lor democracy". Whichever major party (CDU/CSU or SPD) does not hold the chancellorship usually

Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933, a point which historians agree marks the beginning of Nazi Germany. Upon taking office Hitler immediately began accumulating power and changing the nature of the Chancellor. After only two months in office, and following the burning of the Reichstag building, the Reichstag body passed the Enabling Act which gave the Chancellor full legislative powers for a period of four years – the Chancellor could introduce any law without consulting Parliament. The Chancellorship grew greater still in August 1934 when the incumbent President Paul von Hindenburg died. Hitler used the Enabling Act to merge the office of Chancellor with that of President to create a new office, Führer; although the offices were merged, Hitler continued to be addressed as "Führer und Reichskanzler" indicating that the Head of State and Head of Government were still separate positions albeit held by the same man. This separation was made more evident when in April 1945 Hitler gave instruction that upon his death the office of Führer would dissolve and there would be a new President and Chancellor. On 30 April 1945, Hitler committed suicide and was briefly succeeded as Chancellor by Joseph Goebbels, as dictated in Hitler's will and testament. With Goebbels following Hitler's suicide with his own, the reins of power passed to Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as President of Germany. Dönitz in turn appointed non-partisan conservative Count Schwerin von Krosigk as head of government with the title Leading Minister. Dönitz and Schwerin von Krosigk negotiated the surrender to the Allies
The 1949 German constitution, the Basic Law (Grundgesetz), invests the Chancellor (German, Bundeskanzler) with broad powers to initiate government policy. For that reason, some observers refer to the German political system as a "chancellor democracy". Whichever major party (CDU/CSU or SPD) does not hold the chancellorship usually calls its leading candidate for the federal election "chancellor-candidate" (Kanzlerkandidat). The Federal Government (Bundesregierung) consists of the Chancellor and his or her cabinet ministers.


The Chancellor's Office in Berlin
The chancellor's authority emanates from the provisions of the Basic Law and in practice from his or her status as leader of the party (or coalition of parties) holding a majority of seats in the Bundestag (federal parliament). With the exception of Helmut Schmidt, the chancellor has usually also been chairman of his or her own party. This was the case with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder from 1999 until he resigned the chairmanship of the SPD in 2004.
The German Chancellor is officially addressed as "Herr Bundeskanzler" if the Chancellor is a man. The current female Chancellor Angela Merkel is officially addressed as "Frau Bundeskanzlerin", the female form of the title. Use of the mixed form "Frau Bundeskanzler" was deprecated by the government in 2004 because it is regarded as impolite.[1]
See also[edit]

List of Chancellors of Germany
References[edit]lor democracy". Whichever major party (CDU/CSU or SPD) does not hold the chancellorship usually

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On 9 November 1918, Prince Max von Baden hande

In 1871, the concept of the federal chancellor was transferred to the executive of the newly formed German Empire, which now also contained the South German states. Here too, the terms of Chancellor and Federal Agency (as opposed to Ministry or Government) suggested an (apparent) lower priority of the federal executive as compared to the governments of the federal states. For this reason, neither the Chancellor nor the leaders of the imperial departments under his command used the title of Minister until 1918.
The constitution of Germany was amended on 29 October 1918, when the Parliament was given the right to dismiss the Chancellor. However, the change could not prevent the outbreak of the revolution a few days later.
Revolutionary period (1918–1919)[edit]

On 9 November 1918, Prince Max von Baden handed over his office of Chancellor to Friedrich Ebert. Ebert continued to serve as Head of Government during the three months between the end of the German Empire in November 1918 and the first gathering of the National Assembly in February 1919, but did not use the title of Chancellor.
During that time, Ebert also served as Chairman of the "Council of the People's Deputies", until 29 December 1918 together with the Independent Social Democrat Hugo Haase.
Chancellor of the Weimar Republic (1919–1933)[edit]

The office of Chancellor was continued in the Weimar Republic. The Chancellor was appointed by the President and was responsible to the Reichstag.
Under the Weimar Republic, the Chancellor was a fairly weak figure. Much like his French counterpart, he served as little more than a chairman. Cabinet decisions were made by majority vote. In fact many of the Weimar governments depended highly on the cooperation of the President, due to the difficulty of finding a majority in Parliament.
Chancellor of Nazi Germany (1933–1945)[edit]

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