This is the path to becoming the new head of state

It should be a woman - and she comes from the CSU: Ilse Aigner would be a first for Germany in several respects. But the new head of state has not yet been elected. Who chooses anyway?

FAQ Election for the office of Federal President This is the path to becoming the new head of state As of: November 9th, 2026 • 11:09 a.m

It should be a woman - and she comes from the CSU: Ilse Aigner would be a first for Germany in several respects. But the new head of state has not yet been elected. Who is actually voting and could there be other candidates?

The Chancellor's decision in favor of Ilse Aigner was no longer eagerly awaited. But now Friedrich Merz has officially said yes to the CSU politician and the candidate who was unelected for weeks has now become the Union's chosen candidate for the office of Federal President. Despite all the Chancellor's criticism of the tough decision-making process: former CDU Chancellors such as Helmut Kohl and Chancellor Angela Merkel also had difficulty with the nominations.

Given the broad support, Aigner's election to the Federal Assembly is almost certain. The coalition parties CDU, CSU and SPD have a majority of around 50 votes. The Greens also signaled their sympathy for Aigner.

He had held back for a long time - now the CDU leader spoke out in favor of Aigner as Federal President. more

It is the largest parliamentary body in the Federal Republic of Germany - and it only has one task: to elect the Federal President. The assembly generally only meets every five years. Next year it will be January 30th, on this day the committee will elect the successor to Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is leaving office after ten years as Federal President. There is no debate in the Federal Assembly; elections take place without discussion.

The Federal Assembly consists of all members of the Bundestag and the same number of members who are elected by the people's representatives of the states. According to this, the assembly comprises a total of 1,260 members, i.e. 630 members of the Bundestag and 630 members appointed by the state parliaments.

That is not fixed. The federal states are currently appointing their electors. How many representatives the individual states are allowed to send to the Federal Assembly is calculated based on their population numbers. They are named according to the majority of the parliamentary groups in the respective state parliaments. Most of the time these are members of the state parliament, but local politicians and personalities from other areas of public life can also receive a mandate, for example athletes or actors.

Yes. The CDU in Schleswig-Holstein wants to send former Chancellor Angela Merkel to the Federal Assembly to elect the Federal President next year. Merkel already knows the procedure: The CDU politician was sent into the race by Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 2022.

In addition, Federal Education Minister Karin Prien and Prime Minister Daniel Günther as well as former handball star Patrick Wiencek are to elect the next head of state for the CDU.

For Saxony, Holocaust survivor Renate Aris, State Parliament President Alexander Dierks and Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (both CDU) as well as Social Affairs Minister Petra Köpping and Economics Minister Dirk Panter (both SPD) are expected to take part. The Leipzig writer Martina Hefter will also be there. The Saxon BSW parliamentary group nominated the journalist and former Tagesschau spokesman Constantin Schreiber.

Not yet. But that is to be expected. The AfD wants to put forward its own candidate, a man “from the middle of society,” as the party says. However, he is considered to have no chance because of the clear majority in the Federal Assembly.

The Left Party has not yet decided for or against its own candidacy.

Ilse Aigner has the best chance of becoming the first female Federal President of Germany. A portrait. more

Good question. There have been twelve men in the 77 years of the Federal Republic, but never a woman in the highest German state office. Recently there have been increasing demands to finally change something here. Chancellor Merz made his decision at the beginning of November when he spoke out in favor of a woman as Steinmeier's successor - at this point it already came down to Ilse Aigner.

It should be a woman - that's how far Chancellor Merz has decided on the question of the Federal President. more

Yes, there has been no shortage of interesting candidates in the history of the Federal Republic. But they had one thing in common: they were only ever sent into the race by parties that had no prospect of a majority in the Federal Assembly. A selection: Annemarie Renger (SPD, 1979), Luise Rinser (Greens, 1984), Hildegard Hamm-Brücher (FDP, 1994), Dagmar Schipanski (CDU, 1999) or Beate Klarsfeld (independent, 2012). Gesine Schwan ran twice, the SPD politician was defeated in 2004 and 2009.

The term begins on March 19th. Steinmeier will then be in office until March 18th. If Aigner is actually elected on January 30th, she still has a few weeks to prepare before she becomes the first woman to take office.

However, she won't be moving into Bellevue Palace for the time being: it's a construction site. Federal President Steinmeier has been living in alternative quarters since the summer.

From political scientist Münch’s point of view, Ilse Aigner has enough experience. This is also urgently needed. more