In Germany, a Federal ministry () is a supreme federal agency subordinate to a at the federal level. According to Article 62 of the Basic Law, the Federal Government consists of the Federal Chancellor and the federal ministers. Within the Chancellor's power to issue directives, each federal minister manages their ministry independently (also known as departmental authority). This includes, in addition to the ministry itself, the upper, middle, and lower federal authorities assigned to that department.
The civil servants (Beamter) and public employees () of the Federal Ministry perform the duties of the Federal Minister on his behalf and in his name, in particular the and of subordinate authorities and the political duties vis-à-vis the German Bundestag and other federal bodies. The Ministry stands at the interface between political leadership () and the apolitical administration (Executive in the narrower sense). The activities of the ministerial administration therefore differ from those of subordinate administrations.
History Following Prussian tradition, of the federal ministries are issued in the first person and refer to the federal minister.
The various ministries have become increasingly differentiated throughout history. This is evident in the history of concepts, for example, in the establishment of the Prussian State Ministry, which encompassed the entire government. The classically recognised ministries emerged in the 19th century: Finance, Foreign Affairs, War, the Interior, and Justice.
The North German Confederation, and later the German Empire, did not use the term ministerial or "Ministerium". The Chancellor of Germany had become the (sole) responsible federal minister through the of 1867. The was initially the only supreme federal authority until 1870, when the Prussian Foreign Ministry became the Foreign Office of the North German Confederation. The Prussian Foreign Ministry, established in 1870, had already been renamed the Foreign Office of the North German Confederation upon its incorporation and continued to exist as such in the German Empire. The highest imperial authorities in the Empire from 1871 onward were called Imperial Offices (). Their heads, the State Secretaries, received instructions from the Chancellor and were therefore not fellow ministers. Full-fledged imperial ministries, known as Reichsministers, were only introduced with the Weimar Republic. The Imperial Justice Office, established after the founding of the German Empire (1877), was not called a ministry. This was because the Imperial Chancellery (at the beginning of the German Empire under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck) held all imperial authority, and differentiation at the imperial level only occurred later. To avoid any accountability of the imperial government to parliament, there were formally no ministers or ministries, and thus no collegial imperial government, although the state secretaries, as heads of the imperial offices, actually held a position very similar to that of ministers.
The Basic Law does not prescribe the number or structure of the federal ministries. The Federal Chancellor is therefore free, within the scope of his organizational authority , to establish or dissolve ministries. Only the Federal Ministers of Defence (Art. 65a), Justice (Art. 96 para. 2 sentence 4), and Finance (Art. 112 sentence 1 and Art. 114 para. 4) are explicitly mentioned in the Basic Law. The status of these ministries as such may therefore not be altered. In everyday political discourse, in addition to the three mentioned above, the Foreign Office and the Interior Ministry are also referred to as "classic" ministries. For reasons of tradition, these still use the definite article before the name of the department ("genitive ministry", with the exception of the Foreign Office, while the others are named according to the pattern "Federal Ministry for …".
Since May 6, 2025, there have been 17 ministries in the Merz cabinet.
Current Federal Ministries English nameGerman nameAbreviationAuthority managementFoundingFirst official residenceSecond official residenceFederal Ministry of FinanceBundesministerium der FinanzenBMFLars Klingbeil (SPD)1949Wilhelmstraße 9710117 BerlinAm Propsthof 78a53121 BonnFederal Ministry of the InteriorBundesministerium des InnernBMIAlexander Dobrindt (CSU)1949 14010559 BerlinGraurheindorfer Straße 19853117 BonnFederal Foreign OfficeAuswärtiges AmtAAJohann Wadephul (CDU)1951 110117 Berlin 99–10353113 BonnFederal Ministry of DefenceBundesministerium der VerteidigungBMVgBoris Pistorius (SPD)1955Fontainengraben 15053123 BonnStauffenbergstraße 1810785 BerlinFederal Ministry for Economic Affairs and EnergyBundesministerium für Wirtschaft und EnergieBMWEKatherina Reiche (CDU)1949 34–3710115 BerlinVillemombler Straße 7653123 Bonn, Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and SpaceBundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und RaumfahrtBMFTRDorothee Bär (CSU)1955Heinemannstraße 253175 BonnKapelle-Ufer 110117 BerlinFederal Ministry of Justice and Consumer ProtectionBundesministerium der Justiz und für VerbraucherschutzBMJVStefanie Hubig (SPD)1949Anton-Wilhelm-Amo-Straße 3710117 BerlinAdenauerallee 99–10353113 BonnFederal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and YouthBundesministerium für Bildung, Familie, Senioren, Frauen und JugendBMBFSFJKarin Prien (CDU)1994Glinkastraße 2410117 BerlinRochusstraße 8–1053123 BonnFederal Ministry of Labour and Social AffairsBundesministerium für Arbeit und SozialesBMASBärbel Bas (SPD)1949, 2005Wilhelmstraße 4910117 BerlinRochusstraße 153123 BonnFederal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government ModernisationBundesministerium für Digitales und StaatsmodernisierungBMDSKarsten Wildberger (CDU)2025Friedrichstraße 108 10117 BerlinFederal Ministry for TransportBundesministerium für VerkehrBMVPatrick Schnieder (CDU)1949Invalidenstraße 4410115 BerlinRobert-Schuman-Platz 153175 BonnFederal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear SafetyBundesministerium für Umwelt, Klimaschutz, Naturschutz und nukleare SicherheitBMUKNCarsten Schneider (SPD)1986 353175 Bonn 128–13010117 BerlinFederal Ministry of Health (Germany)Bundesministerium für GesundheitBMGNina Warken (CDU)1961Rochusstraße 153123 BonnMauerstraße 29 10117 BerlinFederal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional IdentityBundesministerium für Landwirtschaft, Ernährung und HeimatBMLEHAlois Rainer (CSU)1949Rochusstraße 153123 BonnWilhelmstraße 5410117 BerlinFederal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and DevelopmentBundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und EntwicklungBMZReem Alabali Radovan (SPD)1961Dahlmannstraße 453113 BonnStresemannstraße 9410963 BerlinFederal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and BuildingBundesministerium für Wohnen, Stadtentwicklung und BauwesenBMWSBVerena Hubertz (SPD)1949, 2021Krausenstraße 17–1810117 BerlinGraurheindorfer Straße 19853117 Bonn
Former ministries Federal Ministry (last name)FoundingAbolitionSuccessor authorities19491969Bundeskanzleramt19641966BundeskanzleramtBundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie19721994Combined with the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Wissenschaft to form the Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und TechnologieBundesministerium für Frauen und Jugend19911994Combined with the Bundesministerium für Familie und Senioren to form the Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und JugendBundesministerium für innerdeutsche Beziehungen19491991Bundesministerium für Familie und Senioren; Bundesministerium des InnernBundesministerium für Post und Telekommunikation19491997Bundesministerium der Finanzen; Bundesministerium für WirtschaftBundesschatzministerium19491969Bundesministerium der Finanzen; Bundesministerium für WirtschaftBundesministerium für Vertriebene, Flüchtlinge und Kriegsgeschädigte19491969Integrated into the Bundesministerium des Innern
Positions in federal ministries The Federal Chancellor and the Federal Ministers hold public office in accordance with the Federal Ministers Act (BMinG), while the Parliamentary State Secretaries and State Ministers hold public office in accordance with the Act on the Legal Status of Parliamentary State Secretaries (ParlStG). All other offices are filled by federal civil servants who hold civil service positions in accordance with the Federal Civil Service Act (BBG). +Official titles in the German federal ministriesOfficial titleAbbreviationElected representatives (political offices)BundeskanzlerBK1,66-faches von B 11 BundesministerBM1,33-faches von B 11 Parlamentarischer Staatssekretär or PSt, PSts, Stm0,75-faches des Ministergehaltes (entspricht B 11) (university degree or Master's degree)StaatssekretärStS, StsB 11MinisterialdirektorMinDir, MD, MDirB 10 (stellvertretender Sprecher der Bundesregierung bzw. stellvertretender Leiter des Bundespresseamtes),B 9 (Abteilungsleiter)MinDirig, MDirig,MDgt, MDgB 6 (Head of Department or Deputy Head of Department) MinR, MRB 3Ministerialrat, MinR, MR, LRDA 16RDir, RDA 15 ORRA 14RRA 13h (Eingangsamt) (Fachhochschulstudium or Bachelor) OARA 13gARA 12RAmtm, RAmtfrA 11ROIA 10RIA 9g (Eingangsamt) (at least three years of Berufsausbildung)AIA 9mRHSA 8ROSA 7RSA 6m (Eingangsamt) (skilled and unskilled)OAMA 5 oder A 6e (herausgehobene Dienstposten)AmtsmeisterAMA 4HAGA 3 (Eingangsamt)OberamtsgehilfeOAGA 2 (Eingangsamt) (deleted)
Notes
Bei weiblichen Beamten werden sämtliche Abkürzungen von Amtsbezeichnungen in der Regel um den Zusatz „in“ oder „’in“ (mit Apostroph) ergänzt (z. B. ORR’in). Abweichend vom im nichttechnischen Verwaltungsdienst üblicherweise verwendeten Zusatz „Regierungs-“ wird in Bundesministerien (oberste Bundesbehörden) der Zusatz „Regierungs-“ in den Besoldungsgruppen A 9 (Amtsinspektor statt Regierungsamtsinspektor) und A 12 (Amtsrat statt Regierungsamtsrat) nicht verwendet. Im nachgeordneten Geschäftsbereich von Bundesbehörden (obere, mittlere und untere Bundesbehörden) ist bei diesen Amtsbezeichnungen der Zusatz „Regierungs-“ üblich. Das ehemalige Eingangsamt des einfachen Dienstes (Oberamtsgehilfe, A 2) ist weggefallen. Seither ist das Eingangsamt die Besoldungsgruppe A 3 (Hauptamtsgehilfe). Ausschließlich beim Auswärtigen Amt (AA) werden die folgenden regulären Amtsbezeichnungen durch eigenständige ersetzt: