Parliament works across many sittings.
In a federal election, eligible voters elect their MPs. These representatives form parliament for an electoral term. The Bundestag is neither a one-off gathering on election day nor just one day’s sitting.
The Basic Law combines two ideas: the normal duration is four years, and there is an orderly transition to the newly elected parliament. The old term ends only when the new Bundestag convenes. Election night and the start of a new term are therefore not the same moment.
The other three answers
The numbers refer to one normal electoral term, not several periods added together.
2 years
Two years would be only half the normal four-year duration. The question asks about the ordinary term, not a particular exception.
6 years
Six years is longer than the normal duration in Article 39. The number sought for the Bundestag is four.
8 years
Eight years equals two normal four-year periods mathematically. A single election does not grant a normal eight-year term.
Four years is the rule, not a guarantee of an exact day-to-day interval.
Article 39 places the normal election within a window of 46 to 48 months after the term begins. The simple exam answer “four years” summarises that rule; it does not fix a particular calendar date.
If the Bundestag is dissolved early under the constitutional rules, an election can occur sooner. That does not change the normal duration asked about here. The first sitting after an election has its own deadline: no later than the thirtieth day.
Article 39 · Basic Law ↗Bundestag → electoral term → four years.
Link parliament to its normal duration and distinguish election day from its first sitting.
Three words for this question
- die Wahlperiodeelectoral term
- The period between one Bundestag convening and the next convening.
- der Abgeordnete / die Abgeordnetemember of parliament
- A person elected to parliament.
- zusammentretento convene
- To assemble as a parliament for a sitting.