Direct election means no intermediary elector.
In a direct parliamentary election, eligible voters cast votes for parliamentary representation. The presidential election works differently: Federal Convention members make the actual electoral choice.
The Federal Convention is not the Bundesrat. It assembles to elect the President. Alongside Bundestag MPs, it can include other people elected by state parliaments.
The other three answers
The other three answers concern directly elected parliaments.
Members of the EU Parliament
Members of the European Parliament are directly elected, subject to that election’s eligibility rules.
State parliament members
State parliament members are elected in direct state elections. City-states may use different parliamentary names.
Bundestag members
Bundestag MPs are directly elected under Article 38. This is a different election from the presidential election.
Indirect does not mean lacking democratic legitimacy.
The Federal Convention is connected to elected parliaments. An indirect election can therefore be part of a democratic constitutional system.
Not everyone may automatically vote in all the direct elections listed. Age, citizenship and other conditions vary by election.
Article 54 · Basic Law ↗Federal President → Federal Convention, not a direct popular vote.
Remember the special electoral body and distinguish it from the Bundesrat.
Three words for this question
- direkt wählento elect directly
- To vote without an intermediary electoral body.
- die BundesversammlungFederal Convention
- The body that elects the Federal President.
- die Legitimationlegitimacy
- The democratic basis for governmental decision-making authority.