List of chancellors of Germany facts for kids
The chancellor of Germany is the political leader of Germany and the head of the federal government. The office holder is responsible for selecting all other members of the government and chairing cabinet meetings.
The office was created in the North German Confederation in 1867, when Otto von Bismarck became the first chancellor. With the unification of Germany and establishment of the German Empire in 1871, the Confederation evolved into a German nation-state and its leader became known as the chancellor of Germany. Originally, the chancellor was only responsible to the emperor. This changed with the constitutional reform in 1918, when the Parliament was given the right to dismiss the chancellor. Under the 1919 Weimar Constitution the chancellors were appointed by the directly elected president, but were responsible to Parliament. The constitution was set aside during the 1933–1945 Nazi dictatorship. During Allied occupation, no independent German government and no chancellor existed; and the office was not reconstituted in East Germany, thus the head of government of East Germany was chairman of the Council of Ministers. The 1949 Basic Law made the chancellor the most important office in West Germany, while diminishing the role of the president.
Contents
North German Confederation (1867–1871)
The North German Confederation came into existence after the falling apart of the German Confederation, itself caused by Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. The chancellor was appointed by the Prussian king.
Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Political Party | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
Count Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) |
1 July 1867 |
21 March 1871 |
3 years, 263 days | Non-partisan |
German Reich (1871–1945)
German Empire (1871–1918)
Imperial Chancellor of the German Empire
The German Empire was born out of the North German Confederation as result of the Franco-Prussian War (1870). The newly created emperor named the chancellor to serve at his pleasure.
Political parties: None Zentrum
No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) |
Term of office | Political party | Cabinet | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
1 | Fürst Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) |
21 March 1871 |
20 March 1890 |
18 years, 364 days | Non-partisan | Bismarck | ||
2 | Count Leo von Caprivi (1831–1899) |
20 March 1890 |
26 October 1894 |
4 years, 220 days | Non-partisan | Caprivi | ||
3 | Fürst Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1819–1901) |
29 October 1894 |
17 October 1900 |
5 years, 353 days | Non-partisan | Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst | ||
4 | Fürst Bernhard von Bülow (1849–1929) |
17 October 1900 |
14 July 1909 |
8 years, 270 days | Non-partisan | Bülow | ||
5 | Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg (1856–1921) |
14 July 1909 |
13 July 1917 |
7 years, 364 days | Non-partisan | Bethmann-Hollweg | ||
6 | Georg Michaelis (1857–1936) |
14 July 1917 |
1 November 1917 |
110 days | Non-partisan | Michaelis | ||
7 | Count Georg von Hertling (1843–1919) |
1 November 1917 |
30 September 1918 |
333 days | Centre Party | Hertling | ||
8 | Prince Max von Baden (1867–1929) |
3 October 1918 |
9 November 1918 |
37 days | Non-partisan | Baden |
Weimar Republic (1918–1933)
Chancellor of the German Reich
On 9 November 1918, Chancellor Max von Baden handed over his office to Friedrich Ebert. Ebert continued to serve as head of government during the three months between the end of the German Empire in November 1918 and the first gathering of the National Assembly in February 1919 as Chairman of the Council of the People's Deputies, until 29 December 1918 together with USPD Leader Hugo Haase.
The Weimar Constitution of 1919 set the framework for the Weimar Republic. The chancellors were often dependent on support from the president.
Political parties: SPD Zentrum DVP None
No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) |
Term of office | Political party | Cabinet | Reichstag | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
9 | Friedrich Ebert (1871–1925) |
9 November 1918 |
13 February 1919 |
96 days | Social Democratic Party (SPD) |
Council of the People's Deputies SPD–USPD (as of 29 December 1918 SPD alone) |
– | ||
10 | Philipp Scheidemann (1865–1939) as Reich Minister President |
13 February 1919 |
20 June 1919 |
127 days | Social Democratic Party (SPD) |
Scheidemann SPD–DDP–Z (Weimar Coalition) |
Nat.Ass. (1919) |
||
11 | Gustav Bauer (1870–1944) |
21 June 1919 |
26 March 1920 |
279 days | Social Democratic Party (SPD) |
Bauer SPD–DDP–Z (Weimar Coalition) |
|||
12 | Hermann Müller (1876–1931) First term |
27 March 1920 |
21 June 1920 |
86 days | Social Democratic Party (SPD) |
Müller I SPD–DDP–Z (Weimar Coalition) |
|||
13 | Constantin Fehrenbach (1852–1926) |
25 June 1920 |
4 May 1921 |
313 days | Centre Party | Fehrenbach Z–DDP–DVP |
1 (1920) |
||
14 | Joseph Wirth (1879–1956) |
10 May 1921 |
14 November 1922 |
1 year, 188 days | Centre Party | Wirth I Z–SPD–DDP (Weimar Coalition) |
|||
Wirth II Z–SPD–DDP (Weimar Coalition) |
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15 | Wilhelm Cuno (1876–1933) |
22 November 1922 |
12 August 1923 |
263 days | Non-partisan | Cuno Ind.–DVP–DDP–Z–BVP |
|||
16 | Gustav Stresemann (1878–1929) |
13 August 1923 |
30 November 1923 |
109 days | German People's Party | Stresemann I DVP–SPD–Z–DDP |
|||
Stresemann II DVP–SPD–Z–DDP |
|||||||||
17 | Wilhelm Marx (1863–1946) First term |
30 November 1923 |
15 January 1925 |
1 year, 46 days | Centre Party | Marx I Z–DVP–BVP–DDP |
|||
Marx II Z–DVP–DDP |
2 (May.1924) |
||||||||
18 | Hans Luther (1879–1962) |
15 January 1925 |
12 May 1926 |
1 year, 117 days | Non-partisan | Luther I DVP–DNVP–Z–DDP–BVP |
3 (Dec.1924) |
||
Luther II DVP–Z–DDP–BVP |
|||||||||
19 (17) |
Wilhelm Marx (1863–1946) Second term |
17 May 1926 |
12 June 1928 |
2 years, 26 days | Centre Party | Marx III Z–DVP–DDP–BVP |
|||
Marx IV Z–DNVP–DVP–BVP |
|||||||||
20 (12) |
Hermann Müller (1876–1931) Second term |
28 June 1928 |
27 March 1930 |
1 year, 272 days | Social Democratic Party (SPD) |
Müller II SPD–DVP–DDP–Z–BVP |
4 (1928) |
||
21 | Heinrich Brüning (1885–1970) |
30 March 1930 |
30 May 1932 |
2 years, 61 days | Centre Party | Brüning I Z–DDP–DVP–WF–BVP–KVP |
5 (1930) |
||
Brüning II Z–DSP–BVP–KVP–CLV |
|||||||||
22 | Franz von Papen (1879–1969) |
1 June 1932 |
17 November 1932 |
169 days | Non-partisan | Papen Ind.–DNVP |
6 (Jul.1932) |
||
23 | Kurt von Schleicher (1882–1934) |
3 December 1932 |
28 January 1933 |
56 days | Non-partisan | Schleicher Ind.–DNVP |
7 (Nov.1932) |
Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
Chancellor of the German Reich
Adolf Hitler's Machtergreifung (seizure of power) marked the end of the Weimar Republic and the beginning of Nazi Germany. Hitler reigned as dictator and consolidated all power to himself.
Political parties
No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Political Party | Cabinet | Reichstag | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
24 | Führer Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) |
30 January 1933 |
30 April 1945 (committed suicide in office) |
12 years, 90 days | National Socialist German Workers' Party |
Hitler NSDAP – DNVP (until 1933) |
8 (Mar. 1933) | ||
9 (Nov. 1933) | |||||||||
10 (Mar. 1936) | |||||||||
11 (Apr. 1938) | |||||||||
25 | Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) |
30 April 1945 (de jure) |
1 May 1945 (committed suicide in office) |
1 day | National Socialist German Workers' Party |
(Cabinet nominated in Hitler's testament but never convened) NSDAP |
— | ||
26 | Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (1887–1977) as Leading Minister |
2 May 1945 |
23 May 1945 (arrested) |
21 days | National Socialist German Workers' Party |
Schwerin von Krosigk NSDAP |
— |
Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present)
Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Germany
In 1949, two separate German states were established: the Federal Republic of Germany (known as West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (known as East Germany). The list below gives the chancellors of West Germany; the government of East Germany was headed by the chairman of the Council of Ministers. In 1990, East Germany was dissolved as it merged with West Germany; Germany was reunified. It retained the name of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Political parties: CDU (4) SPD (4) FDP (1) Independent (1) Denotes acting
No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) |
Term of office | Political party | Cabinet | Bundestag | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||||
1 | Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967) |
15 September 1949 |
20 October 1953 |
14 years, 30 days | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) |
Adenauer I CDU/CSU–FDP–DP |
1 (1949) | ||
20 October 1953 |
29 October 1957 |
Adenauer II CDU/CSU–FDP/FVP–DP–GB/BHE |
2 (1953) | ||||||
29 October 1957 |
14 November 1961 |
Adenauer III CDU/CSU–DP |
3 (1957) | ||||||
14 November 1961 |
15 October 1963 |
Adenauer IV CDU/CSU–FDP |
4 (1961) | ||||||
2 | Ludwig Erhard (1897–1977) |
16 October 1963 |
26 October 1965 |
3 years, 45 days | Independent (No party membership; but affiliated with the CDU) |
Erhard I CDU/CSU–FDP |
|||
26 October 1965 |
30 November 1966 |
Erhard II CDU/CSU–FDP |
5 (1965) | ||||||
3 | Kurt Georg Kiesinger (1904–1988) |
1 December 1966 |
21 October 1969 |
2 years, 324 days | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) |
Kiesinger CDU/CSU–SPD |
|||
4 | Willy Brandt (1913–1992) |
22 October 1969 |
15 December 1972 |
4 years, 197 days | Social Democratic Party (SPD) |
Brandt I SPD–FDP |
6 (1969) | ||
15 December 1972 |
7 May 1974 |
Brandt II SPD–FDP |
7 (1972) | ||||||
– | Walter Scheel (1919–2016) Acting |
7 May 1974 |
16 May 1974 |
9 days | Free Democratic Party (FDP) |
Brandt II (acting) |
|||
5 | Helmut Schmidt (1918–2015) |
16 May 1974 |
14 December 1976 |
8 years, 138 days | Social Democratic Party (SPD) |
Schmidt I SPD–FDP |
|||
16 December 1976 |
4 November 1980 |
Schmidt II SPD–FDP |
8 (1976) | ||||||
6 November 1980 |
1 October 1982 |
Schmidt III SPD–FDP |
9 (1980) | ||||||
6 | Helmut Kohl (1930–2017) |
1 October 1982 |
29 March 1983 |
16 years, 26 days | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) |
Kohl I CDU/CSU–FDP |
|||
30 March 1983 |
11 March 1987 |
Kohl II CDU/CSU–FDP |
10 (1983) | ||||||
12 March 1987 |
18 January 1991 |
Kohl III CDU/CSU–FDP |
11 (1987) | ||||||
18 January 1991 |
17 November 1994 |
Kohl IV CDU/CSU–FDP |
12 (1990) | ||||||
17 November 1994 |
27 October 1998 |
Kohl V CDU/CSU–FDP |
13 (1994) | ||||||
7 | Gerhard Schröder (born 1944) |
27 October 1998 |
22 October 2002 |
7 years, 26 days | Social Democratic Party (SPD) |
Schröder I SPD–Green |
14 (1998) | ||
22 October 2002 |
22 November 2005 |
Schröder II SPD–Green |
15 (2002) | ||||||
8 | Angela Merkel (born 1954) |
22 November 2005 |
28 October 2009 |
16 years, 16 days | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) |
Merkel I CDU/CSU–SPD |
16 (2005) | ||
28 October 2009 |
17 December 2013 |
Merkel II CDU/CSU–FDP |
17 (2009) | ||||||
17 December 2013 |
14 March 2018 |
Merkel III CDU/CSU–SPD |
18 (2013) | ||||||
14 March 2018 |
8 December 2021 |
Merkel IV CDU/CSU–SPD |
19 (2017) | ||||||
9 | Olaf Scholz (born 1958) |
8 December 2021 |
Incumbent | 2 years, 112 days | Social Democratic Party (SPD) |
Scholz SPD–Green–FDP |
20 (2021) |