In Germany, people come of age at 18. Then they are allowed to elect the delegates who are to represent them in the various representative political bodies (city councils, state parliaments and the German federal parliament or Bundestag). They then make use of their right to vote or, as it is also called, their "active right to vote”. And if they want to be elected themselves, it is also possible after they have reached the age of majority. They can stand as a candidate and be voted in. This is called the "passive right to vote”. So, theoretically, someone can be become a mayor or a member of the Bundestag at 18. This has, however, never happened, as a certain amount of experience is needed for such important posts. But people have to be much older than 18 to be elected as Federal President. Here, the minimum age is 40.
The right to vote – suffrage, as it is called – was introduced in Germany as early as 1871. However, it applied only to men. Women were not given the right to vote until 1918.