The Landtag of the Saarland is the state
diet of the German federal state of
Saarland
The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, a ...
. It convenes in
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is ...
and currently consists of 51 members of five parties. The
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been ...
(SPD) is the largest party in the Landtag with 29 seats, an absolute majority that allows the party to govern without a coalition. The
2022 elections marked the first time that the SPD had won the state in 20 years.
History
As a consequence of the
German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
's defeat in the First World War, the
Saargebiet
The Territory of the Saar Basin (german: Saarbeckengebiet, ; french: Territoire du bassin de la Sarre) was a region of Germany occupied and governed by the United Kingdom and France from 1920 to 1935 under a League of Nations mandate. It had i ...
was separated from Germany. Between 1920 and 1935, the ' or state council existed as the local representative body and thus as the predecessor of the state parliament of Saarland. There was no Saarland representative body during the
Third Reich. After the German defeat in World War II, the Saarland became a French protectorate.
On May 23, 1947, a 20-member constitutional commission was formed to draft a foundational document for the Saarland in the parliamentary manner of the other German countries. On October 5, 1947, a constitutional assembly was elected that became Saarland's first state parliament following the successful adoption of the constitution.
The Landtag of the Saarland meets in the building built in 1865/1866 for the Saarbrücken Casino Society in what is now Franz-Josef-Röder-Strasse. The building was designed by the architect
Julius Carl Raschdorff, noted as the designer of the
Berlin Cathedral.
Current composition
The last election of the Landtag of Saarland was on 27 March 2022.
Elections are conducted using a
proportional representation system, with a 5% threshold to receive seats.
See also
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List of presidents of the Landtag of Saarland
*
1999 Saarland state election
*
2004 Saarland state election
*
2009 Saarland state election
*
2012 Saarland state election
*
2017 Saarland state election
*
2022 Saarland state election
References
External links
*
Saarland
The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, a ...
Landtag of Saarland
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