Judicial Branch
- Highest court(s)
- Federal Court of Justice (court consists of 127 judges, including the court president, vice presidents, presiding judges, other judges; organized into 25 Senates subdivided into 12 civil panels, 5 criminal panels, and 8 special panels); Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (consists of 2 Senates each subdivided into 3 chambers, each with a chairman and 8 members)
- Subordinate courts
- Federal Administrative Court; Federal Finance Court; Federal Labor Court; Federal Social Court; each of the 16 federated states or Land has its own constitutional court and a hierarchy of ordinary (civil, criminal, family) and specialized (administrative, finance, labor, social) courts; two English-speaking commercial courts opened in 2020 in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg -- the Stuttgart Commercial Court and the Mannheim Commercial Court
- Judge selection and term of office
- Federal Court of Justice judges selected by the Judges Election Committee, which consists of the Secretaries of Justice from each of the 16 federated states and 16 members appointed by the Federal Parliament; judges appointed by the president; judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 65; half of Federal Constitutional Court judges are elected by the House of Representatives and half by the Senate; judges appointed for 12-year terms with mandatory retirement at age 68
Executive Branch
- Cabinet
- Cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) recommended by the chancellor, appointed by the president
- Chief of state
- President Frank-Walter STEINMEIER (since 19 March 2017)
- Election results
2025: Friedrich MERZ (CDU) elected chancellor in second round; Federal Parliament vote - 325 to 289
2022: Frank-Walter STEINMEIER reelected president; Federal Convention vote count - Frank-Walter STEINMEIER (SPD) 1,045, Max OTTE (CDU) 140, Gerhard TRABERT (The Left) 96, Stefanie GEBAUER (Free Voters) 58, abstentions 86- Head of government
- Chancellor Friedrich MERZ (since 6 May 2025)
- Most recent election date
- president: 13 February 2022
chancellor: 6 May 2025 - Election/appointment process
- president indirectly elected by a Federal Convention consisting of all members of the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) and an equivalent number of delegates indirectly elected by the state parliaments; president serves a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); following the most recent Federal Parliament election, the party or coalition with the most representatives usually elects the chancellor, who is appointed by the president to serve a renewable 4-year term
- Expected date of next election
- president: February 2027
- National symbol(s)
- eagle
- National coat of arms
- Germany’s coat of arms is the world’s oldest, said to date back to 1200, and uses the country’s national colors; it features the oldest European national symbol, an eagle known as the Bundesadler (Federal Eagle); the coat of arms has varied over time for military or political reasons, but the eagle has always been part of the design; the Federal Republic of Germany adopted this version in 1950
- Administrative divisions
- 16 states (Laender, singular - Land); Baden-Wuerttemberg, Bayern (Bavaria), Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hessen (Hesse), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania), Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), Nordrhein-Westfalen (North Rhine-Westphalia), Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate), Saarland, Sachsen (Saxony), Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt), Schleswig-Holstein, Thueringen (Thuringia)
Legislative Branch Lower Chamber
- Note
- note 1: total seats can vary each electoral term; currently includes 4 seats for independent members; approximately one-half of members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote and approximately one-half directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote; members' terms vary depending on the states they represent
note 2: the 20th Bundestag is the largest to date, due to Germany's recognition of "overhang" (when a party's share of the nationwide votes would entitle it to fewer seats than the number of individual constituency seats won in an election) and "leveling" (when additional seats are elected to supplement the members directly elected in order to ensure that each party's share of the total seats is roughly proportional to its overall share of votes at the national level) - Chamber name
- German Bundestag (Deutscher Bundestag)
- Term in office
- 4 years
- Number of seats
- 630 (all directly elected)
- Electoral system
- mixed system
- Scope of elections
- full renewal
- Most recent election date
- 2/23/2025
- Expected date of next election
- February 2029
- Percentage of women in chamber
- 32.4%
- Parties elected and seats per party
- Christian Democratic Union (CDU) (164); Alternative for Germany (AfD) (152); Social Democratic Party (SPD) (120); Green Party (85); Left Party (Die Linke) (64); Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) (44); Other (1)
- International organisations
- ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CBSS, CD, CDB, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-5, G-7, G-8, G-10, G-20, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINURSO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNHRC, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMISS, UNOOSA, UNRWA, UNSOM, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
- International law organization participation
- accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction
Germany