List of chancellors of Germany


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. The 1949 Basic Law made the chancellor the most important office in West Germany, while diminishing the role of the president.

Holy Roman Empire, (1527–1806)

In 1559, Emperor Ferdinand I established the agency of an imperial chancellery at the Vienna Hofburg Palace, headed by a vice-chancellor under the nominal authority of the Mainz archbishop. Upon the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, Emperor Ferdinand II created the office of an Austrian court chancellor in charge of the internal and foreign affairs of the Habsburg Monarchy. From 1753 onwards, the office of an Austrian state chancellor was held by Prince Kaunitz. The imperial chancellery lost its importance, and from the days of Maria Theresa and Joseph II, merely existed on paper. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince Metternich served as state chancellor of the Austrian Empire, likewise Prince Hardenberg acted as Prussian chancellor.
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.
Political party

German Empire, (1871–1918)

The German Empire was born out of the North German Federation as result of the Franco-Prussian War. The newly created Emperor named the Chancellor to serve at his pleasure.
Political parties

Revolutionary period, ''Reichskanzler'' (1918–1919)

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.
Political party

Weimar Republic, (1919–1933)

The Weimar Constitution of 1919 set the framework for the Weimar Republic. The Chancellors were often dependent on support from the President.
Political parties

Nazi Germany, (1933–1945)

Adolf Hitler's Machtergreifung 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

Federal Republic of Germany, (from 1949)

In 1949, two separate German states were established: the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. 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

Timeline

1867–1945


ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:12
PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:130 left:20
AlignBars = late
Colors =
id:ind value:rgb legend:Indep.
id:zen value:darkblue legend:Zentrum
id:spd value:red legend:SPD
id:dvp value:yellow legend:DVP
id:nsdap value:claret legend:NSDAP
id:gray1 value:gray
id:gray2 value:gray
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:1867 till:1945
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1870
ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1867
Legend = columns:1 left:150 top:24 columnwidth:90
TextData =
pos: textcolor:black fontsize:M
text:"Political party:"
BarData =
bar:Bismarck
bar:Caprivi
bar:HSchillingsfurst
bar:Bulow
bar:BHollweg
bar:Michaelis
bar:Hertling
bar:Baden
bar:Ebert
bar:Scheidemann
bar:Bauer
bar:Muller
bar:Fehrenbach
bar:Wirth
bar:Cuno
bar:Stresemann
bar:Marx
bar:Luther
bar:Bruning
bar:Papen
bar:Schleicher
bar:Hitler
bar:Goebbels:
bar:Krosigk
PlotData=
width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift: anchor:till
bar:Bismarck
from: 01/07/1867 till: 20/03/1890 color:ind text:"Bismarck" fontsize:10
bar:Caprivi
from: 20/03/1890 till: 26/10/1894 color:ind text:"von Caprivi" fontsize:10
bar:HSchillingsfurst
from: 29/10/1894 till: 17/10/1900 color:ind text:"Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst" fontsize:10
bar:Bulow
from: 17/10/1900 till: 14/07/1909 color:ind text:"von Bülow" fontsize:10
bar:BHollweg
from: 14/07/1909 till: 12/07/1917 color:ind text:"Bethmann-Hollweg" fontsize:10
bar:Michaelis
from: 14/07/1917 till: 01/11/1917 color:ind text:"Michaelis" fontsize:10
bar:Hertling
from: 01/11/1917 till: 30/09/1918 color:zen text:"von Hertling" fontsize:10
bar:Baden
from: 03/10/1918 till: 09/11/1918 color:ind text:"von Baden" fontsize:10
bar:Ebert
from: 09/11/1918 till: 13/02/1919 color:red text:"Ebert" fontsize:10
bar:Scheidemann
from: 13/02/1919 till: 20/06/1919 color:red text:"Scheidemann" fontsize:10
bar:Bauer
from: 21/06/1919 till: 20/03/1920 color:red text:"Bauer" fontsize:10
bar:Muller
from: 27/03/1920 till: 08/06/1920 color:red
from: 28/06/1928 till: 27/03/1930 color:red text:"Müller" fontsize:10
bar:Fehrenbach
from: 25/06/1920 till: 04/05/1921 color:zen text:"Fehrenbach" fontsize:10
bar:Wirth
from: 10/05/1921 till: 14/11/1922 color:zen text:"Wirth" fontsize:10
bar:Cuno
from: 22/11/1922 till: 12/06/1923 color:ind text:"Cuno" fontsize:10
bar:Stresemann
from: 13/08/1923 till: 30/11/1923 color:dvp text:"Stresemann" fontsize:10
bar:Marx
from: 30/11/1923 till: 15/01/1925 color:zen
from: 17/05/1926 till: 12/06/1928 color:zen text:"Marx" fontsize:10
bar:Luther
from: 15/01/1925 till: 12/05/1926 color:ind text:"Luther" fontsize:10
bar:Bruning
from: 30/03/1930 till: 30/05/1932 color:zen text:"Brüning" fontsize:10
bar:Papen
from: 01/06/1932 till: 17/11/1932 color:ind text:"von Papen" fontsize:10
bar:Schleicher
from: 03/12/1932 till: 28/01/1933 color:ind text:"von Schleicher" fontsize:10
bar:Hitler
from: 30/01/1933 till: 30/04/1945 color:nsdap text:"Hitler" fontsize:10
bar:Goebbels:
from: 30/04/1945 till: 01/05/1945 color:nsdap text:"Goebbels" fontsize:10
bar:Krosigk
from: 02/05/1945 till: 23/05/1945 color:nsdap text:"von Krosigk" fontsize:10

Since 1949


ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:12
PlotArea = top:10 bottom:50 right:130 left:20
AlignBars = late
Colors =
id:ind value:rgb
id:cdu value:black legend:CDU
id:spd value:red legend:SPD
id:fdp value:yellow legend:FDP
id:gray1 value:gray
id:gray2 value:gray
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1949 till:15/01/2020
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1950
ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1950
Legend = columns:1 left:150 top:24 columnwidth:90
TextData =
pos: textcolor:black fontsize:M
text:"Political party:"
BarData =
barset:PM
PlotData=
width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift: anchor:till
barset:PM
from: 20/09/1949 till: 11/10/1963 color:cdu text:"Adenauer" fontsize:10
from: 17/10/1963 till: 30/11/1966 color:cdu text:"Erhard" fontsize:10
from: 01/12/1966 till: 21/10/1969 color:cdu text:"Kiesinger" fontsize:10
from: 22/10/1969 till: 07/05/1974 color:spd text:"Brandt" fontsize:10
from: 07/05/1974 till: 16/05/1974 color:fdp text:"Scheel" fontsize:10
from: 16/05/1974 till: 07/10/1982 color:spd text:"Schmidt" fontsize:10
from: 01/10/1982 till: 27/10/1998 color:cdu text:"Kohl" fontsize:10
from: 27/10/1998 till: 22/11/2005 color:spd text:"Schröder" fontsize:10
from: 22/11/2005 till: end color:cdu text:"Merkel" fontsize:10