Parliamentary Television

Article 42 of the German Basic Law states that ‘Sittings of the Bundestag shall be public.’ Yet only a few people can actually be present in the plenary chamber when Members meet in Berlin.

That is why the German Bundestag decided to create an additional information medium, Parliamentary Television, a step taken in 1999 when parliament moved from Bonn, the former federal capital, to Berlin. The channel broadcasts live every plenary debate as well as the full proceedings of a large number of public committee meetings and hearings, all without comment.

Media Centre

Selected programmes are available in English in the Media Centre.

As an additional service, all live broadcasts and videos have been available in the Bundestag’s Media Centre in German since the beginning of the 17th electoral term in October 2009. Plenary sittings and committee meetings, special events, interviews and reports can be viewed or downloaded at any time at www.bundestag.de/mediathek.

A user-friendly way for Internet-enabled televisions to access the Media Centre is via a Smart-TV app. The Deutscher Bundestag TV app is available to download in numerous app stores.

Where available on some recordings, interpretation serves to facilitate oral communication and does not constitute an authentic record or translation of the proceedings. Only the original speech or its revised translation is authentic. No liability shall be incurred by the interpreters in the exercise of their function.

Additional information

Viewers who are following the channel live online receive additional information such as the current agenda or the order of speakers directly on the homepage. This information can also be accessed on the go via the Deutscher Bundestag mobile app. The app’s audio stream allows users to listen to debates in real time.