Since 1950, the Landtag convenes in the Landeshaus in Kiel, which was built in 1888 as the Royal Marine Academy.[1] During the Nazi-Era, the Landeshaus served as seat of the German Navy's Baltic Sea Command.[1] Up to 1950, the Landtag convened in Lübeck, Flensburg and Eckernförde as well as in Kiel.[1] Since its renovation in 2003, the Landtag is assembled in a new Chamber inside of the Landeshaus.[1]
Electoral system
The Landtag is elected via mixed-member proportional representation. 35 members are elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting. 34 members are then allocated using compensatory proportional representation. Voters have two votes: the "first vote" for candidates in single-member constituencies, and the "second vote" for party lists, which are used to fill the proportional seats. The minimum size of the Landtag is 69 members, but if overhang seats are present, proportional leveling seats will be added to ensure proportionality. An electoral threshold of 5% of valid votes is applied to the Landtag; parties that fall below this threshold, and fail to win at least one constituency, are ineligible to receive seats. Parties representing the Danish minority of Southern Schleswig and the Frisians, such as the South Schleswig Voters' Association, are exempt from the threshold.[2] However, they are not guaranteed representation, they must still win enough votes to qualify for at least one mandate (with 69 seats, it's 1/69≈1.4% of the vote).
Presidents of the Landtag
So far, the presidents of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein have been:
^Unlike in all other states and on a federal level, the leader of the opposition is a formal office laid out by the Schleswig-Holstein state constitution.
