Vice-Chancellor of Germany


The Deputy to the Federal Chancellor, commonly known as Vice 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 common that the title is given to the major minister provided by the coalition partner.
In every day politics, being a vice chancellor is more an honory 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 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 her duties, the vice chancellor does not automatically replace her. In such a case the Federal President assigns a minister to serve as acting chancellor until the Bundestag.
Although Stellvertreter is the constitutional term, most Germans know the Deputy by the expression Vice Chancellor. Chancellor is the traditional term for the German head of government since 1867/71. A general deputy has been introduced only in 1878 by law. 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 exists since the constitution of 1949.
The 18th and current Vice Chancellor of Germany is Olaf Scholz. He was appointed by Chancellor Angela Merkel to the position on 14 March 2018 and also serves as the Federal Minister of Finance.

Office and appointment mechanism

The German cabinet consists of the Chancellor and the Federal Ministers. According to the Basic Law, 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 his or her deputy. Nevertheless, 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. A very important difference to e.g. the Vice President in presidential systems of government is that the German Vice Chancellor is not the automatic successor of a Chancellor suddenly leaving office. The Deputy is thought only as a replacement for the current Chancellor.
A German cabinet exists only as long as the current Chancellor is in office. The end of a Chancellor's term in office 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 as Acting Chancellor, until the parliament elects a new Chancellor. 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. 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.

History

The office was initially established by the 1878 Stellvertretungsgesetz, which provided for the Imperial Chancellor appointing a deputy, officially known as Allgemeiner Stellvertreter des Reichskanzlers. In addition to the general deputy, who would be responsible 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 and was usually 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.
In the Federal Republic, the Chancellors have had no interest in allowing the Deputy to use the title for self promotion. Since 1966 it became customary that the coalition partner of the governing party received the ministry of the exterior who was also appointed Deputy. The ministry of the exterior was considered to be the most important cabinet post besides the Chancellorship. This tradition faded away in the time of Merkel's office, partially, because political heavyweights of the coalition partner chose a different ministry for personal preference.

Lists of Vice Chancellors

German Empire (Allgemeiner Stellvertreter des Reichskanzlers)

Political Party:
#PortraitNameBirthDeathTerm startAge startTerm endAge endDaysPartyPortfolioCabinet
130 October 183719 November 18961 June 187820 June 1881FKPBismarck
26 January 18336 March 190720 June 18811 July 1897FKPSecretary of State for the InteriorBismarck
26 January 18336 March 190720 June 18811 July 1897FKPSecretary of State for the InteriorCaprivi
26 January 18336 March 190720 June 18811 July 1897FKPSecretary of State for the InteriorHohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
33 June 184523 October 19321 July 189724 June 1907FKPSecretary of State for the InteriorHohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
33 June 184523 October 19321 July 189724 June 1907FKPSecretary of State for the InteriorBülow
429 November 18561 January 192124 June 190714 July 1909IndependentSecretary of State for the InteriorBülow
519 January 185617 December 192114 July 190922 May 1916IndependentSecretary of State for the InteriorBethmann-Hollweg
722 July 187223 April 192422 May 19169 November 1917IndependentSecretary of State for the Interior Bethmann-Hollweg
722 July 187223 April 192422 May 19169 November 1917IndependentSecretary of State for the Interior Michaelis
722 July 187223 April 192422 May 19169 November 1917IndependentSecretary of State for the Interior Hertling
812 June 184714 July 19319 November 191710 November 1918FVPHertling
812 June 184714 July 19319 November 191710 November 1918FVPBaden
812 June 184714 July 19319 November 191710 November 1918FVPEbert

Weimar Republic (Allgemeiner Stellvertreter des Reichskanzlers)

Political Party:
#PortraitNameBirthDeathTerm startAge startTerm endAge endDaysPartyPortfolioCabinet
114 February 18605 September 195413 February 191919 April 1919DDPDeputy Minister-President / Minister of FinanceScheidemann
217 July 186514 October 193730 April 191920 June 1919DDPDeputy Minister-President / Minister of FinanceScheidemann
320 September 187526 August 192121 June 19193 October 1919CentreDeputy Minister-President / Minister of FinanceBauer
414 February 18605 September 19543 October 191927 March 1920DDPMinister of JusticeBauer
526 February 187519 October 194427 March 192021 June 1920DDPMinister of the InteriorMüller I
622 July 186526 May 192825 June 19204 May 1921DVPMinister of JusticeFehrenbach
76 January 187016 September 194410 May 192114 November 1922SPDMinister of FinanceWirth I
76 January 187016 September 194410 May 192114 November 1922SPDMinister of FinanceWirth II
815 May 186416 September 194313 August 19233 November 1923SPDMinister for ReconstructionStresemann I
921 September 187420 October 195130 November 192315 December 1924DVPMinister of the InteriorMarx I
921 September 187420 October 195130 November 192315 December 1924DVPMinister of the InteriorMarx II
1022 October 18699 May 196728 January 192712 June 1928DNVPMinister of JusticeMarx IV
1114 December 18796 March 195430 March 193030 May 1932DDPMinister of Finance Brüning I
1114 December 18796 March 195430 March 193030 May 1932DDPMinister of Finance Brüning II

Nazi Germany

Political Party:
#PortraitNameBirthDeathTerm startAge startTerm endAge endDaysPartyOther positionsCabinet
129 October 18792 May 196930 January 19337 August 1934Non-partisanReichskommissar of Prussia Hitler

Federal Republic of Germany

Political Party:
#PortraitNameBirthDeathTerm startAge startTerm endAge endDaysPartyPortfolioCabinet
124 March 189626 March 195920 September 194929 October 1957FDP/FVPMarshall Plan / Economic Cooperation Adenauer I • II
24 February 18975 May 197729 October 195716 October 1963CDUEconomic AffairsAdenauer III • IV • V
328 October 19166 May 199817 October 196328 October 1966FDPIntra-German RelationsErhard I • II
44 August 190317 September 19678 November 196630 November 1966CDUTransportErhard II
518 December 19138 October 19921 December 196620 October 1969SPDForeign AffairsKiesinger I
68 July 191924 August 201621 October 196916 May 1974FDPForeign AffairsBrandt I • II
721 March 192731 March 201617 May 197417 September 1982FDPForeign AffairsSchmidt I • II • III
811 April 191326 April 199517 September 19821 October 1982SPDIntra-German RelationsSchmidt III
921 March 192731 March 20161 October 198217 May 1992FDPForeign AffairsKohl I • II • III • IV
1015 July 19455 June 200318 May 199221 January 1993FDPEconomic AffairsKohl IV
1117 December 19364 March 201921 January 199326 October 1998FDPForeign AffairsKohl IV • V
1212 April 194827 October 199822 November 2005GreenForeign AffairsSchröder I • II
1316 January 194022 November 200521 November 2007SPDLabour and Social AffairsMerkel I
145 January 195621 November 200727 October 2009SPDForeign AffairsMerkel I
1527 December 196118 March 201628 October 200916 May 2011FDPForeign AffairsMerkel II
1624 February 197316 May 201117 December 2013FDPEconomic AffairsMerkel II
1712 September 195917 December 201314 March 2018SPDEconomic Affairs / Foreign Affairs Merkel III
1814 June 195814 March 2018IncumbentIncumbentSPDFinanceMerkel IV