The vice-chancellor of Germany, officially the deputy to the federal chancellor (), is the second highest ranking German cabinet member. The chancellor is the head of government and, according to the constitution, gives this title of deputy to one of the federal ministers. It is custom that the title is given to a minister of the largest coalition partner, since 1966 typically the foreign minister. Since 2011, the minister for economic affairs has held the title most often.
In everyday politics, being vice-chancellor is considered more of an honorary title. The vice-chancellor may head cabinet meetings when the chancellor is absent. The function of vice-chancellor is to use the specific constitutional powers of the chancellor in case that the chancellor is unable to perform their duties. This kind of substitution has never been made use of in the history of the Federal Republic. Should a chancellor resign, die or be permanently unable to perform the duties of office, the vice-chancellor does not automatically become the next chancellor. In such a case the Federal President assigns a minister to serve as acting chancellor until the Bundestag (parliament) elects a new chancellor.Ute Mager, in: von Münch/Kunig: Grundgesetz-Kommentar II, 5. Auflage 2001, Rn. 10/11 zu Art. 69.
Although is the constitutional term, vice-chancellor () is used more commonly. Chancellor () is the traditional term for the German head of government since 1867/71. A general deputy was introduced by law in 1878 (). In the Weimar Republic of 1919–1933, the office of was mentioned in the internal regulation of the government. The current title has existed since the constitution of 1949.
Lars Klingbeil (Social Democratic Party) is the current officeholder since 6 May 2025.
History
Such an office was initially established by the 1878 (Deputation Act), which provided for the imperial chancellor appointing a deputy, officially known as (General Deputy to the Imperial Chancellor). In addition to the general deputy, who could sign for all the affairs of the chancellor, the chancellor could appoint deputies with limited responsibilities. The act was revised on 28 October 1918, when the possibility of appointing deputies with limited responsibilities was removed and the vice-chancellor was given the right to appear before parliament.
In the Weimar Republic, the office was considered less important. It was not even mentioned in the constitution. Usually it was held by the minister of justice or the interior. The most known office holder is Franz von Papen, a former chancellor who formed a coalition government of national socialists and conservatives. Adolf Hitler became chancellor, and Papen vice-chancellor. It became soon obvious that the position of vice-chancellor provided no powers and was unsuited to constrain Hitler. Papen was convinced that him being trusted by president Hindenburg made him an important political player; soon, Hindenburg's trust went from Papen to Hitler.
In the Federal Republic (since 1949), the chancellors have had no interest in allowing the deputy to use the title for self-promotion.Roman Herzog, in: Maunz/Dürig: Kommentar zum Grundgesetz, 2008, Art. 69, Rn. 9. Since 1966 it became customary that the coalition partner of the governing party received the ministry of foreign affairs, who was also appointed deputy. The ministry of foreign affairs was considered to be the most important cabinet post besides the chancellorship. This tradition faded away during the tenure of Angela Merkel, partially because the leaders of her coalition partners chose a different ministry.
Office and appointment mechanism The German cabinet consists of the chancellor and the federal ministers. According to the Basic Law (Article 69.1), the chancellor appoints one of the ministers as vice-chancellor. In contrast to the appointment of a cabinet minister, there is no need for a formal appointment by the president. The appointment is an exclusive power of the chancellor.
The chancellor is theoretically free to choose a deputy chancellor. In practice, a German government is usually based on a coalition of two or more parties and the chancellor gives the title to a minister of the second largest coalition party upon recommendation of that party's leadership.
The German vice-chancellor can be regarded as the equivalent of a deputy prime minister in other parliamentary systems. Unlike the vice president post in presidential systems of governments, the German vice-chancellor is not the automatic successor in the event that a sitting chancellor suddenly leaves office.
A German cabinet exists only as long as the current chancellor is in office. The end of a chancellor's term in office (either by death or resignation or the first meeting of a newly elected Bundestag) automatically terminates the office of any minister. If this happens, the president of Germany appoints the former chancellor or, if this is not possible, one of the former cabinet ministers (not necessarily, but most likely the former vice-chancellor) as acting chancellor, until the parliament elects a new chancellor.Georg Hermes, in: Horst Dreier (Hrsg.) Grundgesetz-Kommentar, Band 2, 2. Auflage 2006, Art. 69, Rn. 7, 17-19. When in 1974 Chancellor Willy Brandt resigned and refused to remain in office until his successor's election, President Gustav Heinemann ensured a corresponding precedent and appointed former vice-chancellor Walter Scheel as acting chancellor.
The Basic Law does not state who shall perform the chancellor's powers and duties, if both the chancellor and the vice-chancellor are unable to do so. The German cabinet's rules of procedure state that in absence of both office-holders cabinet meetings shall be chaired by a cabinet member designated for this purpose by either the chancellor or the vice-chancellor or, if such a designation has not taken place or if the designee is not able to do so, by the present cabinet member with the longest uninterrupted membership in the federal government (§22.1). It is however unclear, whether this provision extends to other powers of the office of chancellor. In an expertise issued by the Bundestag's scientific service in 2014, the legal opinion is that this is the case.Wissenschaftlicher Dienst des Bundestages. Sachstand. Vertretungsregelungen für das Amt des Bundeskanzlers und des Bundespräsidenten (AZ: WD 3-3000-016/14), p. 3–4.
List of vice-chancellors
German Reich (1871–1945)
German Empire (1871–1918) Political party:
Portrait Name Term start Term end Days Party Portfolio Cabinet 1 Otto Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode 1 June 1878 20 June 1881 FKP Bismarck 2Karl Heinrich von Boetticher20 June 18811 July 1897FKPSecretary of State for the Interior Bismarck Caprivi Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst 3Arthur von Posadowsky-Wehner1 July 189724 June 1907FKPSecretary of State for the Interior Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst Bülow 4 Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg 24 June 1907 14 July 1909 Independent Secretary of State for the Interior Bülow 5 Clemens von Delbrück 14 July 1909 22 May 1916 Independent Secretary of State for the Interior Bethmann Hollweg 6Karl Helfferich22 May 19169 November 1917IndependentSecretary of State for the Interior Bethmann Hollweg Michaelis Hertling 7Friedrich von Payer9 November 191710 November 1918FVP Hertling Baden Ebert
Weimar Republic (1918–1933) Political party:
Portrait Name Term start Term end Days Party Portfolio Cabinet 1 Eugen Schiffer 13 February 1919 19 April 1919 DDP Deputy Minister-President & Minister of Finance Scheidemann The office was vacant from 19 April to 30 April 1919. 2 Bernhard Dernburg 30 April 1919 21 June 1919 DDP Deputy Minister-President & Minister of Finance Scheidemann 3 Matthias Erzberger 21 June 1919 3 October 1919 Centre Deputy Minister-President & Minister of Finance Bauer 4 Eugen Schiffer 3 October 1919 27 March 1920 DDP Minister of Justice Bauer 5 Erich Koch-Weser 27 March 1920 21 June 1920 DDP Minister of the Interior Müller I The office was vacant from 21 June to 25 June 1920. 6 Rudolf Heinze 25 June 1920 10 May 1921 DVP Minister of Justice Fehrenbach 7Gustav Bauer10 May 192122 November 1922SPDMinister of Finance Wirth I Wirth II The office was vacant from 22 November 1922 to 13 August 1923. 8 Robert Schmidt 13 August 1923 6 October 1923 SPD Minister for Reconstruction Stresemann I The office was vacant from 6 October to 30 November 1923. 9Karl Jarres30 November 192315 December 1924DVPMinister of the Interior Marx I Marx II The office was vacant from 15 December 1924 to 28 January 1927. 10 Oskar Hergt 28 January 1927 28 June 1928 DNVP Minister of Justice Marx IV The office was vacant from 28 June 1928 to 30 March 1930. 11Hermann Dietrich30 March 19301 June 1932DDPMinister of Finance Brüning I Brüning II The office was vacant from 1 June 1932 to 30 January 1933.
Nazi Germany (1933–1945) Portrait Name Term start Term end Days Party Portfolio Other positions Cabinet The deputy to the chancellor of the Reich 12 Franz von Papen 30 January 1933 7 August 1934 Non-partisan Minister President of Prussia Hitler From 7 August 1934 until 20 September 1949, the office of the vice-chancellor of Germany was abolished.
Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present) Political party:
Portrait Name Term start Term end Days Party Portfolio Cabinet 1 Franz Blücher 20 September 1949 29 October 1957 FDP FVP DP Marshall Plan Adenauer I • II 2 Ludwig Erhard 29 October 1957 16 October 1963 CDU Economic Affairs Adenauer III • IV 3 Erich Mende 17 October 1963 28 October 1966 FDP Intra-German Relations Erhard I • II The office was vacant from 28 October to 8 November 1966. 4 Hans-Christoph Seebohm 8 November 1966 1 December 1966 CDU Transport Erhard II 5 Willy Brandt 1 December 1966 22 October 1969 SPD Foreign Affairs Kiesinger 6 Walter Scheel 22 October 1969 16 May 1974 FDP Foreign Affairs Brandt I • II 7 Hans-Dietrich Genscher 17 May 1974 17 September 1982 FDP Foreign Affairs Schmidt I • II • III 8 Egon Franke 17 September 1982 1 October 1982 SPD Intra-German Relations Schmidt III The office was vacant from 1 October to 4 October 1982. 9 Hans-Dietrich Genscher 4 October 1982 18 May 1992 FDP Foreign Affairs Kohl I • II • III • IV 10 Jürgen Möllemann 18 May 1992 21 January 1993 FDP Economic Affairs Kohl IV 11 Klaus Kinkel 21 January 1993 27 October 1998 FDP Foreign Affairs Kohl IV • V 12 Joschka Fischer 27 October 1998 22 November 2005 Green Foreign Affairs Schröder I • II 13 Franz Müntefering 22 November 2005 21 November 2007 SPD Labour and Social Affairs Merkel I 14 Frank-Walter Steinmeier 21 November 2007 27 October 2009 SPD Foreign Affairs Merkel I 15 Guido Westerwelle 27 October 2009 16 May 2011 FDP Foreign Affairs Merkel II 16 Philipp Rösler 16 May 2011 17 December 2013 FDP Economic Affairs Merkel II 17 Sigmar Gabriel 17 December 2013 14 March 2018 SPD Economic Affairs(2013–17)Foreign Affairs(2017–18) Merkel III 18 Olaf Scholz 14 March 2018 8 December 2021 SPD Finance Merkel IV 19 Robert Habeck 8 December 2021 6 May 2025 Green Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Scholz 20 Lars Klingbeil 6 May 2025 Incumbent SPD Finance Merz
Timeline
References