of the 2011 elections (compared to the 2006 election) is:

• Social Democratic Party (SPD): 47 seats (-6)
• Christian Democratic Union (CDU): 39 seats (+2)
• Alliance '90/The Greens: 29 seats (+6)
• The Left: 18 seats (-5)
• Pirate Party Germany: 15 seats (+15)

The Free Democratic Party lost all 13 seats.

Functions

The consideration and passing of legislation is the most important task, including the government budget. In addition, the parliament chooses the Governing Mayor of Berlin, and checks the city's government, the Berlin Senate.

Nameplate

Presidents

• Otto Suhr, SPD (January 11, 1951 – January 11, 1955)
• Willy Brandt, SPD (January 11, 1955 – October 2, 1957)
• Kurt Landsberg, SPD (October 19, 1957 – March 4, 1958)
• Willy Henneberg, SPD (March 20, 1958 – September 17, 1961)
• Otto Friedrich Bach, SPD (September 29, 1961 – April 6, 1967)
• Walter Sickert, SPD (April 6, 1967 – April 24, 1975)
• Peter Lorenz, CDU (April 24, 1975 – December 10, 1980)
• Heinrich Lummer, CDU (December 10, 1980 – June 11, 1981)
• Peter Rebsch, CDU (June 11, 1981 – March 2, 1989)
• Jürgen Wohlrabe, CDU (March 2, 1989 – January 11, 1991)
• Hanna-Renate Laurien, CDU (January 11, 1991 – November 30, 1995)
• Herwig Haase, CDU (November 30, 1995 – November 18, 1999)
• Reinhard Führer, CDU (November 18, 1999 – November 29, 2001)
• Walter Momper, SPD (since November 29, 2001 – October 27, 2011)
• Ralf Wieland, SPD (since October 27, 2011)

See also

• Elections in Berlin

External links

• Parliament of Berlin official website

v t e Landtage of the states of Germany Baden-Württemberg • Bavaria • Berlin • Brandenburg • Bremen • Hamburg • Hesse • Mecklenburg-Vorpommern • Lower Saxony • North Rhine-Westphalia • Rhineland-Palatinate • Saarland • Saxony • Saxony-Anhalt • Schleswig-Holstein • Thuringia Portal:Politics - Politics of Germany

Coordinates: 52°30′29″N 13°22′55″E / 52.50806°N 13.38194°E / 52.50806; 13.38194