Vice-Chancellor of Germany

Vice-Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany
Stellvertreter des Bundeskanzlers
Coat of arms of the German Government
Incumbent
Robert Habeck

since 8 December 2021
StyleMr. Vice-Chancellor (informal)
His Excellency (diplomatic)
StatusDeputy of the head of Government
Member ofFederal Cabinet
SeatAs Federal Minister; currently Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Berlin
NominatorChancellor of Germany or the coalition party
AppointerChancellor of Germany
Term lengthAt the Chancellor's pleasure
Constituting instrumentGerman Basic Law (German Constitution)
Formation24 May 1949; 75 years ago (1949-05-24)
First holderFranz Blücher

The vice-chancellor of Germany, inofficially the vice-chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Vizekanzler der Bundesrepublik Deutschland), officially the deputy to the federal chancellor (German: Stellvertreter des Bundeskanzlers), 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 common that the title is given to the major minister provided by the (smaller) coalition partner.

In everyday politics, being a vice chancellor is more an honorary title. The vice-chancellor may head cabinet meetings when the chancellor is abroad. The function of vice chancellor is to use the specific constitutional powers of the chancellor in case that the chancellor is unable to perform his or her 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 his or her duties, 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.[1]).

Although Stellvertreter is the constitutional term, most Germans know the deputy by the expression Vice-Chancellor (Vizekanzler). Chancellor (Kanzler) is the traditional term for the German head of government since 1867/71. A general deputy has been introduced only in 1878 by law (Stellvertretungsgesetz). In the Weimar Republic of 1919–1933, the office of Vizekanzler was mentioned in the internal reglement of the government. The current office or title has existed since the constitution of 1949.

The current vice-chancellor of Germany is Robert Habeck, who took office on 8 December 2021, succeeding Olaf Scholz, who gave up the role in order to become chancellor.

List of Vice Chancellors

German Empire (Allgemeiner Stellvertreter des Reichskanzlers)

Political Party:   FKP   FVP

No. Portrait Name Birth Death Term start Age start Term end Age end Days Party Portfolio Cabinet
1 Otto Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode 30 October 1837 19 November 1896 1 June 1878 40 20 June 1881 43 1115 FKP Bismarck
2 Karl Heinrich von Boetticher 6 January 1833 6 March 1907 20 June 1881 48 1 July 1897 64 5855 FKP Secretary of State for the Interior Bismarck
Caprivi
Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
3 Arthur von Posadowsky-Wehner 3 June 1845 23 October 1932 1 July 1897 52 24 June 1907 62 3644 FKP Secretary of State for the Interior Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
Bülow
4 Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg 29 November 1856 1 January 1921 24 June 1907 50 14 July 1909 52 751 Independent Secretary of State for the Interior Bülow
5 Clemens von Delbrück 19 January 1856 17 December 1921 14 July 1909 53 22 May 1916 60 2501 Independent Secretary of State for the Interior Bethmann-Hollweg
7 Karl Helfferich 22 July 1872 23 April 1924 22 May 1916 43 9 November 1917 45 536 Independent Secretary of State for the Interior (until 23 October 1917) Bethmann-Hollweg
Michaelis
Hertling
8 Friedrich von Payer 12 June 1847 14 July 1931 9 November 1917 70 10 November 1918 71 366 FVP Hertling
Baden
Ebert

Weimar Republic (Allgemeiner Stellvertreter des Reichskanzlers)

Political Party:   DDP   Centre   DVP   SPD   DNVP

No. Portrait Name Birth Death Term start Age start Term end Age end Days Party Portfolio Cabinet
1 Eugen Schiffer 14 February 1860 5 September 1954 13 February 1919 58 19 April 1919 59 65 DDP Deputy Minister-President / Minister of Finance Scheidemann
2 Bernhard Dernburg 17 July 1865 14 October 1937 30 April 1919 53 20 June 1919 53 51 DDP Deputy Minister-President / Minister of Finance Scheidemann
3 Matthias Erzberger 20 September 1875 26 August 1921 21 June 1919 43 3 October 1919 44 104 Centre Deputy Minister-President (until 14 August 1919) / Minister of Finance Bauer
4 Eugen Schiffer 14 February 1860 5 September 1954 3 October 1919 59 27 March 1920 60 176 DDP Minister of Justice Bauer
5 Erich Koch-Weser 26 February 1875 19 October 1944 27 March 1920 45 21 June 1920 45 86 DDP Minister of the Interior Müller I
6 Rudolf Heinze 22 July 1865 26 May 1928 25 June 1920 54 4 May 1921 55 313 DVP Minister of Justice Fehrenbach
7 Gustav Bauer 6 January 1870 16 September 1944 10 May 1921 51 14 November 1922 52 553 SPD Minister of Finance Wirth I
Wirth II
8 Robert Schmidt 15 May 1864 16 September 1943 13 August 1923 59 3 November 1923 59 82 SPD Minister for Reconstruction Stresemann I
9 Karl Jarres 21 September 1874 20 October 1951 30 November 1923 49 15 December 1924 50 381 DVP Minister of the Interior Marx I
Marx II
10 Oskar Hergt 22 October 1869 9 May 1967 28 January 1927 57 12 June 1928 58 501 DNVP Minister of Justice Marx IV
11 Hermann Dietrich 14 December 1879 6 March 1954 30 March 1930 50 30 May 1932 52 792 DDP Minister of Finance (from 26 June 1930) Brüning I
Brüning II

Nazi Germany

No. Portrait Name Birth Death Term start Age start Term end Age end Days Party Portfolio Other positions Cabinet
1 Franz von Papen 29 October 1879 2 May 1969 30 January 1933 53 7 August 1934 54 554 Non-partisan Minister President of Prussia (until 10 April 1933) Hitler

Federal Republic of Germany

Political Party:   FDP   CDU   SPD   Green

No. Portrait Name Birth Death Term start Age start Term end Age end Days Party Portfolio Cabinet
1 Franz Blücher 24 March 1896 26 March 1959 20 September 1949 53 29 October 1957 61 2961 FDP/FVP Marshall Plan (1949-1953) / Economic Cooperation (1953-1957) Adenauer I • II
2 Ludwig Erhard 4 February 1897 5 May 1977 29 October 1957 60 16 October 1963 66 2178 CDU Economic Affairs Adenauer III • IV • V
3 Erich Mende 28 October 1916 6 May 1998 17 October 1963 46 28 October 1966 50 1107 FDP Intra-German Relations Erhard I • II
4 Hans-Christoph Seebohm 4 August 1903 17 September 1967 8 November 1966 63 30 November 1966 63 22 CDU Transport Erhard II
5 Willy Brandt 18 December 1913 8 October 1992 1 December 1966 52 20 October 1969 55 1054 SPD Foreign Affairs Kiesinger I
6 Walter Scheel 8 July 1919 24 August 2016 21 October 1969 50 16 May 1974 54 1668 FDP Foreign Affairs Brandt III
7 Hans-Dietrich Genscher 21 March 1927 31 March 2016 17 May 1974 47 17 September 1982 55 3045 FDP Foreign Affairs Schmidt III • III
8 Egon Franke 11 April 1913 26 April 1995 17 September 1982 69 1 October 1982 69 14 SPD Intra-German Relations Schmidt III
(7) Hans-Dietrich Genscher 21 March 1927 31 March 2016 1 October 1982 55 17 May 1992 65 3516 FDP Foreign Affairs Kohl IIIIIIIV
9 Jürgen Möllemann 15 July 1945 5 June 2003 18 May 1992 46 21 January 1993 47 248 FDP Economic Affairs Kohl IV
10 Klaus Kinkel 17 December 1936 4 March 2019 21 January 1993 56 26 October 1998 61 2104 FDP Foreign Affairs Kohl IVV
11 Joschka Fischer 12 April 1948 27 October 1998 50 22 November 2005 57 2583 Green Foreign Affairs Schröder III
12 Franz Müntefering 16 January 1940 22 November 2005 65 21 November 2007 67 729 SPD Labour and Social Affairs Merkel I
13 Frank-Walter Steinmeier 5 January 1956 21 November 2007 51 27 October 2009 53 706 SPD Foreign Affairs Merkel I
14 Guido Westerwelle 27 December 1961 18 March 2016 28 October 2009 47 16 May 2011 49 565 FDP Foreign Affairs Merkel II
15 Philipp Rösler 24 February 1973 16 May 2011 38 17 December 2013 40 946 FDP Economic Affairs Merkel II
16 Sigmar Gabriel 12 September 1959 17 December 2013 54 14 March 2018 58 1548 SPD Economic Affairs (2013-2017) / Foreign Affairs (2017-2018) Merkel III
17 Olaf Scholz 14 June 1958 14 March 2018 59 8 December 2021 63 1365 SPD Finance Merkel IV
17 Robert Habeck 2 September 1969 8 December 2021 52 1083 Green Economic Affairs and Climate Action Scholz

References

  1. Ute Mager, in: von Münch/Kunig: Grundgesetz-Kommentar II, 5. Auflage 2001, Rn. 10/11 zu Art. 69.