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 regime. During the 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.

Federal Chancellor of the North German Confederation

The North German Confederation came into existence after the German Confederation was dissolved following the Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. The chancellor was appointed by the Bundespräsidium, a position that was held constitutionally by the Prussian king.

Portrait	Name (born–died)	Term of office			Political party
		Took office	Left office	Time in office
	Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898)	1 July 1867	21 March 1871	3 years, 263 days		Non-partisan

Reich Chancellor of the German Reich

The German Empire was born out of the North German Confederation as result of the Franco-Prussian War (1870/71). The Präsidium (the Prussian king), which now had also the title Emperor, named the chancellor.

Political parties:   None   Centre

Portrait		Name (born–died)	Term of office			Political party		Cabinet
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898)	21 March 1871	20 March 1890	18 years, 364 days		Non-partisan	Bismarck
2		Leo von Caprivi (1831–1899)	20 March 1890	26 October 1894	4 years, 220 days		Non-partisan	Caprivi
3		Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1819–1901)	29 October 1894	17 October 1900	5 years, 353 days		Non-partisan	Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
4		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		Georg von Hertling (1843–1919)	1 November 1917	30 September 1918	333 days		Centre Party	Hertling
8		Max von Baden (1867–1929)	3 October 1918	9 November 1918	37 days		Non-partisan	Baden

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 officially installed by the president; in some cases the chancellor did not have a majority in parliament.

Political parties:   SPD   Centre   DVP   NSDAP   None

Portrait		Name (born–died)	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	Council of the People's Deputies SPD–USPD (as of 29 December 1918 SPD alone)	–
10		Philipp Scheidemann (1865–1939)	13 February 1919	20 June 1919	127 days		Social Democratic Party	Scheidemann SPD–DDP–Z (Weimar Coalition)	Nat.Ass. (Jan.1919)
11		Gustav Bauer (1870–1944)	21 June 1919	26 March 1920	273 days		Social Democratic Party	Bauer SPD–DDP–Z (Weimar Coalition)
12		Hermann Müller (1876–1931)	27 March 1920	21 June 1920	86 days		Social Democratic Party	Müller I SPD–DDP–Z (Weimar Coalition)	Nat.Ass. (Jan.1919)
13		Constantin Fehrenbach (1852–1926)	25 June 1920	10 May 1921	319 days		Centre Party	Fehrenbach Z–DDP–DVP	1 (Jun.1920)
14		Joseph Wirth (1879–1956)	10 May 1921	22 November 1922	1 year, 196 days		Centre Party	Wirth I Z–SPD–DDP (Weimar Coalition)
								Wirth II Z–SPD–DDP (Weimar Coalition)
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)	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		Wilhelm Marx (1863–1946)	17 May 1926	28 June 1928	2 years, 42 days		Centre Party	Marx III Z–DVP–DDP–BVP
								Marx IV Z–DNVP–DVP–BVP
20		Hermann Müller (1876–1931)	28 June 1928	27 March 1930	1 year, 272 days		Social Democratic Party	Müller II SPD–DVP–DDP–Z–BVP	4 (May 1928)
21		Heinrich Brüning (1885–1970)	30 March 1930	30 May 1932	2 years, 61 days		Centre Party	Brüning I Z–DDP–DVP–WP–BVP–KVP	5 (Sep.1930)
								Brüning II Z–DSP–BVP–KVP–CLV
22		Franz von Papen (1879–1969)	1 June 1932	3 December 1932	185 days		Non-partisan	Papen Ind.–DNVP	6 (Jul.1932)
23		Kurt von Schleicher (1882–1934)	3 December 1932	30 January 1933	58 days		Non-partisan	Schleicher Ind.–DNVP	7 (Nov.1932)
24		Adolf Hitler (1889–1945)	30 January 1933	24 March 1933	53 days		National Socialist German Workers' Party	Hitler NSDAP – DNVP	8 (Mar. 1933)

Soon after Adolf Hitler was appointed as chancellor in 1933, the German Reichstag (parliament) passed the so-called Enabling Act (German: Ermächtigungsgesetz), officially titled "Law for Removing the Distress of People and Reich" (German: Gesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reich), which effectively gave the chancellor the power of a dictator. This event marked the end of the Weimar Republic and the beginning of Nazi Germany. Hitler thereupon destroyed all democratic systems and consolidated all power to himself. After the death of president Paul von Hindenburg in 1934, Hitler merged the offices of chancellor and president in his own person and called himself Führer und Reichskanzler.

Political parties:   NSDAP

No.	Portrait	Name (born–died)	Term of office			Political party		Cabinet	Reichstag
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
25		Adolf Hitler (1889–1945)	24 March 1933	30 April 1945	12 years, 37 days		National Socialist German Workers' Party	Hitler NSDAP	9 (Nov. 1933)
									10 (Mar. 1936)
									11 (Apr. 1938)
26		Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945)	30 April 1945	1 May 1945	1 day		National Socialist German Workers' Party	Goebbels NSDAP	—
27		Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (1887–1977)	2 May 1945	23 May 1945	21 days		National Socialist German Workers' Party	Schwerin von Krosigk NSDAP	—

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)   Independent (1)

Portrait		Name (born–died)	Term of office			Political party		Cabinet	Bundestag
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967)	15 September 1949	15 October 1963	14 years, 30 days		Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	Adenauer I CDU/CSU–FDP–DP	1 (1949)
								Adenauer II CDU/CSU–FDP/FVP–DP–GB/BHE	2 (1953)
								Adenauer III CDU/CSU–DP	3 (1957)
								Adenauer IV CDU/CSU–FDP	4 (1961)
2		Ludwig Erhard (1897–1977)	15 October 1963	30 November 1966	3 years, 45 days		Independent	Erhard I CDU/CSU–FDP
								Erhard II CDU/CSU–FDP	5 (1965)
3		Kurt Georg Kiesinger (1904–1988)	30 November 1966	21 October 1969	2 years, 324 days		Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	Kiesinger CDU/CSU–SPD
4		Willy Brandt (1913–1992)	21 October 1969	7 May 1974	4 years, 197 days		Social Democratic Party (SPD)	Brandt I SPD–FDP	6 (1969)
								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	1 October 1982	8 years, 138 days		Social Democratic Party (SPD)	Schmidt I SPD–FDP
								Schmidt II SPD–FDP	8 (1976)
								Schmidt III SPD–FDP	9 (1980)
6		Helmut Kohl (1930–2017)	1 October 1982	27 October 1998	16 years, 26 days		Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	Kohl I CDU/CSU–FDP
								Kohl II CDU/CSU–FDP	10 (1983)
								Kohl III CDU/CSU–FDP	11 (1987)
								Kohl IV CDU/CSU–FDP	12 (1990)
								Kohl V CDU/CSU–FDP	13 (1994)
7		Gerhard Schröder (born 1944)	27 October 1998	22 November 2005	7 years, 26 days		Social Democratic Party (SPD)	Schröder I SPD–Green	14 (1998)
								Schröder II SPD–Green	15 (2002)
8		Angela Merkel (born 1954)	22 November 2005	8 December 2021	16 years, 16 days		Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	Merkel I CDU/CSU–SPD	16 (2005)
								Merkel II CDU/CSU–FDP	17 (2009)
								Merkel III CDU/CSU–SPD	18 (2013)
								Merkel IV CDU/CSU–SPD	19 (2017)
9		Olaf Scholz (born 1958)	8 December 2021	Incumbent	3 years, 19 days		Social Democratic Party (SPD)	Scholz SPD–Green–FDP	20 (2021)

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• Leadership of East Germany
• List of chancellors of Germany by time in office
• List of German monarchs
• List of German presidents
• Minister-Presidents of the French "Saar protectorate"
• Religious affiliations of chancellors of Germany
• List of vice-chancellors of Germany