Vice-Chancellor of Germany

Such an office was initially established by the 1878 (Deputation Act), which provided for the imperial chancellor appointing a deputy, officially known as (General Deputy to the Imperial Chancellor). In addition to the general deputy, who could sign for all the affairs of the chancellor, the chancellor could appoint deputies with limited responsibilities. The act was revised on 28 October 1918, when the possibility of appointing deputies with limited responsibilities was removed and the vice-chancellor was given the right to appear before parliament. In the Weimar Republic, the office was considered less important. It was not even mentioned in the constitution. Usually it was held by the minister of justice or the interior. The most known office holder is Franz von Papen, a former chancellor who formed a coalition government of national socialists and conservatives. Adolf Hitler became chancellor, and Papen vice-chancellor. It became soon obvious that the position of vice-chancellor provided no powers and was unsuited to constrain Hitler. Papen was convinced that him being trusted by president Hindenburg made him an important political player; soon, Hindenburg's trust went from Papen to Hitler. In the Federal Republic (since 1949), the chancellors have had no interest in allowing the deputy to use the title for self-promotion. Since 1966 it became customary that the coalition partner of the governing party received the ministry of foreign affairs, who was also appointed deputy. The ministry of foreign affairs was considered to be the most important cabinet post besides the chancellorship. This tradition faded away during the tenure of Angela Merkel, partially because the leaders of her coalition partners chose a different ministry. == Office and appointment mechanism ==

The German cabinet consists of the chancellor and the federal ministers. According to the Basic Law (Article 69.1), the chancellor appoints one of the ministers as vice-chancellor. In contrast to the appointment of a cabinet minister, there is no need for a formal appointment by the president. The appointment is an exclusive power of the chancellor. The chancellor is theoretically free to choose a deputy chancellor. In practice, a German government is usually based on a coalition of two or more parties and the chancellor gives the title to a minister of the second largest coalition party upon recommendation of that party's leadership. The German vice-chancellor can be regarded as the equivalent of a deputy prime minister in other parliamentary systems. Unlike the vice president post in presidential systems of governments, the German vice-chancellor is not the automatic successor in the event that a sitting chancellor suddenly leaves office. A German cabinet exists only as long as the current chancellor is in office. The end of a chancellor's term in office (either by death or resignation or the first meeting of a newly elected Bundestag) automatically terminates the office of any minister. If this happens, the president of Germany appoints the former chancellor or, if this is not possible, one of the former cabinet ministers (not necessarily, but most likely the former vice-chancellor) as acting chancellor, until the parliament elects a new chancellor. When in 1974 Chancellor Willy Brandt resigned and refused to remain in office until his successor's election, President Gustav Heinemann ensured a corresponding precedent and appointed former vice-chancellor Walter Scheel as acting chancellor. The Basic Law does not state who shall perform the chancellor's powers and duties, if both the chancellor and the vice-chancellor are unable to do so. The German cabinet's rules of procedure state that in absence of both office-holders cabinet meetings shall be chaired by a cabinet member designated for this purpose by either the chancellor or the vice-chancellor or, if such a designation has not taken place or if the designee is not able to do so, by the present cabinet member with the longest uninterrupted membership in the federal government (§22.1). It is however unclear, whether this provision extends to other powers of the office of chancellor. In an expertise issued by the Bundestag's scientific service in 2014, the legal opinion is that this is the case. == List of vice-chancellors ==

German Reich (1871–1945) German Empire (1871–1918) Political party: Weimar Republic (1918–1933) Political party: Nazi Germany (1933–1945) Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present) Political party: ==Timeline==