German Bundestag in Berlin

A week as a representative in Berlin

Committee Meeting in the German Bundestag

Foto © Deutscher Bundestag / Achim Melde / Lichtblick

The Bundestag doesn’t meet every week. The time is divided so that in an average month representatives spend two weeks in their voting district and two weeks in Berlin. The Parliamentary session schedule for the upcoming year is set usually in the middle of the current year. Below you’ll find a description of what a typical week in Berlin is like.

Monday

Dorotheenstr. 101, Jakob-Kaiser-Haus, here's my office - Foto ©DBT

Since many representatives live in their districts, Monday is a travel day. Much office work work is completed in order to prepare for the upcoming week. The party fraction-board works on the upcoming week as well as on Tuesdays the Party fraction assembly takes place. In the evenings, representatives from each party meet with their individual states. I am a member of the SPD state-group Saxony Anhalt, who meets quite regularly to work on issues concerning the state of Saxony Anhalt.

Tuesday

The Reichstag building

At 9:30am on Tuesdays the work of individual working groups begins to prepare for the committee assemblies and to go over general goals. I am a member of the working group for the Environment, Conservation, and Reactor Safety.
Later in the day at 3pm, the entire SPD party fraction gets together to discuss the outcomes of the working groups, to discuss and prepare the plenary topics, and to communicate the views of the party as designated by the speaker. There are also the usual invitations to parliamentary evenings and events.

Wednesday

Committee Meeting

Wednesday mornings meet the Bundestag Committees. For me the committee for the environment, conservation, and reactor safety takes priority, since for this committee I am a devoted member.
Around 1:30 pm the Bundestag meets for the first time in the week usually for a ‘question-hour.’

Thursday

Marko Muehlstein speeching

Thursday mornings is reserved for assembly-duty. Here is where the work of the meetings, committees and project groups comes together. On Thursday afternoons I attend the working group ‘Energy’ from the SPD-Fraction.

Fryday

Friday is assembly-duty once again, usually until early afternoon. Afterwards most representatives travel back to their voting districts.