List of heads of state of Germany
Under the 1919 Constitution, the first republican constitution of Germany, the President replaced the monarch as ceremonial head of state with semi-presidential powers. The President was to be elected by universal suffrage for a seven-year term. In the event of a vacancy the Chancellor served as Acting President, but in case of a longer vacancy parliament was to decide on the Acting President by law. However, the first President, Friedrich Ebert, was elected by the National Assembly; he also acted as head of state during the revolutionary period, as Co-Chairman of the Council of the People's Deputies, together with Hugo Haase from 10 November 1918 until 29 December 1918 and thereafter together with Philipp Scheidemann.Under the current Constitution, the second republican constitution of Germany, the President is the ceremonial head of state. The President is elected indirectly for a five-year term. In the event of a vacancy the President of the Bundesrat serves as Acting President.During the East German period the title of the heads of state varies from President to Chairman of the Council.
Richard von Weizsäcker
A member of the CDU since 1954, he was elected as member of parliament in 1969. He continued to hold a mandate as member of the Bundestag until he became Governing Mayor of West Berlin, following the 1981 state elections. In 1984, Richard von Weizsäcker was elected as President of the Federal Republic of Germany and in 1989 he was re-elected for a second term. As yet, he is, together with Theodor Heuss, one of only two Presidents of the Federal Republic of Germany, who have served two complete five-year-terms. During his second term as President on 3 October 1990, the reorganized five states of the former German Democratic Republic and East Berlin joined the Federal Republic of Germany ("German reunification"), which made von Weizsäcker the first democratically legitimized head of state of Germany as a whole since Reich President Paul von Hindenburg had died in office on 2 August 1934.