| Chancellor of the German Empire Reichskanzler des Deutsches Reich | |
|---|---|
 Chancellor’s Standard | |
 Flag of Germany | |
| Style | Mr. Chancellor (informal) His Excellency (diplomatic) |
| Member of | Reichstag Bundesrat |
| Appointer | The German Emperor |
| Term length | 5 years, renewable twice |
| Inaugural holder | Otto von Bismarck |
| Formation | 16 April 1871 (154 years ago; original post) 15 March 1925 (100 years ago; modern post) |
| Salary | 247,000 marks annually |
The chancellor of Germany, officially the imperial chancellor of the German Empire (German: Reichskanzler des Deutschen Reiches), is the head of the federal government of Germany. According to the current constitution adopted in 1925, the position of chancellor is elected in general elections held every five years, the most recent one being held in 2020.
The current officeholder is German conservative Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was elected in the recent election in October 2020.
History of the office[]
The office of Chancellor has a long history, stemming back to the Holy Roman Empire, when the office of German archchancellor was usually held by archbishops of Mainz. The title was, at times, used in several states of German-speaking Europe. The modern office of chancellor was established with the North German Confederation, of which Otto von Bismarck became Bundeskanzler (meaning "Federal Chancellor") in 1867. With the enlargement of this federal state to the modern-day German Empire in 1871, the title was renamed to its current name Reichskanzler (meaning "Imperial Chancellor").
During the various eras, the role of the chancellor has varied. Since 1867, the chancellor is the only responsible minister of the federal level. He was installed by the federal presidium (i.e. the Prussian king; since 1871 called Emperor). The Staatssekretäre are civil servants subordinate to the chancellor. Besides the executive, the constitution gives the chancellor only one function: presiding over the Federal Council, the representative organ of the states (together with the parliament the lawmaker). But in reality, until 1925, the chancellor was nearly always installed as minister president of Prussia, too. Indirectly, this gave the chancellor the power of the Federal Council, including the dissolution of parliament.
Until the constitution was rewritten in 1925, Chancellors were chosen by the German Emperor, and usually the person holding the Chancellorship either stayed until their death or until the Emperor got tired of the person. This was changed in the current constitution in 1925, which introduced general elections to Germany. The first general election was held in October 1925.
Due to his administrative tasks, the head of the clerics at the chapel of an imperial palace during the Carolingian Empire was called chancellor (from Latin: cancellarius). The chapel's college acted as the Emperor's chancery issuing deeds and capitularies. From the days of Louis the German, the archbishop of Mainz was ex officio German archchancellor, a position he held until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, while de jure the archbishop of Cologne was chancellor of Italy and the archbishop of Trier of Burgundy. These three prince-archbishops were also prince-electors of the empire electing the King of the Romans. Already in medieval times, the German chancellor had political power like Archbishop Willigis (archchancellor 975–1011, regent for King Otto III of Germany 991–994) or Rainald von Dassel (Chancellor 1156–1162 and 1166–1167) under Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
In 1559, Emperor Ferdinand I established the agency of an imperial chancellery (Reichshofkanzlei) at the Vienna Hofburg Palace, headed by a vice chancellor under the nominal authority of the Mainz archbishop. Upon the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, Emperor Ferdinand II created the office of an Austrian court chancellor in charge of the internal and foreign affairs of the Habsburg Monarchy. From 1753 onwards, the office of an Austrian state chancellor was held by Prince Kaunitz. The imperial chancellery lost its importance, and from the days of Maria Theresa and Joseph II, merely existed on paper. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince Metternich served as state chancellor of the Austrian Empire (1821–1848), likewise Prince Hardenberg acted as Prussian chancellor (1810–1822). The German Confederation of 1815–1866 did not have a government or parliament, only the Bundestag as representative organ of the states.