his term until October 1999. The current order of rotation of the presidency of the Bundesrat is as follows: North Rhine-Westphalia Bavaria Baden-Württemberg Lower Saxony Hesse Saxony Rhineland-Palatinate Berlin Schleswig-Holstein Brandenburg Saxony-Anhalt Thuringia Hamburg Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Saarland Bremen Deputy to the Federal President Article 57 of the Basic Law provides that: If the Federal President is unable to perform his duties, or if his office falls prematurely vacant, the President of the Bundesrat shall exercise his powers. If the office of the Federal President falls vacant, the President of the Bundesrat fills in as acting President. While doing so, they do not continue to exercise the role of chair of the Bundesrat. If the president resigns, dies, or is removed from office, a successor is elected within thirty days. Three Presidents of the Bundesrat have served as acting Presidents: Karl Arnold (from 7 September 1949 to 12 September 1949 after he was elected as President of the Bundesrat and before Theodor Heuss was elected as the first President of Germany. With a tenure of only six days he is yet the shortest serving head of state in German history) Jens Böhrnsen (from 31 May 2010 to 30 June 2010 after the resignation of Horst Köhler and before the election of Christian Wulff) Horst Seehofer (from 17 February 2012 to 18 March 2012 after the resignation of Christian Wulff and before the election of Joachim Gauck) If the Federal President is abroad on a state visit the President of the Bundesrat does not assume all of the Federal President's responsibilities but may "deputise" for him or her, performing on the Federal President's behalf merely those tasks that require his or her physical presence, such as the signing of documents. List of presidents Political Party |- | style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan= 8| The office was vacant from 20 October to 3 December 1976. |- |- | style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan= 8| The office was vacant from 24 April to 15 May 1987. |- |- | style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan= 8| The office was vacant from 19 March to 15 May 1992. |- |- | style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan= 8| The office was vacant from 27 October to 1 November 1998. |- |- | style="text-align:center;" bgcolor=#EEEEEE colspan= 8| The office was vacant from 7 April to 30 April 1999. |- See also Politics of Germany Notes References External links The Bundesrat - President and Presidium (Official Bundesrat website)