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Chancellor of Germany

The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,[a] is the head of the federal government of Germany, and the commander-in-chief of the German Armed Forces during wartime.[b] The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Cabinet and heads the executive branch. The chancellor is elected by the Bundestag on the proposal of the federal president and without debate (Article 63 of the German Constitution).[3]

For a list of all office-holders, see List of chancellors of Germany.

Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany

Mr. Chancellor (informal)
His Excellency (diplomatic)[1]

Head of government

Federal Cabinet
European Council

Federal Chancellery, Berlin (main seat)
Palais Schaumburg, Bonn (secondary seat)

Bundestag

President
upon election by the Bundestag

4 years, renewable

German Basic Law (German Constitution)

15 September 1949 (1949-09-15)

Konrad Adenauer

Vice Chancellor

€255,150 per year (as of 2020)[2]

bundeskanzler.de/bk-en

The current officeholder is Olaf Scholz of the SPD, who was elected in December 2021, succeeding Angela Merkel. He was elected after the SPD entered into a coalition agreement with Alliance 90/The Greens and the FDP.

the king of Prussia in his federal constitutional role as bearer of the Bundespräsidium, since 1871 with the title of emperor

the federal council (Bundesrat), consisting of representatives of the federal states and presided over by the chancellor

the parliament, called der Reichstag

the federal executive, first led by Otto von Bismarck, the Minister President of Prussia, as chancellor.

The "chancellor principle" makes the chancellor responsible for all government policies; this is also known as the Richtlinienkompetenz (roughly translated as "guideline setting competence"). Any formal policy guidelines issued by the chancellor are legally binding directives that cabinet ministers must implement. Cabinet ministers are expected to introduce specific policies at the ministerial level that reflect the chancellor's broader guidelines.

The "principle of ministerial autonomy" entrusts each minister with the freedom to supervise departmental operations and prepare legislative proposals without cabinet interference so long as the minister's policies are consistent with the chancellor's broader guidelines.

The "cabinet principle" calls for disagreements between federal ministers over jurisdictional or budgetary matters to be settled by the cabinet.

Leadership of East Germany

List of chancellors of Germany by time in office

Religious affiliations of chancellors of Germany

Klein, Herbert, ed. 1993. The German Chancellors. Berlin: Edition.

Padgett, Stephen, ed. 1994. The Development of the German Chancellorship: Adenauer to Kohl. London: Hurst.

Prittie, Terence, 1979. The Velvet Chancellors: A History of Post-War Germany. London: Frederick Muller.

Media related to Federal Chancellors of Germany at Wikimedia Commons

Official website