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Electing Germany's President

May 22, 2004
https://p.dw.com/p/54Zm

This year's presidential election will be a break with tradition: While German heads of state are normally career politicians, the country's next figurehead will enter the presidency from the sidelines.

Horst Köhler, the nominee of Christian Democrats and the neo-liberal Free Democrats for the largely ceremonial position, last worked as head of the International Monetary Fund. Gesine Schwan, the choice of Social Democrats and Greens, is a political scientist and currently serves as president of the Viadrina European University in Frankfurt (Oder) near the Polish border.

As Germany's president is not elected directly, 1,205 members of the so-called federal assembly will choose between Köhler and Schwan in Berlin on Sunday. The assembly includes all members of Germany's lower house, the Bundestag, and an equal number of representatives from the 16 federal states, including many celebrities.

Köhler's victory is all but certain as conservatives have a majority in the assembly. But Schwan has been leading in public opinion polls, raising the question whether some conservative voters in the assembly might forget party allegiances and elect a female president for the first time in the federal republic's history.

Below you can find a compilation of DW-WORLD articles on the search for Germany's next president.

Skip next section Reports & Analysis

Reports & Analysis

A Mrs. President for Germany?

Germany’s President Johannes Rau only announced on Thursday that he will not seek a second term, but the race to replace him is already heating up. Chancellor Schröder has said he supports having a woman president.
September 6, 2003

Top Female Academic Aims for Presidency

Stirring faint hope that Germany might yet get its first female president, Gesine Schwan, Schröder's presidential candidate, has surprisingly caught up with opposition-backed Horst Köhler in opinion polls.
May 19, 2004

Delegate's Nazi Past Clouds German Presidential Election

A decision by Germany's Christian Democrats to include a former state premier with a Nazi past as a delegate for Sunday's presidential election has been harshly criticized by Jewish groups and left-wing politicians.
May 22, 2004

IMF Chief Köhler Looks Set to Become Next German President

The head of the International Monetary Fund, Horst Köhler, is likely to become Germany's next president after he was officially nominated on Thursday as the candidate of the country's conservative and liberal parties.
March 4, 2004

Choosing Germany's Next President

Germany elects a new head of state in May. Political leaders are beginning to express preferences, knowing that their choice could have an effect on who becomes chancellor in 2006.
January 6, 2004

Horst Köhler Profile: A Financial Diplomat For President

If elected by the Federal Convention, Horst Köhler will become Germany's ninth postwar president. He may have been as surprised as the public by the nomination.
March 4, 2004

Köhler Elected German President

Horst Köhler, the former head of the International Monetary Fund, was elected Germany's new president on Sunday. He said he wanted to use the ceremonial post to make the country a "land of ideas."
May 24, 2004