Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin

Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin
Type
Type	Landtag
Established	1809
Leadership
President	Dennis Buchner, SPD since 4 November 2021
Structure
Seats	147
Political groups	Government (92)   SPD (36)   Greens (32)   The Left (24) Opposition (55)   CDU (30)   AfD (13)   FDP (12)
Elections
Last election	26 September 2021
Next election	12 February 2023
Meeting place
Preußischer Landtag building
Website
parlament-berlin.de

The Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin (House of Deputies) (German: [ˈʔapɡəʔɔʁdnətn̩ˌhaʊs]) is the state parliament (Landtag) of Berlin, Germany according to the city-state's constitution. In 1993 the parliament moved from Rathaus Schöneberg to its present house on Niederkirchnerstraße in Mitte, which until 1934 was the seat of the Prussian Landtag. The current president of the parliament is Dennis Buchner (SPD).

History

Staircase

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

Elections

See also: Elections in Berlin

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.

The current distribution of seats as of the 2021 election (compared to the 2016 election) is:

• Social Democratic Party (SPD): 36 seats (-2)
• Alliance 90/The Greens: 32 seats (+5)
• Christian Democratic Union (CDU): 30 seats (-1)
• The Left: 24 seats (-3)
• Alternative for Germany (AfD): 13 (-12)
• Free Democratic Party (FDP): 12 (±0)

In 2016, the Pirate Party Berlin lost the 15 seats it won for the first time in the 2011 election due to their failure to cross the 5% election threshold necessary to qualify for representation while the AfD joined the assembly for the first time and the FDP returned following a recovery in voter support.

Functions

Nameplate

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

Presidents

Name	Party	Period
Otto Suhr	SPD	11 January 1951 – 11 January 1955
Willy Brandt	SPD	11 January 1955 – 2 October 1957
Kurt Landsberg	SPD	19 October 1957 – 4 March 1958
Willy Henneberg	SPD	20 March 1958 – 17 September 1961
Otto Friedrich Bach	SPD	29 September 1961 – 6 April 1967
Walter Sickert	SPD	6 April 1967 – 24 April 1975
Peter Lorenz	CDU	24 April 1975 – 10 December 1980
Heinrich Lummer	CDU	10 December 1980 – 11 June 1981
Peter Rebsch	CDU	11 June 1981 – 2 March 1989
Jürgen Wohlrabe	CDU	2 March 1989 – 11 January 1991
Hanna-Renate Laurien	CDU	11 January 1991 – 30 November 1995
Herwig Haase	CDU	30 November 1995 – 18 November 1999
Reinhard Führer	CDU	18 November 1999 – 29 November 2001
Walter Momper	SPD	29 November 2001 – 27 October 2011
Ralf Wieland	SPD	27 October 2011 – 4 November 2021
Dennis Buchner	SPD	4 November 2021 - present

See also

• Timeline of Berlin
• Category:Members of the Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin

External links

• parlament-berlin official website (in German)