Vice-Chancellor of Germany

Vice-Chancellor of Germany Stellvertreter des Bundeskanzlers
Coat of arms of the German Government
Incumbent Olaf Scholz since 14 March 2018
Member of	Federal Cabinet of Germany
Appointer	Chancellor of Germany
Term length	at the Chancellor's pleasure
Constituting instrument	German Basic Law
Formation	1 June 1878 (Empire) 24 May 1949 (Republic)
First holder	Otto of Stolberg-Wernigerode (Empire) Franz Blücher (Republic)

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The Deputy to the Federal Chancellor (German: Stellvertreter des Bundeskanzlers), commonly known as Vice-Chancellor (Vizekanzler), 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 (smaller) coalition partner.

In everyday politics, being a vice chancellor is more an honorary 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 (parliament) elects a new chancellor.^[1]).

Although Stellvertreter is the constitutional term, most Germans know the Deputy by the expression Vice-Chancellor (Vizekanzler). Chancellor (Kanzler) is the traditional term for the German head of government since 1867/71. A general deputy has been introduced only in 1878 by law (Stellvertretungsgesetz). 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 has existed since the constitution of 1949.

The current Vice-Chancellor of Germany is Olaf Scholz (SPD). He was appointed by Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) 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 (Article 69.1), 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 (either by death or resignation or the first meeting of a newly elected Bundestag) 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 (not necessarily, but most likely the former Vice-Chancellor) as Acting Chancellor, until the parliament elects a new Chancellor.^[2] 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 (§22.1).^[3] 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.^[4]

History[]

The office was initially established by the 1878 Stellvertretungsgesetz (Deputation Act), which provided for the Imperial Chancellor appointing a deputy, officially known as Allgemeiner Stellvertreter des Reichskanzlers (General Deputy to the Imperial Chancellor). 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.^[5]

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 (since 1949), the Chancellors have had no interest in allowing the Deputy to use the title for self promotion.^[6] 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.

List of vice-chancellors[]

German Empire (1871–1918)[]

Political Party:   FKP   FVP

No.	Portrait	Name	Birth	Death	Term start	Age start	Term end	Age end	Days	Party	Portfolio		Cabinet
The General Deputy to the Chancellor of the Reich
1		Otto Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode	30 October 1837	19 November 1896	1 June 1878	40	20 June 1881	43	1115	FKP			Bismarck
2		Karl Heinrich von Boetticher	6 January 1833	6 March 1907	20 June 1881	48	1 July 1897	64	5855	FKP	Secretary of State for the Interior		Bismarck
													Caprivi
													Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
3		Arthur von Posadowsky-Wehner	3 June 1845	23 October 1932	1 July 1897	52	24 June 1907	62	3644	FKP	Secretary of State for the Interior		Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
													Bülow
4		Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg	29 November 1856	1 January 1921	24 June 1907	50	14 July 1909	52	751	Independent	Secretary of State for the Interior		Bülow
5		Clemens von Delbrück	19 January 1856	17 December 1921	14 July 1909	53	22 May 1916	60	2501	Independent	Secretary of State for the Interior		Bethmann-Hollweg
7		Karl Helfferich	22 July 1872	23 April 1924	22 May 1916	43	9 November 1917	45	536	Independent	Secretary of State for the Interior (until 23 October 1917)		Bethmann-Hollweg
													Michaelis
													Hertling
8		Friedrich von Payer	12 June 1847	14 July 1931	9 November 1917	70	10 November 1918	71	366	FVP			Hertling
													Baden
													Ebert

Weimar Republic (1918–1933)[]

Political Party:   DDP   Centre   DVP   SPD   DNVP

No.	Portrait	Name	Birth	Death	Term start	Age start	Term end	Age end	Days	Party	Portfolio		Cabinet
The General Deputy to the Chancellor of the Reich
1		Eugen Schiffer	14 February 1860	5 September 1954	13 February 1919	58	19 April 1919	59	65	DDP	Deputy Minister-President / Minister of Finance		Scheidemann
2		Bernhard Dernburg	17 July 1865	14 October 1937	30 April 1919	53	20 June 1919	53	51	DDP	Deputy Minister-President / Minister of Finance		Scheidemann
3		Matthias Erzberger	20 September 1875	26 August 1921	21 June 1919	43	3 October 1919	44	104	Centre	Deputy Minister-President (until 14 August 1919) / Minister of Finance		Bauer
(1)		Eugen Schiffer	14 February 1860	5 September 1954	3 October 1919	59	27 March 1920	60	176	DDP	Minister of Justice		Bauer
4		Erich Koch-Weser	26 February 1875	19 October 1944	27 March 1920	45	21 June 1920	45	86	DDP	Minister of the Interior		Müller I
5		Rudolf Heinze	22 July 1865	26 May 1928	25 June 1920	54	4 May 1921	55	313	DVP	Minister of Justice		Fehrenbach
6		Gustav Bauer	6 January 1870	16 September 1944	10 May 1921	51	14 November 1922	52	553	SPD	Minister of Finance		Wirth I
													Wirth II
7		Robert Schmidt	15 May 1864	16 September 1943	13 August 1923	59	3 November 1923	59	82	SPD	Minister for Reconstruction		Stresemann I
8		Karl Jarres	21 September 1874	20 October 1951	30 November 1923	49	15 December 1924	50	381	DVP	Minister of the Interior		Marx I
													Marx II
9		Oskar Hergt	22 October 1869	9 May 1967	28 January 1927	57	12 June 1928	58	501	DNVP	Minister of Justice		Marx IV
10		Hermann Dietrich	14 December 1879	6 March 1954	30 March 1930	50	30 May 1932	52	792	DDP	Minister of Finance (from 26 June 1930)		Brüning I
													Brüning II

Nazi Germany (1933–1945)[]

No.	Portrait	Name	Term start	Age start	Term end	Age end	Days	Party	Portfolio	Other positions		Cabinet
The Deputy to the Chancellor of the Reich
11		Franz von Papen (1879–1969)	30 January 1933	53	7 August 1934	54	554	Non-partisan		Minister President of Prussia (until 10 April 1933)		Hitler
From 7 August 1934 until 20 September 1949, the office of the Vice-Chancellor of Germany was abolished.

Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present)[]

Political Party:   FDP   CDU   SPD   Green

No.	Portrait	Name	Term start	Age start	Term end	Age end	Days	Party	Portfolio		Cabinet
Vice-Chancellor of Germany The Deputy to the Federal Chancellor (de jure)
1		Franz Blücher (1896–1959)	20 September 1949	53	29 October 1957	61	2961	FDP/FVP	Marshall Plan (1949–1953) Economic Cooperation (1953–1957)		Adenauer I • II
2		Ludwig Erhard (1897–1977)	29 October 1957	60	16 October 1963	66	2178	Independent (No party membership; but affiliated with the CDU)	Economic Affairs		Adenauer III • IV • V
3		Erich Mende (1916–1998)	17 October 1963	46	28 October 1966	50	1107	FDP	Intra-German Relations		Erhard I • II
4		Hans-Christoph Seebohm (1903–1967)	8 November 1966	63	30 November 1966	63	22	CDU	Transport		Erhard II
5		Willy Brandt (1913–1992)	1 December 1966	52	20 October 1969	55	1054	SPD	Foreign Affairs		Kiesinger
6		Walter Scheel (1919–2016)	21 October 1969	50	16 May 1974	54	1668	FDP	Foreign Affairs		Brandt I • II
7		Hans-Dietrich Genscher (1927–2016)	17 May 1974	47	17 September 1982	55	3045	FDP	Foreign Affairs		Schmidt I • II • III
8		Egon Franke (1913–1995)	17 September 1982	69	1 October 1982	69	14	SPD	Intra-German Relations		Schmidt III
(7)		Hans-Dietrich Genscher (1927–2016)	1 October 1982	55	17 May 1992	65	3516	FDP	Foreign Affairs		Kohl I • II • III • IV
9		Jürgen Möllemann (1945–2003)	18 May 1992	46	21 January 1993	47	248	FDP	Economic Affairs		Kohl IV
10		Klaus Kinkel (1936–2019)	21 January 1993	56	26 October 1998	61	2104	FDP	Foreign Affairs		Kohl IV • V
11		Joschka Fischer (b. 1948)	27 October 1998	50	22 November 2005	57	2583	Green	Foreign Affairs		Schröder I • II
12		Franz Müntefering (b. 1940)	22 November 2005	65	21 November 2007	67	729	SPD	Labour and Social Affairs		Merkel I
13		Frank-Walter Steinmeier (b. 1956)	21 November 2007	51	27 October 2009	53	706	SPD	Foreign Affairs		Merkel I
14		Guido Westerwelle (1961–2016)	28 October 2009	47	16 May 2011	49	565	FDP	Foreign Affairs		Merkel II
15		Philipp Rösler (b. 1973)	16 May 2011	38	17 December 2013	40	946	FDP	Economic Affairs		Merkel II
16		Sigmar Gabriel (b. 1959)	17 December 2013	54	14 March 2018	58	1548	SPD	Economic Affairs (2013–2017) Foreign Affairs (2017–2018)		Merkel III
17		Olaf Scholz (b. 1958)	14 March 2018	59	Incumbent	63	1284	SPD	Finance		Merkel IV

References[]