German Bundesrat

The German Bundesrat (German:, lit.'Federal Council') is a legislative body that represents the sixteen states of Germany (German: Länder) at the federal level (German: Bundesebene). The Bundesrat meets at the former Prussian House of Lords in Berlin at Leipziger Straße. Its second seat is located in the former West German capital of Bonn.

In Germany's bicameral system, the Bundesrat legislates alongside the Bundestag. The Bundesrat members are appointed by state governments; the Bundestag representatives are elected by the German people. Certain laws and all constitutional changes need the consent of both houses. Thus Bundesrat is not an equal second house like United States Senate, Swiss Ständerat or Australian Senate. Its power is closer to the Canadian Senate and the British House of Lords.

The name "Bundesrat" was used by similar bodies in the North German Confederation (1867) and the German Empire (1871). The predecessor of the Bundesrat in the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) was the Reichsrat.

The political makeup of the Bundesrat is affected by changes in power in the states of Germany, and thus by elections in each state. Each state delegation in the Bundesrat is appointed by the state government. In contrast to most parliaments, the members of the Bundesrat do not have a free mandate and all members of a state delegation have to vote the same way in each vote. The Bundesrat is a continuous body and has no legislative periods. For organizational reasons, the Bundesrat structures its legislative calendar in years of business (Geschäftsjahre), beginning each year on 1 November. Each year of business is congruous with the one-year-term of the Presidium of the Bundesrat. The sessions have been counted continuously since the first session on 7 September 1949. The Bundesrat's 1,000th plenary meeting took place on 12 February 2021 and was opened with a speech by President of GermanyFrank-Walter Steinmeier.