Landtag of Baden-Württemberg

Landtag of Baden-Württemberg

Landtag von Baden-Württemberg
17th Landtag of Baden-Württemberg
Coat of arms of Baden-Württemberg
Logo
Type
Type
Established1952
Leadership
President of the Landtag
Vice President
Wolfgang Reinhart, CDU
Structure
Seats154
Political groups
Government (100)
  Greens (57)
  CDU (43)

Opposition (54)

  SPD (18)
  FDP (18)
  AfD (17)
  Non-attached (1)
Elections
Last election
14 March 2021
Next election
2026
Meeting place
Stuttgart

The Landtag of Baden-Württemberg is the diet of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It convenes in Stuttgart and currently consists of 154 members of five political parties. The majority before the 2021 election was a coalition of the Alliance 90/The Greens and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), supporting the cabinet of Green Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann, who has served since 2011.

History

The Baden-Württemberg State Parliament is rooted in a tradition of democratic predecessors. During the Weimar Republic, these were the State Parliament of the Republic of Baden and the State Parliament of the Free People's State of Württemberg. Following the end of World War II, three states were established in the territory that would later become Baden-Württemberg: Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern, and Württemberg-Baden.

The Consultative State Assembly and the State Parliament of Baden convened from 1946 to 1952 in the Historical Merchants' Hall in Freiburg im Breisgau. The Historic Merchants' Hall, a notable Gothic building, served as a significant venue due to its historical and cultural importance in the region. Karl Person served as President of the Baden State Parliament from 1947 to 1951.

The State Parliament of Württemberg-Hohenzollern initially met in 1946 as a Consultative State Assembly in the Bebenhausen Abbey in Tübingen. The choice of the Bebenhausen Monastery, a former Cistercian abbey, reflected the region’s historical heritage and its temporary use for governmental functions. Karl Gengler was the President of the Württemberg-Hohenzollern State Parliament from 1947 to 1952.

The Constitutional State Assembly and the State Parliament of Württemberg-Baden held their sessions from 1946 to 1952 in Stuttgart. Stuttgart, as the administrative and economic hub of the region, was a natural choice for these assemblies. The presidents of the Württemberg-Baden State Parliament were Wilhelm Simpfendörfer in 1946 and Wilhelm Keil from 1947 to 1952. From 1947, the sessions took place in the Eduard-Pfeiffer-Haus, built in 1889 by the Workers’ Home Foundation, located at Heusteigstrasse 45 in Stuttgart. This building, designed to support workers’ welfare, was a fitting symbol of post-war reconstruction efforts. The Baden-Württemberg State Parliament continued to use this building until 1961. After 1961, the State Parliament moved to a new, purpose-built parliament building in Stuttgart, reflecting the growing needs of the unified state.[1][2]

Building

Landtag at night
Entrance area
Plenary hall

The facilities of the Baden-Württemberg State Parliament consist of two main structures: the square-shaped Parliament House, completed in 1961 and situated in the upper Schlossgarten, and the House of Representatives, inaugurated in 1987 on the opposite side of Konrad-Adenauer-Strasse. These are linked by an underground pedestrian tunnel for convenient access. The Parliament House holds historical significance as the first purpose-built parliamentary structure in Europe following World War II and is designated as a protected landmark. It was constructed under the direction of architects Erwin Heinle, a Stuttgart-based professor, and Horst Linde, head of the building administration at the time, based on a design by Kurt Viertel from Mainz. Notably, the initial winning proposal by Peter C. von Seidlein and Ulrich Schmidt von Altenstadt was instead implemented in 1964 as a university facility in Tübingen. The interiors of both buildings feature prominent artworks by renowned artists.

From autumn 2013 through spring 2016, the Parliament House underwent a comprehensive modernization and refurbishment by Berlin's Staab Architekten at a cost of 52.1 million euros.[3] The project focused on enhancing energy efficiency, updating technical systems, and redesigning the plenary hall's roof to introduce natural daylight, which had previously been absent.[4] Architect Volker Staab was awarded the Hugo-Häring-Prize in 2018 for this overhaul. During the construction period, parliamentary sessions were relocated to the Kunstgebäude from September 25, 2013, until spring 2016.[5] The inaugural session of the 16th Baden-Württemberg State Parliament took place in the revamped Parliament House on May 11, 2016.

17th legislative period

Following the Baden-Württemberg state election on March 14, 2021, the initial seat distribution for the 17th legislative period (May 1, 2021–April 30, 2026) was as follows:

Party Seats Direct Mandates Second Mandates
Alliance 90/The Greens 58[a] 58 0
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 42[a] 12 30
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 19[b] 0 19
Free Democratic Party (FDP/DVP)[6] 18 0 18
Alternative for Germany (AfD) 17 0 17

Elections are conducted using a mixed-member proportional representation system, with a minimum of 5% vote share to receive any seats. However, there are some exceptions, making the Baden-Württemberg election system one of the most complicated in Germany.[7]

The minimum size of the Landtag is 120 members, of which 70 members are elected in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post voting, and 50 are pulled from the party lists according to the principle of proportional representation. Overhang and levelling seats may be added.

The main difference in their electoral system compared to the federal Bundestag is that there are no list members, making all members local. Proportionality is maintained by parties awarding remaining seats to candidates within a party who didn't win a geographic district (a Zweitmandat, or "second mandate") ordered by most to least popular (e.g. a candidate losing with 47% of the vote would be placed ahead of a candidate losing with 20% of votes in their district).

This does mean that a candidate who placed second within their district isn't guaranteed a seat, if other losers in their party were more popular and if their party only needs a small number of seats to maintain proportionality.

Presidents of the Landtag

So far, the presidents of the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg have been:

In the 17th legislative period, there are two vice presidents, after the parliament had only one vice president in the 16th legislative period.[9]

Historical Composition

  • 1st Landtag, following 1952 election
    1st Landtag, following 1952 election
  • 2nd Landtag, following 1958 election.
    2nd Landtag, following 1958 election.
  • 3rd Landtag, following 1960 election
    3rd Landtag, following 1960 election
  • 4th Landtag, following 1964 election
    4th Landtag, following 1964 election
  • 5th Landtag, following 1968 election
    5th Landtag, following 1968 election
  • 6th Landtag, following 1972 election
    6th Landtag, following 1972 election
  • 7th Landtag, following 1976 election
    7th Landtag, following 1976 election
  • 8th Landtag, following 1980 election
    8th Landtag, following 1980 election
  • 9th Landtag, following 1984 election
    9th Landtag, following 1984 election
  • 10th Landtag, following 1988 election
    10th Landtag, following 1988 election
  • 11th Landtag, following 1992 election
    11th Landtag, following 1992 election
  • 12th Landtag, following 1996 election
    12th Landtag, following 1996 election
  • 13th Landtag, following 2001 election
    13th Landtag, following 2001 election
  • 14th Landtag, following 2006 election
    14th Landtag, following 2006 election
  • 15th Landtag, following 2011 election
    15th Landtag, following 2011 election
  • 16th Landtag, following 2016 election
    16th Landtag, following 2016 election
  • 17th Landtag, following 2021 election
    17th Landtag, following 2021 election

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b In December 2024, Ayla Cataltepe switched from the Greens to the CDU, reducing the Greens’ seats to 57 and increasing the CDU’s to 43.
  2. ^ Daniel Born left the SPD-group to become an independent member, reducing the SPD’s seats to 18 and adding one non-attached seat.

References

  1. ^ Obrecht, Marcus; Wehner, Michael (2024). Der Landtag von Baden-Württemberg (in German). Wiesbaden: Springer VS (published 27 September 2024). ISBN 978-3-658-44902-5.
  2. ^ "Landtagsprotokolle - LEO-BW". www.leo-bw.de. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  3. ^ Zeitung, Stuttgarter. "Umbau des Landtags in Stuttgart: Mit Stilsicherheit gemeisterter Balanceakt". stuttgarter-zeitung.de (in German). Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  4. ^ "Landtag von Baden-Württemberg - Technische und energetische
    Sanierung des Landtagsgebäudes"    . www.landtag-bw.de (in German). Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  5. ^ Zeitung, Stuttgarter. "Landtag zieht um: Im Kunstgebäude wird fleißig gearbeitet". stuttgarter-zeitung.de (in German). Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  6. ^ In Baden-Württemberg the FDP faction in the Landtag is called FDP/DVP for historical reasons [1]
  7. ^ Neumann, Edgar (16 August 2007). "Landtagspräsident will vier Wahlkreise gestrichen werden" [Parliament President wants four districts eliminated]. Pforzheimer Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  8. ^ Dearden, Lizzie (12 May 2016). "First Muslim woman elected as speaker in German state parliament". The Independent. London.
  9. ^ "Nur noch ein Landtagsvizepräsident in Baden-Württemberg - AfD-Protest - Baden-Württemberg - Pforzheimer-Zeitung". www.pz-news.de (in German). 22 April 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2025.

48°46′43″N 9°11′01″E / 48.77861°N 9.18361°E / 48.77861; 9.18361

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