Vice-Chancellor of Germany

The vice-chancellor of Germany, inofficially the vice-chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (), officially the deputy to the federal chancellor (), 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 his or 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 his or her duties, the vice chancellor does not automatically become the next chancellor. In such a case the Federal President assigns a minister to serve as acting chancellor until the Bundestag (parliament) elects a new chancellor.Ute Mager, in: von Münch/Kunig: Grundgesetz-Kommentar II, 5. Auflage 2001, Rn. 10/11 zu Art. 69.).

Although  is the constitutional term, most Germans know the deputy by the expression Vice-Chancellor (). Chancellor () is the traditional term for the German head of government since 1867/71. A general deputy has been introduced only in 1878 by law (). In the Weimar Republic of 1919–1933, the office of  was mentioned in the internal reglement of the government. The current office or title has existed since the constitution of 1949.

Lars Klingbeil (Social Democratic Party) is the current officeholder since 6 May 2025.

 List of Vice Chancellors 
 German Empire (Allgemeiner Stellvertreter des Reichskanzlers) 
Political Party:

  Portrait Name Birth Death Term start Age start Term end Age end Days Party Portfolio Cabinet 1 60px  30 October 1837 19 November 1896 1 June 1878  20 June 1881   FKP  Bismarck 260px6 January 18336 March 190720 June 18811 July 1897FKPSecretary of State for the Interior Bismarck Caprivi Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst 360px3 June 184523 October 19321 July 189724 June 1907FKPSecretary of State for the Interior Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst Bülow 4 60px  29 November 1856 1 January 1921 24 June 1907  14 July 1909   Independent Secretary of State for the Interior Bülow 5 60px  19 January 1856 17 December 1921 14 July 1909  22 May 1916   Independent Secretary of State for the Interior Bethmann-Hollweg 760px22 July 187223 April 192422 May 19169 November 1917IndependentSecretary of State for the Interior (until 23 October 1917) Bethmann-Hollweg Michaelis Hertling 860px12 June 184714 July 19319 November 191710 November 1918FVP Hertling Baden Ebert

Weimar Republic (Allgemeiner Stellvertreter des Reichskanzlers)
Political Party:

  Portrait Name Birth Death Term start Age start Term end Age end Days Party Portfolio Cabinet 1 60px  14 February 1860 5 September 1954 13 February 1919  19 April 1919   DDP Deputy Minister-President / Minister of Finance Scheidemann 2 60px  17 July 1865 14 October 1937 30 April 1919  20 June 1919   DDP Deputy Minister-President / Minister of Finance Scheidemann 3 60px  20 September 1875 26 August 1921 21 June 1919  3 October 1919   Centre Deputy Minister-President (until 14 August 1919) / Minister of Finance Bauer 4 60px  14 February 1860 5 September 1954 3 October 1919  27 March 1920   DDP Minister of Justice Bauer 5 60px  26 February 1875 19 October 1944 27 March 1920  21 June 1920   DDP Minister of the Interior Müller I 6 60px  22 July 1865 26 May 1928 25 June 1920  4 May 1921   DVP Minister of Justice Fehrenbach 760px6 January 187016 September 194410 May 192114 November 1922SPDMinister of Finance Wirth I Wirth II 8 60px  15 May 1864 16 September 1943 13 August 1923  3 November 1923   SPD Minister for Reconstruction Stresemann I 960px21 September 187420 October 195130 November 192315 December 1924DVPMinister of the Interior Marx I Marx II 10 60px  22 October 1869 9 May 1967 28 January 1927  12 June 1928   DNVP Minister of Justice Marx IV 1160px14 December 18796 March 195430 March 193030 May 1932DDPMinister of Finance (from 26 June 1930) Brüning I Brüning II

Nazi Germany
  Portrait Name Birth Death Term start Age start Term end Age end Days Party Portfolio Other positions Cabinet 1 60px  29 October 1879 2 May 1969 30 January 1933  7 August 1934   Non-partisan Minister President of Prussia (until 10 April 1933)  Hitler

 Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present) 
Political party:

  Portrait Name Term start Term end Days Party Portfolio Cabinet 1 60px Franz Blücher 20 September 1949 29 October 1957  FDP FVP DP  Marshall Plan Adenauer I • II 2 60px Ludwig Erhard 29 October 1957 16 October 1963  CDU Economic Affairs Adenauer III • IV 3 60px Erich Mende 17 October 1963 28 October 1966  FDP Intra-German Relations Erhard I • II The office was vacant from 28 October to 8 November 1966. 4 60px Hans-Christoph Seebohm 8 November 1966 1 December 1966  CDU Transport Erhard II 5 60px Willy Brandt 1 December 1966 22 October 1969  SPD Foreign Affairs Kiesinger 6 60px Walter Scheel 22 October 1969 16 May 1974  FDP Foreign Affairs Brandt I • II 7 60px Hans-Dietrich Genscher 17 May 1974 17 September 1982  FDP Foreign Affairs Schmidt I • II • III 8 60px Egon Franke 17 September 1982 1 October 1982  SPD Intra-German Relations Schmidt III The office was vacant from 1 October to 4 October 1982. 9 60px Hans-Dietrich Genscher 4 October 1982 18 May 1992  FDP Foreign Affairs Kohl I • II • III • IV 10 60px Jürgen Möllemann 18 May 1992 21 January 1993  FDP Economic Affairs Kohl IV 11 60px Klaus Kinkel 21 January 1993 27 October 1998  FDP Foreign Affairs Kohl IV • V 12 60px Joschka Fischer 27 October 1998 22 November 2005  Green Foreign Affairs Schröder I • II 13 60px Franz Müntefering 22 November 2005 21 November 2007  SPD Labour and Social Affairs Merkel I 14 60px Frank-Walter Steinmeier 21 November 2007 27 October 2009  SPD Foreign Affairs Merkel I 15 60px Guido Westerwelle 27 October 2009 16 May 2011  FDP Foreign Affairs Merkel II 16 60px Philipp Rösler 16 May 2011 17 December 2013  FDP Economic Affairs  Merkel II 17 60px Sigmar Gabriel 17 December 2013 14 March 2018   SPD Economic Affairs(2013–17)Foreign Affairs(2017–18) Merkel III 18 60px Olaf Scholz 14 March 2018 8 December 2021  SPD Finance Merkel IV 19 60px Robert Habeck 8 December 2021 6 May 2025  Green Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Scholz 20 60px Lars Klingbeil 6 May 2025 Incumbent   SPD Finance Merz

 References