Germany

Federal Council

Political system
Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament
Bicameral
IPU membership
Yes

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Chamber name
Bundesrat (Federal Council)
Structure & status of parliament
Upper chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
-

Notes: Parliamentary term: The Bundesrat does not have a fixed term. The members' terms depend on that of the government of the Land (State) they represent (16 Länder).

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 1890 to 1912
from 1921 to 1931
from 1951
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
Twelve Plus Group

Speaker

Official title
President of the Federal Council
Speaker
Anke Rehlinger (Female)
Date of birth: 06 Apr 1976
Term
01 Nov 2024 to 31 Oct 2025

Speaker terms

No information available

Notes: The Bundesrat doesn't have terms, but the term of the Speaker is for one year, elected every year on 1 November

Secretary general

Official title
Secretary General
Secretary General
Ute Rettler (Female)
Term
01 Apr 2015
Notes

1 April 2015 -

Members

Statutory number of members
69

Notes: Appointed by local länder governments.

Principal mode of designation of members
Appointed
Appointed members
69
Current number of members
69
Men
45
Women
24
Percentage of women
34.8%
Statutory number of members per country
667
Population (in thousands)
84,548
Inhabitants per parliamentarian
126,759

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members
54.8
(2023-11)
Number of members, by age (2023-11)
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male 0 0 2 3 9 18 9 3 0 0 44
Female 0 0 2 3 6 8 6 0 0 0 25
Totals per age interval 0 0 4 6 15 26 15 3 0 0 69
Total <= 45: 10 Total >= 46: 59
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
5.8% 3% 2.9%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
14.5% 7% 7.2%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
No
Electoral quota for women
No
Youth quota
No

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website
List of members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
Constitution

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No