Four weeks after the federal election on September 26, Germany’s new parliament will sit for the first time on Tuesday - even though a new government hasn’t yet been formed. So what’s happening in the Bundestag as the post-Merkel era begins? 

Germany’s 20th parliament convenes

The SPD, Green and FDP parties may still be wrangling over their coalition agreement, but MPs will today take up their seats in the 20th Bundestag. October 26 is the latest possible date that this can happen, since Germany’s Basic Law stipulates that the new parliament must meet for the first time no later than the 30th day after the election.

Tuesday will begin with an ecumenical service at the St. Marienkirche in Berlin. The Bundestag session will then start at 11 am, as Germany’s largest, youngest, and most diverse parliament ever take their seats. 

A record 736 MPs now need to be accommodated in the plenary hall - and because the fixed furniture has now reached its capacity limits, around 36 conference chairs have been set up in addition to the classic blue chairs that delegates usually sit on. The SPD is now the largest party in the Bundestag, with 206 seats, followed by the CDU / CSU with 197. The Greens have 118, the FDP 92, the AfD 82 and the Left 39. 

New Bundestag is bigger, younger and more diverse

The new Bundestag is younger than the previous one, with the average age of MPs falling two years to 47,5. The proportion of representatives under the age of 30 has risen from 2 to 7 percent, and the youngest member - a Green MP called Emilia Johanna Fester - is just 23 years old. Alexander Gauland of the AfD, who is 80 years old, is now the oldest MP in the Bundestag. 

The proportion of seats occupied by women has also risen slightly compared to the previous Bundestag, from 31,5 percent to 34,8 percent. However, that is still below the quota achieved in the 18th Bundestag (2013 - 2017), in which 36,5 percent of seats were held by women. The Greens have the most female MPs (women make up 59 percent of Green MPs). The AfD has the fewest. 

The new parliament is also more ethnically diverse: the proportion of MPs with at least one parent who was not born with German citizenship has grown from 8,2 percent to 11,3 percent. Green MP Awet Tesfaiesus will become the first-ever black woman MP to sit in the German parliament. 

New president of Bundestag to be elected on Tuesday

Matters to be sorted on Tuesday include the election of the president of the Bundestag, as well as deputies and secretaries. The president is traditionally selected by the largest parliamentary group, which this time is the SPD. They have put forward Bärbel Bas for the post. Each party is also entitled to put forward a candidate for one of the vice-president positions. 

The government bench in the Bundestag will remain empty, since no new government has been formed. Merkel and her outgoing ministers will take their seats in the visitors’ or honorary galleries, along with outgoing MPs.