President of Germany them to the President of the Bundesrat. If the president dies, resigns or is otherwise removed from office, a successor is to be elected within thirty days. Horst Köhler, upon his resignation on May 31, 2010, became the first president to trigger this re-election process. Jens Böhrnsen, President of the Senate and Mayor of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and at the time President of the Bundesrat, assumed the powers and duties of head of state. Similarly, when Christian Wulff resigned in 2012, it was Horst Seehofer, Minister-President of Bavaria, as President of the Bundesrat, who assumed the powers
President of East Germany President of East Germany The President of the Republic () was the head of state of East Germany (German Democratic Republic) from 1949 until 1960. The office was created by the Constitution of 1949 (). The President of the Republic was elected by the People's Chamber ("Volkskammer") and the Chamber of States ("Landerkammer"), the two chambers of parliament. The office was more ceremonial in nature. If necessary, the President of the People's Chamber acted as the President of the Republic. The sole incumbent was Wilhelm Pieck of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), elected on 11 October 1949 and