German parliament celebrates 75th anniversary of first session

The German parliament, known as the Bundestag, commemorated the 75th anniversary of it first session in 1949 with a special ceremony on Tuesday.

"Despite all the problems, we should not forget what we have proven time and again in 75 years of the Bundestag: We can overcome crises - despite tough controversies," said Bundestag President Bärbel Bas.

"Our democracy is strong and resilient against all those who want to harm it," she added.

In his speech in parliament, former interior minister Gerhart Baum recalled that foreign observers had questioned whether Germans were capable of democracy following the Nazi regime under Adolf Hitler which was defeated by Allied Forces in World War II.

"Yes, they have proven it. They can do democracy," Baum said. "Now they have to prove that they also actively defend democracy."

The Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, met for its first constituent sitting in the western German city of Bonn on September 7, 1949, four years after the end of World War II.

The upper house, the Bundesrat, convened for a constituent meeting on the same day.

At the time, the Bundestag was the democratically elected parliament for West Germany, a country created from the occupation zones of the three Western Allied powers, the United States, Britain and France.

The Soviet Union established a communist government in East Germany with its own parliament and other institutions. The country remained divided until 1990.

Following German reunification, voters in the former East Germany also began electing representatives to the Bundestag, which finally moved back to Berlin from Bonn in 1999.