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Joachim Wilhelm Gauck

b. 24 Jan 1940, Rostock, Mecklenburg
Title: Bundespräsident (Federal President)
Term: 18 Mar 2012 - 18 Mar 2017
Chronology: 18 Mar 2012, elected, session of the Bundesversammlung (Federal Assembly), Reichstagsgebäude, Berlin [1]
  18 Mar 2012, commencement of term immediately upon the declaration of acceptance of election by the President of the Bundestag (in accordance with Art. 10 of the Law on Election of the Federal President by the Federal Assembly), session of the Federal Assembly, Reichstagsgebäude, Berlin [1][2]
  23 Mar 2012, took an oath of office as Federal President, joint session of the Bundestag and Bundesrat, Reichstagsgebäude, Berlin [3]
  18 Mar 2017, expiration of term
Biography:
Son of a sea captain, who was deported from the German Democratic Republic to Siberia (1951-1955); attended local schools in Rostock (1946-1958); began his theological studies in Rostock (1958-1965); was ordained (1967) and worked for the Evangelical-Lutheran church in Mecklenburg, serving as a pastor in Lüssow (near Güstrow) and, from 1970, in Rostock; his support for human rights, peace, and the protection of the environment during the 1980s attracted the attention of the Ministry for State Security (Stasi); in the 1989 revolution, he led weekly church services in Rostock, took part in public demonstrations against the regime, and became a co-founder and spokesman for the local opposition group New Forum (Neues Forum); was elected to the Volkskammer of the German Democratic Republic (1990), representing the Alliance 90 (Bündnis 90); headed a special commission to oversee the disbanding of the Stasi; introduced legislation to safeguard the official records of the Stasi; served as Federal Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the Former German Democratic Republic (1990-2000); served as chairman of the association Gegen Vergessen – Für Demokratie ("Against Forgetting – For Democracy"); served on the Management Board of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (2001-2004); elected Federal President (2012-2017).
Elections:
Candidate (party) Vote (18 Mar 2012)
Joachim Wilhelm Gauck (independent) * 991
Beate Auguste Klarsfeld, geb. Künzel (Left Party) 126
Olaf Rose (NPD) 3
abstentions 108
invalid 4
total votes cast 1,232
total votes/absolute majority: 1,240/621
* Nominated by CDU, CSU, SPD, FDP and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen.
Source of electoral results: 15. Bundesversammlung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Berlin, Sonntag, den 18. März 2012 (H. Heenemann GmbH & Co., Buch- und Offsetdruckerei, 2012).

[1] 15. Bundesversammlung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Berlin, Sonntag, den 18. März 2012 (H. Heenemann GmbH & Co., Buch- und Offsetdruckerei, 2012)
[2] Bundesgesetzblatt, Teil I, 1959, Ausgegeben zu Bonn am 29. April 1959, Nr. 15. S. 230-231: "Gesetz über die Wahl des Bundespräsidenten durch die Bundesversammlung. Vom 25. April 1959. <...> § 10 Das Amt des Bundespräsidenten beginnt mit dem Ablauf der Amtszeit seines Vorgängers, jedoch nicht vor Eingang der Annahmeerklärung beim Präsidenten des Bundestages."
[3] Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages, 17. Wahlperiode, S. 5503-5511.
Last update: 08 May 2025
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