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 is convoked and presided over by the President of the "Volkskammer". Any citizen who has reached the age of thirty-five years might stand for election. The administrative reform of 1952 led to the dissolution of the states ("Länder") of East Germany. The "Landerkammer" thereby became meaningless; It met in 1954 for the last time and was formally abolished in 1958. As a result, the "Volkskammer" alone was responsible for the election of the President. On assuming office, the President of the Republic took the following oath before a joint session of the "Volkskammer" and the "Landerkammer": The President of the