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 Republic might be recalled before the expiration of his term by a joint resolution of the "Volkskammer" and the "Landerkammer". Such a resolution required a two-thirds majority of the statutory number of representatives. Largely a ceremonial position (similarly to the President of West Germany), the duties and competences of the President of the Republic as stipulated in articles 104–108 of the Constitution of 1949: To become effective, all orders and decrees issued by the President of the Republic needed to be countersigned by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers or the competent Minister. The President exercised the right of