An indirect presidential election (officially the 12th Federal Convention) was held in Germany on 23 May 2004. The

president of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

(''Bundespräsident'') was the titular head of state of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. Germany is today often referred to as a "chancellor democracy", reflecting the role of the chancellor as the country's chief executive, and so consequently the president's tasks are mostly ceremonial, but for the signing of all new federal laws before they go into effect. In practice however, all presidents have had informal influence on politics and society but mostly in a non-partisan way. The president is not elected directly by the voters but by a special Federal Convention ( Bundesversammlung) which is assembled every five years for this task alone, the exception being if the federal president’s term of office ends prematurely. This body consists of the members of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

and an equal number of members selected by the sixteen federal state parliaments. The election date was set for 23 May in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, the anniversary of the adoption of the German constitution. Of the 1,206 members only 549 belonged to the parties that controlled the federal government - the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

(SPD) and the

German Green Party Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Germany in 1990). Th ...

. Also in their camp were the 31 members of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). The opposition parties, the ( Christian Democratic Union/ Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP)), however, had a majority of 624 members because they commanded more seats in the federal states. One member belonged to a regional party; one was non-aligned. Parties nominate candidates for the position, although the outcome of the election is very predictable because the members of the convention normally vote with strict party loyalty. As the majority of the opposition was not overwhelming (624 of 604 needed), "dissident" members could cause a surprise. CDU/CSU and FDP nominated

Horst Köhler Horst Köhler (; 22 February 1943 – 1 February 2025) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU ...

, the head of the

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Before that, he had been a senior official and was involved in negotiating both the

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

treaty and the

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on behalf of the German government. He is said to be rather modest but independently minded. SPD and Greens had nominated

Gesine Schwan Gesine Schwan (née ''Schneider'', 22 May 1943) is a German political science professor and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. The party has nominated her twice as a candidate for the federal presidential elections. On 23 May 2004, ...

, the head of the

Viadrina European University European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) () is a university located at Frankfurt (Oder) in Brandenburg, Germany. It is also known as the University of Frankfurt (Oder). The city is on the Oder River, which marks the border between Germany ...

Frankfurt (Oder) Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With around 58,000 inh ...

. She is a political scientist who also has been active for a long time in politics for the SPD - but has not always been in line with the party. All eight preceding presidents had been men. Once in office, the president can be re-elected only once. The previous president

Johannes Rau Johannes Rau (; 16 January 193127 January 2006) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 1999 to 2004. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he previously served as the Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia fro ...

(SPD) cited personal reasons for his decision not to run for a second term and died in 2006. Köhler won in the first voting round, receiving an immediate absolute majority of 604 (50.1%). Schwan won 589 votes, apparently attracting opposition voters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:German Presidential Election, 2004

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

Horst Köhler