Religious affiliations of chancellors of Germany

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The current German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is irreligious.

Most German chancellors have been followers of a Christian church. German society has been affected by a Catholic-Protestant divide since the Protestant Reformation, and the same effect is visible in this list of German chancellors. It is largely dominated by Catholics and Protestants as these remain the main confessions in the country.

The current German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is irreligious but was raised Protestant.

Details[]

Most of Germany's chancellors have been either Protestants or Catholics. A significant portion of Protestant chancellors belonged to the Prussian Union of churches, which united the Reformed and Lutheran confessions throughout the Kingdom of Prussia, and was in force since 1817. Some Catholic chancellors came from the Catholic Centre Party. The Christian Democratic Union, a party of both Roman Catholics and Protestants, produced both kinds of chancellors. One chancellor, namely Philipp Scheidemann, was Reformed (Calvinist).[1]

Although there were some religiously sceptic chancellors, most never officially renounced their faith and were given a Christian funeral. Hermann Müller, a Social Democrat heavily influenced by his father-an advocate of Ludwig Feuerbach's views, is the only one notable for not having been a member of any confession at all. Friedrich Ebert was baptised a Roman Catholic, but later officially left the denomination.[2] Gustav Bauer is on record as unaffiliated to any recognised religion at least from 1912 to 1924 (thus including his term of office),[3] but he was buried on a Protestant cemetery.[4]

As some chancellors' views are uncertain or causing confusion among researchers, such as these of Adolf Hitler or Joseph Goebbels, the official religion they were brought up in is only mentioned with a further information on their worldviews, if available. For issues pertaining to Nazi stance on religion, see Religion in Nazi Germany, Religious aspects of Nazism, and Religious views of Adolf Hitler.

By term[]

North German Confederation (1867–1871)[]

Name Term Religious affiliation
01 Otto von Bismarck 1867–1871 Protestant

German Reich (1871–1945)[]

Name Term Religious affiliation
German Empire (1871–1918)
01 Otto von Bismarck 1871–1890 Protestant
02 Leo von Caprivi 1890–1894
03 Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst 1894–1900 Roman Catholic
04 Bernhard von Bülow 1900–1909 Protestant
05 Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg 1909–1917
06 Georg Michaelis 1917
07 Georg von Hertling 1917–1918 Roman Catholic
08 Max von Baden 1918 Protestant
Weimar Republic (1918-1933)
09 Friedrich Ebert 1918–1919 Irreligious
10 Philipp Scheidemann 1919 Protestant
11 Gustav Bauer 1919–1920 Irreligious
12 Hermann Müller 1920
13 Constantin Fehrenbach 1920–1921 Roman Catholic
14 Joseph Wirth 1921–1922
15 Wilhelm Cuno 1922–1923
16 Gustav Stresemann 1923 Protestant
17 Wilhelm Marx 1923–1925 Roman Catholic
18 Hans Luther 1925–1926 Protestant
19
(17)		 Wilhelm Marx 1926–1928 Roman Catholic
20
(12)		 Hermann Müller 1928–1930 Irreligious
21 Heinrich Brüning 1930–1932 Roman Catholic
22 Franz von Papen 1932
23 Kurt von Schleicher 1932–1933 Protestant
Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
24 Adolf Hitler 1933–1945 Roman Catholic,
see more details
25 Joseph Goebbels 1945 Roman Catholic
26 Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk 1945 Protestant

Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present)[]

Name Term Religious affiliation
01 Konrad Adenauer 1949–1963 Roman Catholic
02 Ludwig Erhard 1963–1966 Protestant
03 Kurt Georg Kiesinger 1966–1969 Roman Catholic
04 Willy Brandt 1969–1974 Protestant
05 Helmut Schmidt 1974–1982
06 Helmut Kohl 1982–1998 Roman Catholic
07 Gerhard Schröder 1998–2005 Protestant
08 Angela Merkel 2005–2021
09 Olaf Scholz 2021–present Irreligious (raised Protestant)

Affiliation totals[]

Affiliation
Protestant 16
Roman Catholic 13
Irreligious 4

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Scheidemann, Philipp Heinrich
  2. ^ Federal Archives, files of the Reich chancellery, Friedrich Ebert's death
  3. ^ See parliamentary handbooks downloadable here
  4. ^ See "Gemeinde Glienicke/Nordbahn: Schon fast in Vergessenheit geraten"
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