History UsefulNotes / TheChancellorsOfGermany

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. His rise to the chancellorship was unlikely in many ways. He was decried as an "automaton" ("[=Scholz-o-Mat=]") for his staunch dedication to the party line and - leadership above all and is not exactly charismatic or a great public speaker (but then neither were Kohl or Merkel). However, after already having been ReassignedToAntarctica he won back political power by wresting the Hamburg mayorship from the CDU - Hamburg had been a traditional "base" for the SPD but had had been in the hands of the CDU for over a decade around the turn of the millenium. He then managed to be given the candidate for chancellor job basically because no-one else wanted it and was smart enough not to quit when he lost the race for party chairperson to a more left-leaning duo. Despite all that, the SPD somehow managed to make a near-flawless electoral campaign based on providing a united front to outsiders and being boring and predictable while the other big parties (the Greens led by Annalena Baerbock and the CDU led by Armin Laschet) shot themselves in the foot. He also managed to get the "he's just like Merkel" vote (he had been an important minister in her cabinet and vice chancellor, after all) without aleniating the "we've had enough of Merkel's style" vote. Meanwhile Laschet got hit both with fatigue at 16 years of CDU rule and failed to capitalize on Merkel nostalgia, as he was seen as too unlike her. His unlikely three party coalition is similar to the 1970s and early 1980s social-liberal coalition of Brandt and Schmidt and in a sense also the SpiritualSuccessor to the Weimar Coalition of yore as it includes all centrist and liberal parties that broadly support the status quo and excludes the political extremes. However, it differs from the Weimar Coalition in that it doesn't include the Christian Democrat / political Catholic element nowadays represented by the [=CDU/CSU=]. The major hurdles his government has to face concern the economic sanctions against UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} for its invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} in 2022, since Germany is vastly dependent on Russian natural gas (the deep collaboration built between the two countries in that field during the previous twenty years or so under Schröder and Merkel ''really'' doesn't help), as well as the backlash to both the (comparatively to many other European countries) meager German support in military furnitures and vehicles to Ukraine and calls to peace-seeking efforts that don't always seem to take Russia's role as aggressor and its unflinching commitment to the war and war crimes into account.

* Kurt von [[MeaningfulName Schleicher]][[labelnote:note]]"a furtive or stealthy person"[[/labelnote]] (1932-1933) -- Independent. Backstabbing Papen had earned him a powerful enemy, as Papen still had a lot of influence over Hindenburg. Schleicher struggled against the anti-democratic parties in the Reichstag and attempted to split and weaken the Nazi Party. [[EnemyMIne Papen quickly ganged up with Hitler against Schleicher]]. This led to Hitler's appointment as chancellor through Papen's influence on Hindenburg and the end of the Weimar Republic. Schleicher was killed by the SS during the "Night of the Long Knives" in 1934.

In the German Empire, the Imperial Chancellor (''Reichskanzler'') was appointed by the Emperor (''Kaiser''). The parliament (''Reichstag'') could do jack shit about it and was mostly there to argue about the budget or wait for the chancellor to initiate a bill (which they couldn't do themselves). The Reichskanzler was technically a one-man administration, who appointed secretaries to assist him. Today, all of the chancellors of the German Empire are rather obscure outside of historical circles. Except for Bismarck, of course.

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. His rise to the chancellorship was unlikely in many ways. He was decried as an "automaton" ("[=Scholz-o-Mat=]") for his staunch dedication to the party line and - leadership above all and is not exactly charismatic or a great public speaker (but then neither were Kohl or Merkel). However, after already having been ReassignedToAntarctica he won back political power by wresting the Hamburg mayorship from the CDU - Hamburg had been a traditional "base" for the SPD but had had been in the hands of the CDU for over a decade around the turn of the millenium. He then managed to be given the candidate for chancellor job basically because no-one else wanted it and was smart enough not to quit when he lost the race for party chairperson to a more left-leaning duo. Despite all that, the SPD somehow managed to make a near-flawless electoral campaign based on providing a united front to outsiders and being boring and predictable while the other big parties (the Greens led by Annalena Baerbock and the CDU led by Armin Laschet) shot themselves in the foot. He also managed to get the "he's just like Merkel" vote (he had been an important minister in her cabinet and vice chancellor, after all) without aleniating the "we've had enough of Merkel's style" vote. Meanwhile Laschet got hit both with fatigue at 16 years of CDU rule and failed to capitalize on Merkel nostalgia, as he was seen as too unlike her. His unlikely three party coalition is similar to the 1970s and early 1980s social-liberal coalition of Brandt and Schmidt and in a sense also the SpiritualSuccessor to the Weimar Coalition of yore as it includes all centrist and liberal parties that broadly support the status quo and excludes the political extremes. However, it differs from the Weimar Coalition in that it doesn't include the Christian Democrat / political Catholic element nowadays represented by the [=CDU/CSU=]. The major hurdles his government has to face concern the economic sanctions against UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} for its invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} in 2022, since Germany is vastly dependent on Russian natural gas (the deep collaboration built between the two countries in that field during the previous twenty years or so under Schröder and Merkel ''really'' doesn't help), as well as the backlash to both the (comparatively to many other European countries) meager German support in military furnitures and vehicles to Ukraine and calls to peace-seeking efforts that don't always seem to take Russia's unflinching commitment to the war and war crimes into account.

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. His rise to the chancellorship was unlikely in many ways. He was decried as an "automaton" ("[=Scholz-o-Mat=]") for his staunch dedication to the party line and - leadership above all and is not exactly charismatic or a great public speaker (but then neither were Kohl or Merkel). However, after already having been ReassignedToAntarctica he won back political power by wresting the Hamburg mayorship from the CDU - Hamburg had been a traditional "base" for the SPD but had had been in the hands of the CDU for over a decade around the turn of the millenium. He then managed to be given the candidate for chancellor job basically because no-one else wanted it and was smart enough not to quit when he lost the race for party chairperson to a more left-leaning duo. Despite all that, the SPD somehow managed to make a near-flawless electoral campaign based on providing a united front to outsiders and being boring and predictable while the other big parties (the Greens led by Annalena Baerbock and the CDU led by Armin Laschet) shot themselves in the foot. He also managed to get the "he's just like Merkel" vote (he had been an important minister in her cabinet and vice chancellor, after all) without aleniating the "we've had enough of Merkel's style" vote. Meanwhile Laschet got hit both with fatigue at 16 years of CDU rule and failed to capitalize on Merkel nostalgia, as he was seen as too unlike her. His unlikely three party coalition is similar to the 1970s and early 1980s social-liberal coalition of Brandt and Schmidt and in a sense also the SpiritualSuccessor to the Weimar Coalition of yore as it includes all centrist and liberal parties that broadly support the status quo and excludes the political extremes. However, it differs from the Weimar Coalition in that it doesn't include the Christian Democrat / political Catholic element nowadays represented by the [=CDU/CSU=]. The major hurdles his government has to face concern the economic sanctions against UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} for its invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} in 2022, since Germany is vastly dependent on Russian natural gas (the deep collaboration built between the two countries in that field during the previous twenty years or so under Schröder and Merkel ''really'' doesn't help), as well as the backlash to both the (comparatively to many other European countries) meager German support in military furnitures and vehicles to Ukraine and calls to peace-seeking efforts that don't seem to take Russia's unflinching commitment to the war and brutal occupation into account.

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. His rise to the chancellorship was unlikely in many ways. He was decried as an "automaton" ("[=Scholz-o-Mat=]") for his staunch dedication to the party line and - leadership above all and is not exactly charismatic or a great public speaker (but then neither were Kohl or Merkel). However, after already having been ReassignedToAntarctica he won back political power by wresting the Hamburg mayorship from the CDU - Hamburg had been a traditional "base" for the SPD but had had been in the hands of the CDU for over a decade around the turn of the millenium. He then managed to be given the candidate for chancellor job basically because no-one else wanted it and was smart enough not to quit when he lost the race for party chairperson to a more left-leaning duo. Despite all that, the SPD somehow managed to make a near-flawless electoral campaign based on providing a united front to outsiders and being boring and predictable while the other big parties (the Greens led by Annalena Baerbock and the CDU led by Armin Laschet) shot themselves in the foot. He also managed to get the "he's just like Merkel" vote (he had been an important minister in her cabinet, after all) without aleniating the "we've had enough of Merkel's style" vote. Meanwhile Laschet got hit both with fatigue at 16 years of CDU rule and failed to capitalize on Merkel nostalgia, as he was seen as too unlike her. His unlikely three party coalition is similar to the 1970s and early 1980s social-liberal coalition of Brandt and Schmidt and in a sense also the SpiritualSuccessor to the Weimar Coalition of yore as it includes all centrist and liberal parties that broadly support the status quo and excludes the political extremes. However, it differs from the Weimar Coalition in that it doesn't include the Christian Democrat / political Catholic element nowadays represented by the [=CDU/CSU=]. The major hurdles his government has to face concern the economic sanctions against UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} for its invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} in 2022, since Germany is vastly dependent on Russian natural gas (the deep collaboration built between the two countries in that field during the previous twenty years or so under Schröder and Merkel ''really'' doesn't help), as well as the backlash to both the (comparatively to many other European countries) meager German support in military furnitures and vehicles to Ukraine and calls to peace-seeking efforts that don't seem to take Russia's unflinching commitment to the war and brutal occupation into account.

* Paul Joseph Goebbels (1945) -- National Socialist. Nazi Germany's infamous Minister of "Public Enlightenment and Propaganda". Hitler's political testament broke up his combined government office into President and Chancellor once again after his death. Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz became the new ''Reichspräsident'', while Goebbels succeeded Hitler as ''Reichskanzler'' for a few hours before he took his own life as well (and those of his family) when UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}} was conquered by the Red Army.

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. His rise to the chancellorship was unlikely in many ways. He was decried as an "automaton" ("[=Scholz-o-Mat=]") for his staunch dedication to the party line and - leadership above all and is not exactly charismatic or a great public speaker (but then neither were Kohl or Merkel). However, after already having been ReassignedToAntarctica he won back political power by wresting the Hamburg mayorship from the CDU - Hamburg had been a traditional "base" for the SPD but had had been in the hands of the CDU for over a decade around the turn of the millenium. He then managed to be given the candidate for chancellor job basically because no-one else wanted it and was smart enough not to quit when he lost the race for party chairperson to a more left-leaning duo. Despite all that, the SPD somehow managed to make a near-flawless electoral campaign based on providing a united front to outsiders and being boring and predictable while the other big parties (the Greens led by Annalena Baerbock and the CDU led by Armin Laschet) shot themselves in the foot. He also managed to get the "he's just like Merkel" vote (he had been an important minister in her cabinet, after all) without aleniating the "we've had enough of Merkel's style" vote. Meanwhile Laschet got hit both with fatigue at 16 years of CDU rule and failed to capitalize on Merkel nostalgia, as he was seen as too unlike her. His unlikely three party coalition is similar to the 1970s and early 1980s social-liberal coalition of Brandt and Schmidt and in a sense also the SpiritualSuccessor to the Weimar Coalition of yore as it includes all centrist and liberal parties that broadly support the status quo and excludes the political extremes. However, it differs from the Weimar Coalition in that it doesn't include the Christian Democrat / political Catholic element nowadays represented by the [=CDU/CSU=]. One of the major challenges his government has to face concerns the economic sanctions against UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} for its invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} in 2022, since Germany is vastly dependent on Russian natural gas (the deep collaboration built between the two countries in that field during the previous twenty years or so under Schröder and Merkel ''really'' doesn't help) about which there's a major divide, as well as the backlash to both the (comparatively to many other European countries) meager German support in military furnitures and vehicles to Ukraine and calls peace-seeking efforts that don't take Russia's unflinching commitment to the war and occupation into account.

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. His rise to the chancellorship was unlikely in many ways. He was decried as an "automaton" ("[=Scholz-o-Mat=]") for his staunch dedication to the party line and - leadership above all and is not exactly charismatic or a great public speaker (but then neither were Kohl or Merkel). However, after already having been ReassignedToAntarctica he won back political power by wresting the Hamburg mayorship from the CDU - Hamburg had been a traditional "base" for the SPD but had had been in the hands of the CDU for over a decade around the turn of the millenium. He then managed to be given the candidate for chancellor job basically because no-one else wanted it and was smart enough not to quit when he lost the race for party chairperson to a more left-leaning duo. Despite all that, the SPD somehow managed to make a near-flawless electoral campaign based on providing a united front to outsiders and being boring and predictable while the other big parties (the Greens led by Annalena Baerbock and the CDU led by Armin Laschet) shot themselves in the foot. He also managed to get the "he's just like Merkel" vote (he had been an important minister in her cabinet, after all) without aleniating the "we've had enough of Merkel's style" vote. Meanwhile Laschet got hit both with fatigue at 16 years of CDU rule and failed to capitalize on Merkel nostalgia, as he was seen as too unlike her. His unlikely three party coalition is similar to the 1970s and early 1980s social-liberal coalition of Brandt and Schmidt and in a sense also the SpiritualSuccessor to the Weimar Coalition of yore as it includes all centrist and liberal parties that broadly support the status quo and excludes the political extremes. However, it differs from the Weimar Coalition in that it doesn't include the Christian Democrat / political Catholic element nowadays represented by the [=CDU/CSU=]. One of the major challenges his government has to face concerns the economic sanctions against UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} for its invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} in 2022, since Germany is vastly dependent on Russian natural gas (the deep collaboration built between the two countries in that field during the previous twenty years or so under Schröder and Merkel ''really'' doesn't help) about which there's a major divide, as well as the backlash to both the (comparatively to many other European countries) meager German support in military furnitures and vehicles to Ukraine and peace-seeking efforts that don't take Russia's unflinching commitment to the war and occupation into account.

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. His rise to the chancellorship was unlikely in many ways. He was decried as an "automaton" ("[=Scholz-o-Mat=]") for his staunch dedication to the party line and - leadership above all and is not exactly charismatic or a great public speaker (but then neither were Kohl or Merkel). However, after already having been ReassignedToAntarctica he won back political power by wresting the Hamburg mayorship from the CDU - Hamburg had been a traditional "base" for the SPD but had had been in the hands of the CDU for over a decade around the turn of the millenium. He then managed to be given the candidate for chancellor job basically because no-one else wanted it and was smart enough not to quit when he lost the race for party chairperson to a more left-leaning duo. Despite all that, the SPD somehow managed to make a near-flawless electoral campaign based on providing a united front to outsiders and being boring and predictable while the other big parties (the Greens led by Annalena Baerbock and the CDU led by Armin Laschet) shot themselves in the foot. He also managed to get the "he's just like Merkel" vote (he had been an important minister in her cabinet, after all) without aleniating the "we've had enough of Merkel's style" vote. Meanwhile Laschet got hit both with fatigue at 16 years of CDU rule and failed to capitalize on Merkel nostalgia, as he was seen as too unlike her. His unlikely three party coalition is similar to the 1970s and early 1980s social-liberal coalition of Brandt and Schmidt and in a sense also the SpiritualSuccessor to the Weimar Coalition of yore as it includes all centrist and liberal parties that broadly support the status quo and excludes the political extremes. However, it differs from the Weimar Coalition in that it doesn't include the Christian Democrat / political Catholic element nowadays represented by the [=CDU/CSU=]. One of the major challenges his government has to face concerns the economic sanctions against UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} for its invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}} in 2022, since Germany is vastly dependent on Russian natural gas (the deep collaboration built between the two countries in that field during the previous twenty years or so under Merkel ''really'' doesn't help).

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. His rise to the chancellorship was unlikely in many ways. He was decried as an "automaton" ("[=Scholz-o-Mat=]") for his staunch dedication to the party line and - leadership above all and is not exactly charismatic or a great public speaker (but then neither were Kohl or Merkel). However, after already having been ReassignedToAntarctica he won back political power by wresting the Hamburg mayorship from the CDU - Hamburg had been a traditional "base" for the SPD but had had been in the hands of the CDU for over a decade around the turn of the millenium. He then managed to be given the candidate for chancellor job basically because no-one else wanted it and was smart enough not to quit when he lost the race for party chairperson to a more left-leaning duo. Despite all that, the SPD somehow managed to make a near-flawless electoral campaign based on providing a united front to outsiders and being boring and predictable while the other big parties (the Greens led by Annalena Baerbock and the CDU led by Armin Laschet) shot themselves in the foot. He also managed to get the "he's just like Merkel" vote (he had been an important minister in her cabinet, after all) without aleniating the "we've had enough of Merkel's style" vote. Meanwhile Laschet got hit both with fatigue at 16 years of CDU rule and failed to capitalize on Merkel nostalgia, as he was seen as too unlike her. His unlikely three party coalition is similar to the 1970s and early 1980s social-liberal coalition of Brandt and Schmidt and in a sense also the SpiritualSuccessor to the Weimar Coalition of yore as it includes all centrist and liberal parties that broadly support the status quo and excludes the political extremes. However, it differs from the Weimar Coalition in that it doesn't include the Christian Democrat / political Catholic element nowadays represented by the [=CDU/CSU=]. One of the major challenges his government has to face concerns the economic sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, since Germany is vastly dependent on Russian natural gas (the deep collaboration built between the two countries in that field during the previous twenty years or so doesn't help).

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. His rise to the chancellorship was unlikely in many ways. He was decried as an "automaton" ("[=Scholz-o-Mat=]") for his staunch dedication to the party line and - leadership above all and is not exactly charismatic or a great public speaker (but then neither were Kohl or Merkel). However, after already having been ReassignedToAntarctica he won back political power by wresting the Hamburg mayorship from the CDU - Hamburg had been a traditional "base" for the SPD but had had been in the hands of the CDU for over a decade around the turn of the millenium. He then managed to be given the candidate for chancellor job basically because no-one else wanted it and was smart enough not to quit when he lost the race for party chairperson to a more left-leaning duo. Despite all that, the SPD somehow managed to make a near-flawless electoral campaign based on providing a united front to outsiders and being boring and predictable while the other big parties (the Greens led by Annalena Baerbock and the CDU led by Armin Laschet) shot themselves in the foot. He also managed to get the "he's just like Merkel" vote (he had been an important minister in her cabinet, after all) without aleniating the "we've had enough of Merkel's style" vote. Meanwhile Laschet got hit both with fatigue at 16 years of CDU rule and failed to capitalize on Merkel nostalgia, as he was seen as too unlike her. His unlikely three party coalition is similar to the 1970s and early 1980s social-liberal coalition of Brandt and Schmidt and in a sense also the SpiritualSuccessor to the Weimar Coalition of yore as it includes all centrist and liberal parties that broadly support the status quo and excludes the political extremes. However, it differs from the Weimar Coalition in that it doesn't include the Christian Democrat / political Catholic element nowadays represented by the [=CDU/CSU=]. One of the major challenges his government has to face concerns the economic sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, since Germany is vastly dependent on Russian natural gas (the deep collaboration between the two countries in that field doesn't help).

* Gerhard Schröder (1998-2005, still alive) -- Social Democrat. Former head of the Young Socialists (1978-1980) and ''Ministerpräsident'' of Lower Saxony (1990-1998). Governed in a coalition with the Green party which pushed through several environmental and societal reforms and the then-controversial nuclear phase-out. Early in his career, when head of his party's youth wing, the Young Socialists, he liked to play up the far left firebrand but by the time he held important office, he had moved decidedly towards the center politically. At the beginning of his chancellorship he was very pro-American (he supported the Afghanistan war[[note]]Declaring after Nine-Eleven "We are all Americans now"[[/note]]), he later actively opposed the Iraq war and improved Germany's relations with France and Russia instead (most notably the controversial Baltic pipeline). Schröder did several social reforms that alienated many social democrats--his vaguely neoliberal orientation combined with his cigar-chomping ways earned him the nickname "Genosse der Bosse" ("Comrade of the Bosses"), and these policies combined with his personal charisma have led many to call him the German UsefulNotes/TonyBlair. Was widely expected to lose the 2002 election before a flood in East Germany (with his crisis-management much lauded by the press) and the debate over the Iraq War catapulted the polling figures of his party back up and narrowly kept him in office. He proved to be quite the electoral [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] again in 2005: when he felt that he had lost his support in the Bundestag, he filed a motion of no confidence against himself to trigger re-elections. He then turned on the charm and campaigned like hell, managing to get the SPD's share of the vote much higher than expected and forcing a grand coalition in the next Bundestag. He could have even stayed on as Chancellor if he hadn't promised not to enter in an alliance with the Left Party. The Left party at the time was led by former social democrat Oskar Lafontaine who [[ItsPersonal bore a grudge against Schröder]] because he felt betrayed both personally and politically by him. Also quite notorious for his love life: He divorced his third wife Hiltrud just one year before becoming chancellor and married Doris Köpf, 19 years his junior. As of 2018, he is divorced from Doris and married to South-Korean Kim So-yeon, [[MayDecemberRomance 25 years his junior]]. There exists a vaguely James Bond-like [[https://mar.prod.image.rndtech.de/var/storage/images/rnd/nachrichten/politik/der-altkanzler-und-die-knarre-wenn-fotos-schlechten-eindruck-machen/723041327-4-ger-DE/Der-Altkanzler-und-die-Knarre-wenn-Fotos-einen-schlechten-Eindruck-machen_master_reference.jpg photo]] of them that has to seen to be believed. As a result, one of his nicknames was [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Lord of the Rings]]. However, he has never been accused publicly of cheating on any of his wives. For what it's worth, his former vice chancellor Fischer is also currently in his 5th marriage and his rival Lafontaine in his 4th. Schröder's second life as a lobbyist and director for Russian petroleum and gas company Gazprom and his connections to the government of UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin came back to bite him in 2022 during the widely condemned invasion of Ukraine by Russia. On March 8, 2022, amidst the economic sanctions against Russia, Germany's Public Prosecutor General initiated proceedings related to accusations against Schröder for "complicity in crimes against humanity".

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. One of the major challenges his government has to face concerns the economic sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, since Germany is vastly dependent on Russian natural gas (the deep collaboration between the two countries in that field doesn't help). His rise to the chancellorship was unlikely in many ways. He was decried as an "automaton" ("[=Scholz-o-Mat=]") for his staunch dedication to the party line and - leadership above all and is not exactly charismatic or a great public speaker (but then neither were Kohl or Merkel). However, after already having been ReassignedToAntarctica he won back political power by wresting the Hamburg mayorship from the CDU - Hamburg had been a traditional "base" for the SPD but had had been in the hands of the CDU for over a decade around the turn of the millenium. He then managed to be given the candidate for chancellor job basically because no-one else wanted it and was smart enough not to quit when he lost the race for party chairperson to a more left-leaning duo. Despite all that, the SPD somehow managed to make a near-flawless electoral campaign based on providing a united front to outsiders and being boring and predictable while the other big parties (the Greens led by Annalena Baerbock and the CDU led by Armin Laschet) shot themselves in the foot. He also managed to get the "he's just like Merkel" vote (he had been an important minister in her cabinet, after all) without aleniating the "we've had enough of Merkel's style" vote. Meanwhile Laschet got hit both with fatigue at 16 years of CDU rule and failed to capitalize on Merkel nostalgia, as he was seen as too unlike her. His unlikely three party coalition is similar to the 1970s and early 1980s social-liberal coalition of Brandt and Schmidt and in a sense also the SpiritualSuccessor to the Weimar Coalition of yore as it includes all centrist and liberal parties that broadly support the status quo and excludes the political extremes. However, it differs from the Weimar Coalition in that it doesn't include the Christian Democrat / political Catholic element nowadays represented by the [=CDU/CSU=]

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP. One of the major challenges his government has to face concerns the economic sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, since Germany is vastly dependent on Russian natural gas (the deep collaboration between the two countries in that field doesn't help).

East Germany had no title of "Chancellor". For most of its existence, the most important position in the GDR was that of the General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) (titled "First Secretary" between 1953–1976). The Communist party and its leader held ultimate power and authority over state and government.

* Gerhard Schröder (1998-2005, still alive) -- Social Democrat. Former head of the Young Socialists (1978-1980) and ''Ministerpräsident'' of Lower Saxony (1990-1998). Governed in a coalition with the Green party which pushed through several environmental and societal reforms and the then-controversial nuclear phase-out. Early in his career, when head of his party's youth wing, the Young Socialists, he liked to play up the far left firebrand but by the time he held important office, he had moved decidedly towards the center politically. At the beginning of his chancellorship he was very pro-American (he supported the Afghanistan war[[note]]Declaring after Nine-Eleven "We are all Americans now"[[/note]]), he later actively opposed the Iraq war and improved Germany's relations with France and Russia instead (most notably the controversial Baltic pipeline). Schröder did several social reforms that alienated many social democrats--his vaguely neoliberal orientation combined with his cigar-chomping ways earned him the nickname "Genosse der Bosse" ("Comrade of the Bosses"), and these policies combined with his personal charisma have led many to call him the German UsefulNotes/TonyBlair. Was widely expected to lose the 2002 election before a flood in East Germany (with his crisis-management much lauded by the press) and the debate over the Iraq War catapulted the polling figures of his party back up and narrowly kept him in office. He proved to be quite the electoral [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] again in 2005: when he felt that he had lost his support in the Bundestag, he filed a motion of no confidence against himself to trigger re-elections. He then turned on the charm and campaigned like hell, managing to get the SPD's share of the vote much higher than expected and forcing a grand coalition in the next Bundestag. He could have even stayed on as Chancellor if he hadn't promised not to enter in an alliance with the Left Party. The Left party at the time was led by former social democrat Oskar Lafontaine who [[ItsPersonal bore a grudge against Schröder]] because he felt betrayed both personally and politically by him. Also quite notorious for his love life: He divorced his third wife Hiltrud just one year before becoming chancellor and married Doris Köpf, 19 years his junior. As of 2018, he is divorced from Doris and married to South-Korean Kim So-yeon, [[MayDecemberRomance 25 years his junior]]. There exists a vaguely James Bond-like [[https://mar.prod.image.rndtech.de/var/storage/images/rnd/nachrichten/politik/der-altkanzler-und-die-knarre-wenn-fotos-schlechten-eindruck-machen/723041327-4-ger-DE/Der-Altkanzler-und-die-Knarre-wenn-Fotos-einen-schlechten-Eindruck-machen_master_reference.jpg photo]] of them that has to seen to be believed. As a result, one of his nicknames was [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Lord of the Rings]]. However, he has never been accused publicly of cheating on any of his wives. For what it's worth, his former vice chancellor Fischer is also currently in his 5th marriage and his rival Lafontaine in his 4th.

* Olaf Scholz (2021-present) -- Social Democrat. Previously served as vice chancellor to Merkel and as minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019. His government is a "traffic light coalition" composed of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP.

* Franz von Papen (1932) -- Centre Party (went independent after two days). He was installed by Schleicher, who needed someone to work Hindenburg. Schleicher openly admitted that Papen just was a figurehead. He used emergency decrees to unban the SS and SA, dissolve the Reichstag (which was once only minutes away from kicking him out) two times within the same year (which brought gains to the anti-democratic parties) and activate the Reichswehr to ''take over the State of Prussia with military force''. Later, he tried to talk Hindenburg into a coup against the Republic, but was crossed by Schleicher. Became vice-chancellor during the early years of Nazi rule and was tried and acquitted after the war for his involvement in the Austrian "Anschluss".

* Kurt von [[MeaningfulName Schleicher]][[labelnote:note]]"a furtive or stealthy person"[[/labelnote]] (1932-1933) -- Independent. Backstabbing Papen had earned him a powerful enemy, as Papen still had a lot of influence over Hindenburg. Schleicher struggled against the anti-democratic parties in the Reichstag and attempted to split and weaken the Nazi Party. [[EnemyMIne Papen quickly ganged up with Hitler against Schleicher]]. This led to Hitler's appointment as chancellor through Papen's influence on Hindenburg and the end of the Weimar Republic. Schleicher was killed by the SS during the ''Night of the Long Knives'' in 1934.

* Leo von Caprivi (1890-1894) -- Or, to give his full name, Georg Leo [[TheVonTropeFamily von Caprivi]] [[OverlyLongName de Caprera de Montecuccoli]], who was made a count in 1891. This former general, who also had been the head of the German navy from 1883 to 1888, had the thankless job of being Bismarck's successor, against whom almost anyone would've compared unfavorably. He began the implementation of Wilhelm II's "New Course" into German policy: Social reforms, more free trade and a pro-British foreign policy. The latter included giving up the good relations with Russia, since he himself admitted that he wasn't effective enough to maintain Bismarck's complex foreign policy based on secret treaties. He finished the negotiations for the Zanzibar treaty, which traded land between Germany and the British Empire. The widely believed interpretation that Germany traded Zanzibar for Heligoland is only half true. In fact, Germany let the British have free reign in Zanzibar (Germany had never owned or claimed it) and Britain gave Heligoland to Germany - overall no bad deal as Heligoland is still German and Zanzibar is not British any more. A strip of land in Namibia is still named after him.

* Johann Ludwig "Lutz" Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (1945) -- National Socialist. Officially "Leading Minister of the acting Reich Government" and also foreign minister and finance minister under Dönitz. About a week in office, apart from finance minister, which he held since before Hitler's takeover. Since most of Germany was already occupied, his only significant act (as foreign minister) was to declare the unconditional surrender of the [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Wehrmacht]].

* Paul Joseph Goebbels (1945) -- National Socialist. Nazi Germany's Minister of Propaganda. Hitler's political testament broke up his combined government office into President and Chancellor once again after his death. Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz became the new ''Reichspräsident'', while Goebbels succeeded Hitler as ''Reichskanzler'' for a few hours before he took his own life as well (and those of his family).

* [[UsefulNotes/AngelaMerkel Angela Dorothea Merke, née Kasner]] (2005-2021, still alive) -- Christian Democrat. [[IronLady First woman]] and first person from the former UsefulNotes/EastGermany to have the job.[[note]]Though she was born in Hamburg and moved to the GDR aged only a few weeks when her father became a pastor in Quitzow in Brandenburg[[/note]] She is a Doctor of Physics (her Thesis was about ''quantum chemistry'') who moved into East German politics around the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall; she was elected to the first, last, and only democratically-elected ''Volkskammer'' (parliament) of UsefulNotes/EastGermany before it dissolved. Forbes lists her among the most powerful women in the world since 2006. In 2009, the Christian Democrats' traditional allies, the Free Democrats (FDP; free-market liberals) picked up enough seats to allow Merkel to shed the SPD and govern with their preferred partner; however, the FDP were ''completely wiped out'' in the 2013 elections, leaving another grand coalition the only workable alternative. As Chancellor, she is known more for being (or at least trying to be) a [[BoringButPractical steady pair of hands]] at the helm (there are accusations that she's faltered, but some disagree), as opposed to the flashy media-genius of her predecessor. German Media tend to call her "Teflon-Merkel" (being a reactionist politician, accusations don't tend to stick, it's her ministers that fuck up usually), or "Mutti" (mommy, her party-intern nickname). Recently, Americans have been hearing her name in the news a lot, since it was revealed the American spy agencies were spying on her cell phone and her Internet searches, along with her heavy involvement in the Greek bailout negotiations. Despite an initially rough start, she managed to forge a very close working-relationship with Barack Obama, who - at the end of his presidency - called her "his closest partner". Merkel also became the West's chief negotiator with Putin over the Ukraine, together with French president Hollande she helped brokering the Minsk ceasefire agreement. In general, it has often been noted that Germany under Angela Merkel has become more proactive on the European stage, with her often been called the continents de facto leader with all its' implications. In 2015, she surprised watchers by stating that Germany would accept Syrian refugees who were stranded in Hungary, which was interpreted by many as an invitation for refugees who were not yet in Europe. As of June 2016, Germany has received 1,600,000 refugees; [[PetTheDog an action]] that won over many of her former critics, but also weakened her domestic support once it became clear how big of a task the integration of so many refugees would be. In the 2017 election both her own CDU and coalition partner SPD lost a lot of votes prompting the SPD to announce leaving the coalition (although it would still command a majority of seats in the Bundestag), leading to speculations about the first ever "Jamaica" coalition of FDP, [=CDU/CSU=] and Greens on the federal level. The negotiations quickly [[EpicFail fell apart]] leading to [[HereWeGoAgain another Grand Coalition]], the third under chancellor Merkel and the fourth on federal level. While Helmut Kohl is often credited with "discovering" her for the federal political scene and she was often [[NeverASelfMadeWoman dismissed as]] "Kohl's Mädchen" (Kohl's girl) during the time she was in office and Kohl was alive, Kohl would often comment negatively on her politics. She announced her intention of not running again for the 2021 election (which would've allowed her to surpass Kohl's record tenure in office if she won) but the first attempt at replacing her with [[TheUnpronouncable Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer]] at the helm of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) failed spectacularly necessitating a second round of candidate-search which ultimately ended with the rather bland and uninspiring Armin Laschet being chosen as head of the CDU and candidate for chancellor heading into the 2021 federal elections.

* UsefulNotes/AngelaMerkel (2005-2021, still alive) -- Christian Democrat. [[IronLady First woman]] and first person from the former UsefulNotes/EastGermany to have the job.[[note]]Though she was born in Hamburg and moved to the GDR aged only a few weeks when her father became a pastor in Quitzow in Brandenburg[[/note]] She is a Doctor of Physics (her Thesis was about ''quantum chemistry'') who moved into East German politics around the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall; she was elected to the first, last, and only democratically-elected ''Volkskammer'' (parliament) of UsefulNotes/EastGermany before it dissolved. Forbes lists her among the most powerful women in the world since 2006. In 2009, the Christian Democrats' traditional allies, the Free Democrats (FDP; free-market liberals) picked up enough seats to allow Merkel to shed the SPD and govern with their preferred partner; however, the FDP were ''completely wiped out'' in the 2013 elections, leaving another grand coalition the only workable alternative. As Chancellor, she is known more for being (or at least trying to be) a [[BoringButPractical steady pair of hands]] at the helm (there are accusations that she's faltered, but some disagree), as opposed to the flashy media-genius of her predecessor. German Media tend to call her "Teflon-Merkel" (being a reactionist politician, accusations don't tend to stick, it's her ministers that fuck up usually), or "Mutti" (mommy, her party-intern nickname). Recently, Americans have been hearing her name in the news a lot, since it was revealed the American spy agencies were spying on her cell phone and her Internet searches, along with her heavy involvement in the Greek bailout negotiations. Despite an initially rough start, she managed to forge a very close working-relationship with Barack Obama, who - at the end of his presidency - called her "his closest partner". Merkel also became the West's chief negotiator with Putin over the Ukraine, together with French president Hollande she helped brokering the Minsk ceasefire agreement. In general, it has often been noted that Germany under Angela Merkel has become more proactive on the European stage, with her often been called the continents de facto leader with all its' implications. In 2015, she surprised watchers by stating that Germany would accept Syrian refugees who were stranded in Hungary, which was interpreted by many as an invitation for refugees who were not yet in Europe. As of June 2016, Germany has received 1,600,000 refugees; [[PetTheDog an action]] that won over many of her former critics, but also weakened her domestic support once it became clear how big of a task the integration of so many refugees would be. In the 2017 election both her own CDU and coalition partner SPD lost a lot of votes prompting the SPD to announce leaving the coalition (although it would still command a majority of seats in the Bundestag), leading to speculations about the first ever "Jamaica" coalition of FDP, [=CDU/CSU=] and Greens on the federal level. The negotiations quickly [[EpicFail fell apart]] leading to [[HereWeGoAgain another Grand Coalition]], the third under chancellor Merkel and the fourth on federal level. While Helmut Kohl is often credited with "discovering" her for the federal political scene and she was often [[NeverASelfMadeWoman dismissed as]] "Kohl's Mädchen" (Kohl's girl) during the time she was in office and Kohl was alive, Kohl would often comment negatively on her politics. She announced her intention of not running again for the 2021 election (which would've allowed her to surpass Kohl's record tenure in office if she won) but the first attempt at replacing her with [[TheUnpronouncable Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer]] at the helm of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) failed spectacularly necessitating a second round of candidate-search which ultimately ended with the rather bland and uninspiring Armin Laschet being chosen as head of the CDU and candidate for chancellor heading into the 2021 federal elections.

In the German Empire, the Imperial Chancellor (''Reichskanzler'') was appointed by the Emperor. The parliament (''Reichstag'') could do jack shit about it and was mostly there to argue about the budget or wait for the chancellor to initiate a bill (which they couldn't do themselves). The Reichskanzler was technically a one-man administration, who appointed secretaries to assist him. Today, all of the chancellors of the German Empire are rather obscure outside of historical circles. Except for Bismarck, of course.

* UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler (1933-1945) -- National Socialist. After being appointed, Hitler wasted no time and formed a coalition of anti-democratic/anti-communist parties, talked Hindenburg to give him more powers and used the Reichstag Fire to pass the Enabling Act (''Reichsermächtigungsgesetz''). In the ''Night of the Long Knives'' (aka Röhm-Putsch), Hitler's SS killed several SA competitors and drove many of his allies (including von Papen) out of politics. Upon Hindenburg's death, Hitler merged the offices of chancellor and president into one position called "(Supreme) Leader and Reich Chancellor" (''"Führer und Reichskanzler"''). As the years passed and the Nazis tightened their control over Germany, the trappings of parliamentary government faded away--the Cabinet met as a body for the last time in 1938, the Reichstag met for the last time in 1942, and in the later years Hitler was referred to only as ''Führer'', with ''Reichskanzler'' being dropped. [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany The rest]] [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII is history]]. More about him on [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler his own page]].

* Joseph Goebbels (1945) -- National Socialist. Nazi Germany's Minister of Propaganda. Hitler's political testament broke up his combined government office into President and Chancellor once again after his death. Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz became the new ''Reichspräsident'', while Goebbels succeeded Hitler as ''Reichskanzler'' for a few hours before he took his own life as well (and those of his family).
\\
\\

* Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (1945) -- National Socialist. Officially "Leading Minister of the acting Reich Government" and also foreign minister and finance minister under Dönitz. About a week in office, apart from finance minister, which he held since before Hitler's takeover. Since most of Germany was already occupied, his only significant act (as foreign minister) was to declare the unconditional surrender of the [[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Wehrmacht]].

\\
'''Allied Occupation''' (1945-1949)

* From 1945 to 1949, Germany had no Chancellor, as it was ruled directly by the occupying Allied powers (UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates, UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom, UsefulNotes/{{France}}, and the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn USSR]]).

\\
''' UsefulNotes/WestGermany''' (1949-1990)

* Kurt Georg Kiesinger (1966-1969) -- Christian Democrat. Nicknamed "Häuptling Silberzunge" ("Chief Silvertongue"/"Chief Sweettalker"), as he was the head of the first grand coalition with the Social Democrats and spent most of his time negotiating between the SPD and CDU/CSU. ''Ministerpräsident'' of Baden-Württemberg from 1958 to 1966. The overwhelming majority of the grand coalition, the introduction of emergency laws (''Notstandsgesetze'') and his past as a Nazi party member (he joined the party in 1933 and made a career as an official in the foreign ministry) made him the target of the rage of the emerging student movement. Not to be confused with UsefulNotes/HenryKissinger

\\
'''[[UsefulNotes/TheBerlinRepublic Berlin Republic]]''' (1990-present)

!!Appearances of German Chancellors (except for [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]] and [[UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck Bismarck]], who have their own pages) in fiction:

!!UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic''' (1919-1933)

\\

* Hermann Müller (1920) -- Social Democrat.

* (Otto Geßler (1926) -- Democratic Party. Six days filler chancellor. Usually not mentioned or counted.)

The Weimar Republic was an unstable political clusterfuck of epic proportions with 21 administrations under 12 chancellors in only 14 years. The weakness of many Weimar governments stemmed from the use of Proportional Representation, which forced many parties into weak coalitions and allowed the extremists to have a much greater influence, and the fact that the President could remove and appoint new Chancellors whenever it suited him. Furthermore, the political right was more fragmented than in the later Bonn Republic, with the Catholic Center Party having hardly any Protestant support and the rest of the conservative/liberal spectrum made up of a full range from the left liberal DDP to the staunchly anti-democratic DNVP, with the moderately monarchist DVP wedged between them. Coalitions either included left wing parties and the SPD, thus always threatened by disputes over social policy or they excluded the SPD and went further right, which always threatened unity over foreign policy as the DNVP was unwilling to give up claims to lost territory. Most of its chancellors are largely forgotten today due to their short terms and failure to make a difference. Scheidemann and Stresemann are still remembered positively. Franz von Papen is still infamous for his manipulations of the increasingly senile President Hindenburg and for his role in Hitler's rise to the office of chancellor. [[KarmaHoudini He was released from prison early (in 1949) and lived until 1969]]. Brüning is still known among economic historians for his Hoover-like approach to the Great Depression and his blatantly self-serving memoirs released after his 1970 death.

\\
'''UsefulNotes/NaziGermany''' (1933-1945)

\\
''' UsefulNotes/WeimarRepublic''' (1919-1933)

\\
'''[[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany German Empire]]''' (1871-1918)

\\
\\

\\
\\
\\

\\
\\

'''Revolutionary Period''' (1918-1919; sometimes lumped with the Weimar Republic)

[[quoteright:180:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/friedrich_ebert.jpg]]
* Friedrich Ebert (1918) -- Social Democrat. He was proclaimed chancellor by Maximilian of Baden on the first day of the revolution without being asked beforehand. This was an attempt to "parliamentarize" the revolution, but the following day a revolutionary government, the ''Rat der Volksbeauftragten'' (Council of the People's Representatives) was instituted. This consisted of three representatives of the Majority Social Democrats and three Independent Social Democrats under the joint presidency of Ebert and Independent Social Democrat Hugo Haase. After the bloody suppression of the Spartakus rising, the Independent Social Democrats left the Council in protest and Haase was replaced as Ebert's colleague by Majority Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann on 29 December 1918. The two oversaw the transition from the German Empire to the Weimar Republic, the beginning of the demobilisation and prevented a Bolshevist revolution with military force. Today, Ebert is more remembered for being the first President of the Weimar Republic.

\\

The Chancellor is the central figure in UsefulNotes/{{Germany}}'s central state since 1871, being its chief of government. Titles called "Chancellor" (''Kanzler'') go way back however -- the [[UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}} Carolingian Empire]] and the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire had positions called [[Literature/{{Discworld}} "Archchancellor"]] (''Erzkanzler''). After the end of UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars, UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} and [[UsefulNotes/TheSoundOfMartialMusic Austria]] had State Chancellors (''Staatskanzler'').