Steinmeier new President of Germany

Frank-Walter Steinmeier is the new President of Germany, already after the first round of voting. He received 931 votes out of a total of 1,253. He needed 631 votes for his appointment.

The Federal Assembly in Berlin, a constitutional body composed of members of the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, and representatives of the states - the Bundesrat, consisting of 1,253 delegates (630 elected and 630 delegated from the 16 German states), decided that Steinmeier will replace Joachim Gauck as President of Germany.

The vote was held in Berlin's glass dome of the Reichstag building, where among the voters were artists, writers, musicians, and the German national football team coach Joachim Loew.

Besides Steinmeier, there were four other candidates competing for the presidency of Germany.

The opposition Left Party nominated Christoph Butterwegge, Alternative for Germany (AFD) nominated Albrecht Glaser, the Free Voters party from Bavaria nominated Alexander Hold, and the fourth candidate was Engelbert Sonneborn.

All four received a very small number of votes compared to Steinmeier.