Dates of elections to parliaments in the federal states

Viewed in constitutional terms, the Bundesrat is a permanent body, whose membership is renewed from time to time as a result of elections to the parliaments in the federal states. That means that elections to the federal state parliaments are always significant in terms of national politics too.

In these elections, voters are of course deciding in the first instance on the composition of the parliament in their federal state and determining which parties will govern that federal state. At the same time however, voters are indirectly determining who will have a seat and a say in the Bundesrat; the party that holds a majority in the federal state parliament forms the federal state government, and subsequently appoints from its ranks the Bundesrat members who will represent that federal state.

The parliament of each federal state, the Landtag, is the body that represents the people in each federal state (distinct terminology is used to describe this parliament in Berlin, where it is known as the Abgeordnetenhaus, and in Hamburg and Bremen, where it is called the Bürgerschaft). Article 28 of the Basic Law stipulates that the federal state parliaments must be elected on the basis of general, direct, free, equal and secret elections.

Federal stateNext elections to the federal state parliamentsFrequency of elections
Wappen Freistaat Sachsen SaxonySeptember 1st, 20245 years
Wappen Thüringen ThuringiaSeptember 1st, 20245 years
Wappen Brandenburg BrandenburgSeptember 22nd, 20245 years
Wappen Hansestadt Hamburg Hamburgprobably spring 20255 years
Großes Landeswappen des Landes Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württembergprobably spring 20265 years
Wappen Rheinland-Pfalz Rhineland-Palatinateprobably spring 20265 years
Wappen Sachsen-Anhalt Saxony-Anhaltprobably summer 20265 years
Wappen Berlin Berlinprobably autumn 20265 years
Wappen Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommernprobably autumn 20265 years
Wappen Saarland Saarlandprobably spring 20275 years
Wappen Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holsteinprobably spring 20275 years
Wappen Nordrhein-Westfalen North Rhine-Westphaliaprobably spring 20275 years
Wappen Hansestadt Bremen Bremenprobably spring 20274 years
Wappen Niedersachsen Lower Saxonyprobably autumn 20275 years
Großes Staatswappen des Freistaates Bayern Bavariaprobably autumn 20285 years
Wappen Hessen Hesseprobably autumn 20285 years

Please note: the dates of elections to the parliaments in the federal states are only published in this overview once they have been announced officially.

Effective 2023.10.09

Glossary