Chancellor of Germany - Historical Overview

Historical Overview

The office of Chancellor has a long history, stemming back to the Holy Roman Empire. The title was at times used in several states of German-speaking Europe. The modern office of Chancellor was established with the North German Confederation, of which Otto von Bismarck became Chancellor in 1867. After the Unification of Germany in 1871, the office became known in German as Reichskanzler (lit. Imperial Chancellor), although it continued to be referred to as Chancellor in English. With Germany's constitution of 1949, the title Bundeskanzler was revived in German.

During the various eras, the role of the Chancellor has varied. From 1871 to 1918, the Chancellor was only responsible to the Emperor. With the constitutional reform in 1918, the Parliament was granted the right to dismiss the Chancellor. According to the Weimar Constitution of 1919, the Chancellor was appointed by the President and responsible to Parliament. After the death of President Hindenburg, the Weimar Constitution was effectively set aside during the Nazi dictatorship. The 1949 constitution gave the Chancellor greater powers than during the Weimar Republic, while diminishing the role of the President. Germany is today often referred to as a "chancellor democracy", reflecting the de facto role of the Chancellor as the country's chief executive.

Since 1867, 33 individuals have served as heads of government of Germany or its predecessor, the North German Confederation, most of them with the title Chancellor. Due to his administrative tasks, the head of the clerics at the chapel of an Imperial palace during the Carolingian Empire was called Chancellor (from Latin: cancellarius). The chapel's college acted as the Emperor's chancery issuing deeds and capitularies. Since the days of Louis the German, the Archbishop of Mainz was ex officio German Archchancellor, a position he held until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, while de jure the Archbishop of Cologne was Chancellor of Italy and the Archbishop of Trier of Burgundy. These three Prince-Archbishops were also Prince-electors of the Empire electing the King of the Romans. Already in medieval times the German Chancellor had political power like Archbishop Willigis (Archchancellor 975–1011, regent for King Otto III of Germany 991–994) or Rainald von Dassel (Chancellor 1156–1162 and 1166–1167) under Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.

In 1559 Emperor Ferdinand I established the agency of an Imperial chancellery (Reichshofkanzlei) 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 (1821-1848), likewise Prince Hardenberg acted as Prussian chancellor (1810-1822).

From 1867 to 1871 the title Bundeskanzler (federal chancellor) was again used in the German language, during the time of the North German Confederation. From 1871 to 1945, the office was named Reichskanzler (Imperial Chancellor). Since 1949 the formal title of the office in the German language is once again Bundeskanzler.

In the now defunct German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany), which existed from 7 October 1949 to 3 October 1990 (when the territory of the former GDR was reunified with the Federal Republic of Germany), the position of Chancellor did not exist. The equivalent position was called either Minister President (Ministerpräsident) or Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the GDR (Vorsitzender des Ministerrats der DDR). (See Leaders of East Germany.)