Chancellor of Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) - History of Position

History of Position

Germany
This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Germany
Constitution
  • Constitution
  • Human rights
Executive
  • President
    • Joachim Gauck
  • Chancellor
    • Angela Merkel
  • Cabinet
Legislature
  • Federal Convention
    (Bundesversammlung)
  • Federal Council
    (Bundesrat)
  • Federal Diet
    (Bundestag)
  • Joint Committee
    (Gemeinsamer Ausschuss)
Judiciary
  • Judiciary
  • Federal courts
    • Constitutional Court
    • Administrative Court
    • Court of Justice
    • Finance Court
    • Labor Court
    • Social court
Divisions
  • States (Länder)
  • Administrative regions
    (Regierungsbezirke)
  • Districts (Kreise)
  • Collective municipalities
  • Municipalities (Gemeinden)
Elections
  • Elections
  • Political parties
Foreign policy
  • Foreign relations
  • European Union politics
  • Other countries
  • Atlas

Politics portal

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 power and influence of this office varied strongly over time. Otto von Bismarck in particular had a great amount of power, but it was not until 1949 that the Chancellor was established as the central executive authority of Germany.

Due to his administrative tasks, the head of the chapel of the imperial palace during the Holy Roman Empire was called Chancellor. The Archbishop of Mainz was German Chancellor until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 while the Archbishop of Cologne was Chancellor of Italy and the Archbishop of Trier of Burgundy. These three Archbishops were also Prince-electors of the empire. Already in medieval times the Chancellor had political power like Willigis of Mainz (Archchancellor 975–1011, regent for Otto III 991–994) or Rainald von Dassel (Chancellor 1156–1162 and 1166–1167) under Frederick I.

The modern office of Chancellor was established with the North German Confederation, of which Otto von Bismarck became Chancellor (German, Bundeskanzler) in 1867. After unification of Germany in 1871, the office became known in German as Reichskanzler ("Reich Chancellor"). Since the adoption of the current constitution of Germany in 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.)

See the article Chancellor for the etymology of the word.

Read more about this topic:  Chancellor Of Germany (Federal Republic Of Germany)

Famous quotes containing the words history of, history and/or position:

    “Let us not underrate the value of a fact; it will one day flower in a truth. It is astonishing how few facts of importance are added in a century to the natural history of any animal. The natural history of man himself is still being gradually written.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “No cause is left but the most ancient of all, the one, in fact, that from the beginning of our history has determined the very existence of politics, the cause of freedom versus tyranny.”
    —Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)

    “My position is a naturalistic one; I see philosophy not as an a priori propaedeutic or groundwork for science, but as continuous with science. I see philosophy and science as in the same boat—a boat which, to revert to Neurath’s figure as I so often do, we can rebuild only at sea while staying afloat in it. There is no external vantage point, no first philosophy.”
    —Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)