Landtag of Lower Saxony

Landtag of Lower Saxony Niedersächsischer Landtag
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type	Landtag
Leadership
President of the Landtag	Bernd Busemann, CDU
Structure
Seats	137
Political groups	Government (69)      SPD (49)      The Greens (20) Opposition Parties      CDU (54)      FDP (14)
Elections
Last election	20 January 2013
Meeting place
Leineschloss, Hanover
Website
[1]

The Lower Saxon Landtag (Niedersächsischer Landtag) or the Parliament of Lower Saxony is the state diet of the German state of Lower Saxony. It convenes in Hanover and currently consists of 137 members consisting of four parties. The current majority is a coalition of the Social Democratic Party and The Greens, supporting the cabinet of Minister-President Stephan Weil (SPD).

Landtag building

Leineschloss

The Landtag is situated in the Leineschloss, a former residence of the kings of Hanover. After its destruction in World War II it was rebuilt from 1957 to 1962. Thus, from 1947 to 1962, the parliament of Lower Saxony convened in the Old town hall (Stadthalle Hanover).

Current composition

After the elections of January 20, 2013, the composition of the Lower Saxony Landtag is as follows:

Party	Seats	(Percent)
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	54	36.0%
Social Democratic Party (SPD)	49	32.6%
Alliance '90/The Greens (Die Grünen)	20	13.7%
Free Democratic Party (FDP)	14	9.9%

Elections are conducted using a proportional representation system, with a minimum of 5% vote share to receive any seats in the Landtag.

Presidents of the Landtag

So far, the presidents of the Landtag of Lower Saxony have been:

• 1946–1955 Karl Olfers, Social Democratic Party (SPD)
• 1955–1957 Werner Hofmeister, German Party (DP)/Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
• 1957–1959 Paul Oskar Schuster, German Party (DP)/Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
• 1959–1963 Karl Olfers, Social Democratic Party (SPD)
• 1963–1967 Richard Lehners, Social Democratic Party (SPD)
• 1967–1974 Wilhelm Baumgarten, Social Democratic Party (SPD)
• 1974–1982 Heinz Müller, Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
• 1982–1985 Bruno Brandes, Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
• 1985–1990 Edzard Blanke, Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
• 1990–1998 Horst Milde, Social Democratic Party (SPD)
• 1998–2003 Rolf Wernstedt, Social Democratic Party (SPD)
• 2003–2008 Jürgen Gansäuer, Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
• 2008-2013 Hermann Dinkla, Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
• Since 2013 Bernd Busemann, Christian Democratic Union (CDU)

See also

• Lower Saxony state election, 1998
• Lower Saxony state election, 2003
• Lower Saxony state election, 2008
• Lower Saxony state election, 2013

External links

• Official english Webpage of the Landtag