# Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs

The Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs (German: Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales, pronounced ; abbreviated BMAS) is a federal ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany headed by the Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs as a member of the Cabinet of Germany (Bundesregierung). Its first location is on Wilhelmstrasse in Berlin, the second in Bonn.

## History

The Reich Ministry of Labour of the Weimar Republic was established on 13 February 1919 as the successor of the Labour Office (Reichsarbeitsamt) of the German Empire. The Social Democratic politician Gustav Bauer became the first Minister for Labour under Chancellor Philipp Scheidemann, whom he succeeded on 21 June that year. On the day of the Machtergreifung in January 1933, the German National politician and Der Stahlhelm leader Franz Seldte was appointed Minister for Labour in the Cabinet Hitler, a position he officially held until 1945, though the day-to-day affairs of the Ministry were managed largely by the State Secretaries Johannes Krohn (1933–1939) and Friedrich Syrup (1939–1945).
The West German Ministry for Labour was re-established in Bonn on 20 September 1949 with the Cabinet Adenauer I. According to the 1991 Berlin/Bonn Act it moved to its present seat in Berlin-Mitte in 2000, on premises formerly used by Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry and the East German National Front organisation.
During the Cabinet Schröder II from 2002 to 2005, the ministry had been dissolved and its responsibilities allocated to the Federal Ministry for Economics and Labour and the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Security. Responsibilities were re-allocated once again when a new government was formed under Chancellor Angela Merkel following the Bundestag elections of 2005. The German name was changed from Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Sozialordnung to Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales.

## Ministers
### German Reich (until 1945)
#### Reich Ministers

Political Party:  Centre  SPD  NSDAP  Independent
| No. | Minister of Labour | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Party | Cabinet |
| Weimar Republic (1919–1933) ||||||||
| 1 | Bauer, GustavGustav Bauer (1870–1944) | 13 February 1919 | 20 June 1919 | 127 days | SPD | Scheidemann |
| 2 | Schlicke, AlexanderAlexander Schlicke (1863–1940) | 21 June 1919 | 21 June 1920 | 1 year, 0 days | SPD | Bauer Müller |
| 3 | Brauns, HeinrichHeinrich Brauns (1868–1939) | 25 June 1920 | 12 June 1928 | 7 years, 353 days | Centre | Fehrenbach Wirth I–II Cuno Stresemann I–II Marx I–II Luther I–II Marx III–IV |
| 4 | Wissell, RudolfRudolf Wissell (1869–1962) | 28 June 1928 | 27 March 1930 | 1 year, 272 days | SPD | Müller II |
| 5 | Stegerwald, AdamAdam Stegerwald (1874–1945) | 30 March 1930 | 30 May 1932 | 2 years, 61 days | Centre | Brüning I–II |
| – | Warmbold, HermannHermann Warmbold (1876–1976) Acting | 1 June 1932 | 6 June 1932 | 5 days | Independent | Papen |
| 6 | Schäffer, HugoHugo Schäffer (1875–1945) | 7 June 1932 | 17 November 1932 | 163 days | Independent | Papen |
| 7 | Syrup, FriedrichFriedrich Syrup (1881–1945) | 3 December 1932 | 28 January 1933 | 56 days | Independent | Schleicher |
| Nazi Germany (1933–1945) ||||||||
| 8 | Seldte, FranzFranz Seldte (1882–1947) | 30 January 1933 | 30 April 1945 | 12 years, 90 days | NSDAP | Hitler |
| 9 | Hupfauer, TheoTheo Hupfauer (1906–1993) | 30 April 1945 | 2 May 1945 | 2 days | NSDAP | Goebbels |
| (8) | Seldte, FranzFranz Seldte (1882–1947) | 5 May 1945 | 23 May 1945 | 18 days | NSDAP | Flensburg |

### Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present)
#### Federal Ministers

Political Party:  CDU  SPD
| Name (Born-Died) | Name (Born-Died) | Portrait | Party | Term of Office | Term of Office | Chancellor (Cabinet) |
| Federal Minister for Labour (1949–1957) Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs (1957–2002) |||||||
| 1 | Anton Storch (1892–1975) | | CDU | 20 September 1949 | 29 October 1957 | Adenauer (I • II) |
| 2 | Theodor Blank (1905–1972) | | CDU | 29 October 1957 | 26 October 1965 | Adenauer (III • IV • V) Erhard (I) |
| 3 | Hans Katzer (1919–1996) | | CDU | 26 October 1965 | 21 October 1969 | Erhard (II) Kiesinger (I) |
| 4 | Walter Arendt (1925–2005) | | SPD | 22 October 1969 | 16 December 1976 | Brandt (I • II) Schmidt (I) |
| 5 | Herbert Ehrenberg (1926–2018) | | SPD | 16 December 1976 | 28 April 1982 | Schmidt (II • III) |
| 6 | Heinz Westphal (1924–1998) | | SPD | 28 April 1982 | 1 October 1982 | Schmidt (III) |
| 7 | Norbert Blüm (1935–2020) | | CDU | 1 October 1982 | 27 October 1998 | Kohl (I • II • III • IV • V) |
| 8 | Walter Riester (b. 1943) | | SPD | 27 October 1998 | 22 October 2002 | Schröder (I) |
| Federal Minister for Economics and Labour | Federal Minister for Economics and Labour | Federal Minister for Economics and Labour | Federal Minister for Economics and Labour | 22 October 2002 | 22 November 2005 | Schröder (II) |
| 9a | Wolfgang Clement (1940–2020) | | SPD | 22 October 2002 | 22 November 2005 | Schröder (II) |
| Schröder (II) ||||
| 9b | Ulla Schmidt (b. 1949) | | SPD | 22 October 2002 | 22 November 2005 | Schröder (II) |
| Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs |||||||
| 10 | Franz Müntefering (b. 1940) | | SPD | 22 November 2005 | 21 November 2007 | Merkel (I) |
| 11 | Olaf Scholz (b. 1958) | | SPD | 21 November 2007 | 28 October 2009 | Merkel (I) |
| 12 | Franz Josef Jung (b. 1949) | | CDU | 28 October 2009 | 27 November 2009 | Merkel (II) |
| 13 | Ursula von der Leyen (b. 1958) | | CDU | 30 November 2009 | 17 December 2013 | Merkel (II) |
| 14 | Andrea Nahles (b. 1970) | | SPD | 17 December 2013 | 28 September 2017 | Merkel (III) |
| Katarina Barley was acting Federal Minister from 28 September 2017 to 14 March 2018. |||||||
| 15 | Hubertus Heil (b. 1972) | | SPD | 14 March 2018 | Incumbent | Merkel (IV) Scholz (I) |

## Parliamentary State Sectretaries

* 1969–1974: Helmut Rohde (SPD)
* 1972–1976: Herbert Ehrenberg (SPD)
* 1974–1982: Hermann Buschfort (SPD)
* 1980–1982: Anke Fuchs (SPD)
* 1982: Rudolf Dreßler (SPD)
* 1982: Jürgen Egert (SPD)
* 1982–1991: Wolfgang Vogt (CDU)
* 1982–1984: Heinrich Franke (CDU)
* 1984–1989: Stefan Höpfinger (CSU)
* 1989–1992: Horst Seehofer (CSU)
* 1991–1998: Horst Günther (CDU)
* 1992–1998: Rudolf Kraus (CSU)
* 1998–2008: Gerd Andres (SPD)
* 1998–2002: Ulrike Mascher (SPD)
* 2002–2005: Ditmar Staffelt (SPD)
* 2002–2005: Rezzo Schlauch (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
* 2002–2009: Franz Thönnes (SPD)
* 2005–2009: Klaus Brandner (SPD)
* 2009–2013: Ralf Brauksiepe (CDU)
* 2009–2013: Hans-Joachim Fuchtel (CDU)
* 2013–2018: Gabriele Lösekrug-Möller (SPD)
* since 2013: Anette Kramme (SPD)
* since 2018: Kerstin Griese (SPD)}}

## State secretaries

As of December 2021, The Secretaries of State are Leonie Gebers, Björn Böhning and Rolf Schmachtenberg.

## Building

The ministry is located within the former Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. For the building's interior courtyard, artist Daniel Buren was commissioned with his large-scale installation La Grande Fenêtre (2001).