Minister President of Lower Saxony the CDU nomination for President in 1979 and Chancellor in 1980, Gerhard Schröder became Chancellor of Germany in 1998, his successor Sigmar Gabriel is the current SPD chairman and Christian Wulff was elected President of Germany in 2010. Examples of Lower Saxony's influence on policy debates in federal politics include Ernst Albrecht's advocacy of financial transfers from other states and Gerhard Schröder's usage of Lower Saxony's "Bundesrat" votes in matters of fiscal and tax policy. Political Party: Minister President of Lower Saxony The Minister President of Lower Saxony (), also referred to as Premier or Prime Minister, is the head
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