An indirect presidential election (officially the 12th Federal Convention) was held in Germany on 23 May 2004.

[2] The election date was set for 23 May in Berlin, the anniversary of the adoption of the German constitution.

CDU/CSU and FDP nominated Horst Köhler, the head of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. Before that, he had been a senior official and was involved in negotiating both the German reunification treaty and the Maastricht Treaty on behalf of the German government.

SPD and Greens had nominated Gesine Schwan, the head of the Viadrina European University in Frankfurt (Oder).

The previous president Johannes Rau (SPD) cited personal reasons for his decision not to run for a second term and died in 2006.