Politics of Hesse
Encyclopedia
The Politics of Hesse takes place within a framework of a federal
parliamentary representative democratic republic
, where the Federal Government of Germany exercises sovereign rights with certain powers reserved to the states of Germany
including Hesse
. The state has a multi-party system where, as in most other states of former Western Germany and the federal level, the two main parties are the centre-right Christian Democratic Union
(CDU) and the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Germany
(SPD).
were:
The governments of the National Socialist era:
The governments and ministers-President of Hesse since the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany
:
Since 1950, the SPD has been in the Hesse government 45 years, the CDU for 14 years; the FDP acted as coalition partners with either CDU of SPD for 21 years (13 with SPD, 8 with CDU).
) saw CDU support collapse, and it was widely assumed that the CDU would not participate in the new government. Outoing CDU minister-president
Roland Koch, did lose his majority. However opposing parties were unable to form a coalition. The Greens
and FDP
rejected jointly sharing power with the CDU or SPD. This meant that the SPD and Greens needed to reach out to the new far-left Left party
bloc of Landtag members, something very unpopular with most SPD members.
After two unsuccessful attempts to form a coalition from SPD and Greens with support from The Left, all parties except the SPD agreed to dissolve the parliament and call for early elections in January 2009. These were held, and popular anger at the bungling of the SPD delivered enough seats to form a new CDU-FDP coalition.
The results of the most recent election in Hesse were as follows:
Federal republic
A federal republic is a federation of states with a republican form of government. A federation is the central government. The states in a federation also maintain the federation...
parliamentary representative democratic republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
, where the Federal Government of Germany exercises sovereign rights with certain powers reserved to the states of Germany
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
including Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
. The state has a multi-party system where, as in most other states of former Western Germany and the federal level, the two main parties are the centre-right Christian Democratic Union
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
(CDU) and the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Germany
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
(SPD).
Governments
The governments and ministers-President (Ministerpräsidenten) of the People's State of Hesse during the time of the Weimar RepublicWeimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
were:
- 1919 - 1928: Center-right government, an SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
-DDP-ZentrumCentre Party (Germany)The German Centre Party was a Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. Formed in 1870, it battled the Kulturkampf which the Prussian government launched to reduce the power of the Catholic Church...
coalition led by Carl Ulrich (SPD) as minister-president - 1928 - 1933: Center-right government, an SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
-DDP-ZentrumCentre Party (Germany)The German Centre Party was a Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. Formed in 1870, it battled the Kulturkampf which the Prussian government launched to reduce the power of the Catholic Church...
coalition led by Bernhard Adelung (SPD) as minister-president
The governments of the National Socialist era:
- 1933: National Socialist government with Ferdinand Werner (NSDAP) and minister-president
- 1933 - 1935: National Socialist government with Philipp Wilhelm JungPhilipp Wilhelm JungPhilipp Wilhelm Jung was a German Nazi politician.Jung was born in Nieder-Flörsheim in the Grand Duchy of Hesse as the son of an elementary school teacher. He earned a doctoral degree in law....
(NSDAP) as minister-president - 1935-1945: National Socialist government with Jakob SprengerJakob SprengerJakob Sprenger was a Nazi politician.Sprenger was born in Oberhausen near Bad Bergzabern in the Palatinate. In 1922, the postal inspector Sprenger became a member of the Nazi Party...
(NSDAP) as minister-president
The governments and ministers-President of Hesse since the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
:
- 1945: Military occupation provisional government led by Ludwig BergsträsserLudwig BergsträsserLudwig Bergsträsser was a German politician, representative of the Social Democratic Party.-References:...
(SPD), appointed by the U.S. Military - 1945 - 1946: Military occupation provisional government led by Karl GeilerKarl GeilerKarl Hermann Friedrich Geiler was a German lawyer and politician. He was born in Schönau and died in Heidelberg....
(no party), appointed by the U.S. Military - 1946 - 1950: Theoretically a CDU-SPD grand coalitionGrand coalitionA grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government...
with Christian StockChristian StockChristian Stock was a German Social Democrat politician and the first Prime Minister—Ministerpräsident—of the provisional state of Greater Hesse , which had been constituted in the aftermath of World War II...
(SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
) as minister-president, though U.S. Military Occupation remained through 1949. - 1950 - 1969: First truly non-military government of the Federal Republic, led by Georg-August Zinn (SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
), whose SPD ruled in coalition with the All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of RightsAll-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of RightsThe All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights was a right-wing political party in West Germany, which acted as an advocacy group of the Germans fled and expelled in and after World War II.-History:...
, a party of expelled eastern GermansExpulsion of Germans after World War IIThe later stages of World War II, and the period after the end of that war, saw the forced migration of millions of German nationals and ethnic Germans from various European states and territories, mostly into the areas which would become post-war Germany and post-war Austria...
whose political goal was to retrieve their homelands (heimatlaender); and also with the League of Expellees' successors party the Gesamtdeutsche Partei. - 1969 - 1976: Center-left government of the SPD-FDPFree Democratic Party (Germany)The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...
, with Albert OsswaldAlbert OsswaldAlbert Osswald was a German politician . He served as minister-president of the federal state of Hesse from 1969 to 1976.- Biography :...
(SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
) as minister-president - 1976 - 1982: Center-left government of the SPD-FDP continued with Holger BörnerHolger BörnerHolger Börner was a German politician of the SPD.He was Minister-President of Hesse from 1976 until 1987. In this position, he served as President of the Bundesrat in 1986/87, but only served until the Landtag elections of 24 April 1987.In 1984, he and his SPD lost the majority in the Hesse Landtag...
(SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
) as minister-president. - 1982 - 1984: Center-left government of the SPD (single party rule) with Holger BörnerHolger BörnerHolger Börner was a German politician of the SPD.He was Minister-President of Hesse from 1976 until 1987. In this position, he served as President of the Bundesrat in 1986/87, but only served until the Landtag elections of 24 April 1987.In 1984, he and his SPD lost the majority in the Hesse Landtag...
(SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
) as minister-president. - 1984 - 1987: Center-left government of the SPD-Greens with Holger BörnerHolger BörnerHolger Börner was a German politician of the SPD.He was Minister-President of Hesse from 1976 until 1987. In this position, he served as President of the Bundesrat in 1986/87, but only served until the Landtag elections of 24 April 1987.In 1984, he and his SPD lost the majority in the Hesse Landtag...
(SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
) as minister-president. - 1987 - 1991: Center-right government of the CDU-FDP with Walter WallmannWalter WallmannWalter Wallmann is a German politician who has served as Lord Mayor of Frankfurt .Between 1986 and 1987 he was the first Federal Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety...
(CDU) as minister-president. - 1991 - 1999: Center-left government of the SPD-Greens with Hans EichelHans EichelHans Eichel , German politician , was Minister of Finance from 1999-2005.-Background:He was brought up in Kassel where he did his Abitur in 1961. He then completed a degree in German, philosophy, political science, history and education at the universities of Marburg and Berlin, graduating in 1970...
(SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
) as minister-president. - 1999 - 2003: Center-right government of the CDU-FDP with Roland KochRoland KochRoland Koch is a German jurist and former conservative politician. He was Minister-President of Hesse from April 7, 1999, immediately becoming President of the Bundesrat, completing the term begun by his predecessor as Minister President, Hans Eichel, until his resignation on August 31, 2010...
(CDU) as minister-president. - 2003 - 2009: Center-right government of the CDU (single party rule) with Roland KochRoland KochRoland Koch is a German jurist and former conservative politician. He was Minister-President of Hesse from April 7, 1999, immediately becoming President of the Bundesrat, completing the term begun by his predecessor as Minister President, Hans Eichel, until his resignation on August 31, 2010...
(CDU) as minister-president. - 2009–2010: Center-right government of the CDU-FDP with Roland KochRoland KochRoland Koch is a German jurist and former conservative politician. He was Minister-President of Hesse from April 7, 1999, immediately becoming President of the Bundesrat, completing the term begun by his predecessor as Minister President, Hans Eichel, until his resignation on August 31, 2010...
(CDU) as minister-president. - 2010–present: Center-right government of the CDU-FDP with Volker BouffierVolker BouffierVolker Bouffier is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union. Since August 31, 2010, he is the Minister-president of the German state of Hesse. Additionally, he has been the chairman of Hesse's CDU since July 2010. From 1999 to 2010, he was minister of interior and sports in the state...
as minister-president.
Since 1950, the SPD has been in the Hesse government 45 years, the CDU for 14 years; the FDP acted as coalition partners with either CDU of SPD for 21 years (13 with SPD, 8 with CDU).
Elections
The Hesse state election of 2008 for the state government (Landtag of HesseLandtag of Hesse
The Landtag of Hesse is the state Parliament of the German State of Hesse. It convenes in Wiesbaden and currently consists of 118 members of five Parties. Currently there is coalition between the CDU and the FDP....
) saw CDU support collapse, and it was widely assumed that the CDU would not participate in the new government. Outoing CDU minister-president
Minister-President
A minister-president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments, in which a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government prevails, who presides over the council of ministers...
Roland Koch, did lose his majority. However opposing parties were unable to form a coalition. The Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
and FDP
Free Democratic Party (Germany)
The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...
rejected jointly sharing power with the CDU or SPD. This meant that the SPD and Greens needed to reach out to the new far-left Left party
The Left (Germany)
The Left , also commonly referred to as the Left Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The Left is the most left-wing party of the five represented in the Bundestag....
bloc of Landtag members, something very unpopular with most SPD members.
After two unsuccessful attempts to form a coalition from SPD and Greens with support from The Left, all parties except the SPD agreed to dissolve the parliament and call for early elections in January 2009. These were held, and popular anger at the bungling of the SPD delivered enough seats to form a new CDU-FDP coalition.
The results of the most recent election in Hesse were as follows:
See also
- Rulers of HesseRulers of HesseThis is a list of rulers of Hesse during the history of Hesse on west-central Germany. These rulers belonged to a dynasty collectively known as the House of Hesse and the House of Brabant, originally the Reginar...
- for the hereditary rulers of the Grand Duchy of Hesse prior to 1919.