The President of Germany (German: Bundespräsident) is the head of state of Germany.
As Germany has a parliamentary system of government with the Chancellor running the government, the President has mainly ceremonial and supervisory duties. He gives direction to important political and societal debates and has some important "reserve powers" in case of political instability (such as those provided for by Article 81 of the Basic Law).
Furthermore all federal laws must be signed by the President before they can come into effect. Theoretically the President thereby has a power of veto, but no President since World War II has ever openly used this theoretically given veto power. Within the frame of Germany's constitutional reality the presidents have only refused to sign laws that they believed to violate the constitution, or at least they justified their refusal to sign a law with concerns regarding the constitutionality of the concerned law.
The President is elected by the Federal Convention, a body established solely for that purpose. The first official residence of the president is the Bellevue Palace in Berlin. The President's second official residence is the Hammerschmidt Villa in Bonn.
The office of President of Germany was first created in 1919, replacing the emperor as head of state, with Friedrich Ebert (SPD) serving as the first president. The presidential standard, adopted in 1921, is still used today. While Germany had a semi-presidential system during the Weimar Republic, today's presidential office is mainly supervising and ceremonial, with the Chancellor of Germany generally seen as wielding the effective power and guideline authority in everyday politics.
The current officeholder is Joachim Gauck who was elected on 18 March 2012.
Read more about President Of Germany: Selection, Qualifications, Duties and Functions, Impartiality and Influence, Reserve Powers, Succession, Impeachment and Removal, Presidential Standard
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