Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies.
Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
list of chancellors of Germany
This is a chronologically ordered list of chancellors of Germany.
German Empire (1871–1918)
- Otto von Bismarck (1871–90)
- Leo, Graf von Caprivi (1890–94)
- Bernhard, prince von Bülow (1900–09)
- Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (1909–17)
- Georg Michaelis (1917)
- Georg Friedrich, Graf von Hertling (1917–18)
- Maximilian, prince of Baden (1918)
- Friedrich Ebert (1918; oversaw transition to Weimar Republic as chairman of the Council of People’s Commissioners)
Weimar Republic (1919–33)
- Philipp Scheidemann (1919)
- Gustav Bauer (1919–20)
- Hermann Müller (1920; 1st time)
- Konstantin Fehrenbach (1920–21)
- Joseph Wirth (1921–22)
- Wilhelm Cuno (1922–23)
- Gustav Stresemann (1923)
- Wilhelm Marx (1923–25; 1st time)
- Hans Luther (1925–26)
- Wilhelm Marx (1926–28; 2nd time)
- Hermann Müller (1928–30; 2nd time)
- Heinrich Brüning (1930–32)
- Franz von Papen (1932)
- Kurt von Schleicher (1932–33)
Third Reich (1933–45)
- Adolf Hitler (1933–45)
- Joseph Goebbels (1945)
Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present)
- Konrad Adenauer (1949–63)
- Ludwig Erhard (1963–66)
- Kurt Georg Kiesinger (1966–69)
- Willy Brandt (1969–74)
- Helmut Schmidt (1974–82)
- Helmut Kohl (1982–98)
- Gerhard Schröder (1998–2005)
- Angela Merkel (2005–21)
- Olaf Scholz (2021–25)
- Friedrich Merz (2025– )
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
Discover the fascinating events that shaped the world, straight from our editors.
By clicking “Sign Up”, you consent to the Britannica
Privacy Policy
and
Terms of Use.