List of mayors of Berlin

The following is a chronological list of mayors of Berlin, the capital city and city-state of Germany. The mayors are the head of the city-state, part of the senate of Berlin.

List

Napoleonic Empire (1806–1809)

In 1806 the French occupants gathered 2,000 wealthy Berliners in St. Peter's Church, Berlin, in order to elect the Grand conseil (grand council) of sixty members again electing the Comité administratif (administrative committee). This body of seven elected burghers was the provisional city government competent to carry out the orders of the occupation power, especially to raise the French war contributions by levying them mostly from the 2,000 eligible voters. The président of the committee was the Berlin-based Prussian publisher:[1]

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death) 		Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Days
1 François Théodore de Lagarde
(1756–1824) 		27 October 1806 6 July 1809 983 Unknown

Lord Mayor of the Royal Capital Berlin (1809–1920)

Political party:   Independent   SPD

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death) 		Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Days
Kingdom of Prussia (until 1867)
Berlin was the capital city of the Kingdom of Prussia
1 Leopold von Gerlach
(1757–1813) 		6 July 1809 8 June 1813 1433 Non-partisan
2 Johann Gottfried Büsching
(1761–1833) 		February 1814 March 1832 6603 Non-partisan
3 Friedrich von Bärensprung
(1779–1841) 		March 1832 6 October 1834 949 Non-partisan
4 Wilhelm Krausnick
(1797–1882) 		6 October 1834 20 March 1848 4914 Non-partisan
– Franz Christian Naunyn
(1799–1860)
Acting 		20 March 1848 23 January 1851 1039 Non-partisan
(4) Wilhelm Krausnick
(1797–1882) 		23 January 1851 30 December 1862 4359 Non-partisan
5 Karl Theodor Seydel
(1812–1873) 		12 January 1863 18 January 1871 1492 Non-partisan
German Empire (1867–1918)
Berlin was the capital city of the Kingdom of Prussia, which is since 1871 part of the German Reich
(5) Karl Theodor Seydel
(1812–1873) 		18 January 1871 1 April 1872 439 Non-partisan
6 Arthur Hobrecht
(1824–1912) 		16 May 1872 1 April 1878 2146 National Liberal Party
7 Max von Forckenbeck
(1824–1892) 		21 November 1878 26 May 1892 4935 National Liberal Party
8 Robert Zelle
(1829–1901) 		26 September 1892 30 September 1898 2191 Free-minded People's Party
9 Martin Kirschner
(1842–1912) 		23 December 1899 31 August 1912 4634 Non-partisan
10 Adolf Wermuth
(1855–1927) 		1 September 1912 9 November 1918 2260 Non-partisan
Weimar Republic (1918–1933)
(10) Adolf Wermuth
(1855–1927) 		9 November 1918 1 October 1920 692 Non-partisan

Lord Mayor of (Greater) Berlin (1918–1935)

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death) 		Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Days
Weimar Republic (1918–1933)
Berlin was the capital city of the Weimar Republic
(10) Adolf Wermuth
(1855–1927) 		1 October 1920 30 November 1920 60 Non-partisan
11 Gustav Böß
(1873–1946) 		10 February 1921 7 November 1929 3192 German Democratic Party
– Arthur Scholtz
(1871–1935)
Acting 		7 November 1929 20 April 1931 692 German People's Party
12 Heinrich Sahm
(1877–1939) 		20 April 1931 30 January 1933 651 Non-partisan
Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
Berlin was the capital city of the Weimar Republic
(12) Heinrich Sahm
(1877–1939) 		30 January 1933 30 January 1935 730 Non-partisan (until 1933)
Nazi Party (from 1933)

City President of Berlin (1935–1945)

The Nazi government introduced a new unitary municipal ordinance for all German municipalities and cities accounting for the de facto abolition of municipal democracy and autonomy since the Nazi takeover in 1933. According to the new ordinance the administrative head of the city was now titled Stadtpräsident (City President). The Oberbürgermeister remained in a ceremonial role.

Political party:   NSDAP

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death) 		Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Days
Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
Berlin was the capital city of Nazi Germany
(12) Heinrich Sahm
(1877–1939) 		30 January 1935 18 December 1935 322 Nazi Party
– Oskar Maretzky [de]
(1881–1945)
Acting 		19 December 1935 5 January 1937 383 Nazi Party
(Not party-member)
13 Julius Lippert
(1895–1956) 		5 January 1937 1 July 1940 1273 Nazi Party
14 Ludwig Steeg
(1894–1945) 		1 July 1940 2 May 1945 1766 Nazi Party

Lord Mayor of Greater Berlin under Allied occupation (1945–1948)

Following Berlin's provisional post-war constitution, enacted under quadripartite Allied rule, the head of city government was titled again Oberbürgermeister (generally "Lord Mayor").

Political party:   IND   SPD   CDU

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death) 		Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Days
Berlin under quadripartite Allied control (1945–1948)
15 Arthur Werner
(1877–1967) 		17 May 1945 10 December 1946 572 Non-partisan
16 Otto Ostrowski
(1883–1963) 		10 December 1946 11 June 1947 183 Social Democratic Party
– Louise Schroeder
(1887–1957)
Acting[a] 		11 June 1947 14 August 1948 430 Social Democratic Party
– Ferdinand Friedensburg
(1886–1972)
Acting for Schroeder[b] 		14 August 1948 1 December 1948 109 Christian Democratic Union
– Louise Schroeder
(1887–1957)
Acting 		1 December 1948 7 December 1948 6 Social Democratic Party
17 Ernst Reuter
(1889–1953)
(West Berlin only) 		7 December 1948 1 February 1951 786 Social Democratic Party

Lord Mayor of Berlin (1948–1990)

Political party:   SED   PDS   SPD

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death) 		Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Days
East Berlin (1948–1949)
East Berlin was under Soviet occupation and was fully controlled by them from November 1948 until the founding of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
1 Friedrich Ebert Jr.
(1894–1979) 		30 November 1948 7 October 1949 311 Socialist Unity Party
East Berlin (1948–1990)
East Berlin was de facto the capital city of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany)
(1) Friedrich Ebert Jr.
(1894–1979) 		7 October 1949 5 July 1967 6480 Socialist Unity Party
2 Herbert Fechner
(1913–1998) 		5 July 1967 11 February 1974 2413 Socialist Unity Party
3 Erhard Krack
(1931–2000) 		11 February 1974 15 February 1990 5848 Socialist Unity Party
– Ingrid Pankraz
(born 1948)
Acting 		15 February 1990 23 February 1990 8 Party of Democratic Socialism
4 Christian Hartenhauer [de]
(born 1948) 		23 February 1990 30 May 1990 96 Party of Democratic Socialism
5 Tino Schwierzina
(1927–2003) 		30 May 1990 3 October 1990 126 Social Democratic Party in the GDR
East Berlin was reunited with West Berlin on October 3, 1990 and dissolved.

Governing Mayor of Berlin (1951–present)

Main article: Governing Mayor of Berlin

Political party:   SPD   CDU

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death) 		Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Days
West Berlin (1948–1990)
West Berlin was de facto part of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany)
1 Ernst Reuter
(1889–1953) 		1 February 1951 29 September 1953 971 Social Democratic Party
2 Walther Schreiber
(1884–1958) 		29 September 1953 11 January 1955 469 Christian Democratic Union
3 Otto Suhr
(1955–1957) 		11 January 1955 30 August 1957
(died in office) 		962 Social Democratic Party
4 Willy Brandt
(1913–1992) 		3 October 1957 1 December 1966 3346 Social Democratic Party
5 Heinrich Albertz
(1915–1993) 		1 December 1966 19 October 1967 322 Social Democratic Party
6 Klaus Schütz
(1926–2012) 		19 October 1967 2 May 1977 3483 Social Democratic Party
7 Dietrich Stobbe
(1938–2011) 		2 May 1978 23 January 1981 1362 Social Democratic Party
8 Hans-Jochen Vogel
(1926–2020) 		23 January 1981 11 June 1981 139 Social Democratic Party
9 Richard von Weizsäcker
(1920–2015) 		11 June 1981 9 February 1984 973 Christian Democratic Union
10 Eberhard Diepgen
(born 1941) 		9 February 1984 16 March 1989 1862 Christian Democratic Union
11 Walter Momper
(born 1945) 		16 March 1989 24 January 1991 565 Social Democratic Party
West Berlin was reunited with East Berlin on October 3, 1990 and dissolved.
Reunified Berlin (1990–present)
City-state and capital city of the Federal Republic of Germany
Walter Momper
(born 1945) &
Tino Schwierzina[2]
(1927–2003) 		3 October 1990 24 January 1991 113 Social Democratic Party
12
(10) 		Eberhard Diepgen
(born 1941) 		24 January 1991 16 June 2001 3796 Christian Democratic Union
13 Klaus Wowereit
(born 1953) 		16 June 2001 11 December 2014 4926 Social Democratic Party
14 Michael Müller
(born 1964) 		11 December 2014 21 December 2021 2567 Social Democratic Party
15 Franziska Giffey
(born 1978) 		21 December 2021[3] 27 April 2023 492 Social Democratic Party
16 Kai Wegner
(born 1972) 		27 April 2023 Incumbent 582 Christian Democratic Union

Notes

  1. ^ Louise Schroeder replaced the Lord Mayor-elect Ernst Reuter, who was barred by Soviet veto.
  2. ^ Ferdinand Friedensburg was acting Lord Mayor of Great Berlin due to the illness of acting Lord Mayor Louise Schroeder during the Berlin Blockade in 1948. Schröder resumed her duties on 1 December 1948 and continued until Ernst Reuter was elected on 7 December 1948.

References

  1. ^ Cf. Werner Gahrig, Unterwegs zu den Hugenotten in Berlin. Historische Spaziergänge, extended and corrected ed., Berlin: edition ost/Das Neue Berlin, 22000, p. 83. ISBN 3-360-01013-2
  2. ^ German Reunification Treaty, Artikel 16
  3. ^ "Berlin: Franziska Giffey sworn in as first elected female mayor". Deutsche Welle. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.