Chancellor of Germany (Federal Re-
public of Germany)
The office of Chancellor of Germany (known
in German as Bundeskanzler, or Kanzler for
short) is, under the German 1949 constitu-
tion, the head of government of Germany. It
is historically a continuation of the office of
Chancellor (German: Bundeskanzler,
later
Reichskanzler)
that was originally estab-
lished as the office of Chancellor of the North
German Confederation in 1867. The 1949
constitution increased the role of the Chan-
cellor compared to the 1919 Weimar Consti-
tution, and although the Chancellor is not
head of state, he or she is often regarded as
the de facto leader of Germany.
There have been eight chancellors since
1949. The current Chancellor of Germany is
Angela Merkel, who was elected in 2005. She
is the first female Chancellor since the estab-
lishment of the original office in 1867, and
known in German as Bundeskanzlerin, the
feminine form of Bundeskanzler.
Angela Merkel, current Chancellor
History of position
Germany
Gerhard Schröder with George W. Bush.
This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Germany
Constitution
• Constitution
• Human rights
Parliament
• Federal Convention
(Bundesversammlung)
• Federal Council
(Bundesrat)
• Federal Assembly
(Bundestag)
Judiciary
• Constitutional Court
• Federal Court of Justice
Executive
• President
• Horst Köhler
• Chancellor
• Angela Merkel
• Cabinet
Divisions
• States (Länder)
• Districts (Kreise)
Elections
• Elections
• Political parties
Foreign policy
• Foreign relations
• European Union politics
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Chancellor of Germany (Federal Republic of
Germany)
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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 c