Most German chancellors have been followers of a Christian church. German society has been affected by a Catholic-Protestant divide since the Protestant Reformation, and the same effect is visible in this list of German chancellors. It is largely dominated by Catholics and Protestants as these remain the main confessions in the country.
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The current German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is unaffiliated with any church or other religious body; he was raised Protestant.
Details
Most of Germany's chancellors have been either Protestants or Catholics. A significant portion of Protestant chancellors belonged to the Prussian Union of Churches, which united the Reformed and Lutheran confessions throughout the Kingdom of Prussia and was in force since 1817. Some Catholic chancellors came from the Catholic Centre Party. The Christian Democratic Union, a party of both Catholics and Protestants, produced both kinds of chancellors. One chancellor, namely Philipp Scheidemann, was Reformed (Calvinist).
Although there were some religious sceptic chancellors, most never officially renounced their faith and were given a Christian funeral. Hermann Müller, a Social Democrat heavily influenced by his father, an advocate of Ludwig Feuerbach's views, is the only one notable for not having been a member of any confession at all.
As some chancellors' views are uncertain or cause confusion among researchers, their official affiliation to a church is mentioned. Due to the German church tax system, legal membership in a church that has the right to collect taxes is officially registered and certain information on this status is available. Actual worldviews are not known for some chancellors; for others, they may differ from the belief system of the church of which they were legal members, as is the case e.g. Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels. A further link to information on their worldviews is given where available, but the absence of such a mention does not mean that other chancellors’ views were necessarily in line with the teachings of their church. For issues about Nazi stance on religion, see Religion in Nazi Germany, Religious aspects of Nazism, and Religious views of Adolf Hitler.
By term
North German Confederation (1867–1871)
| Name | Term | Legal affiliation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Otto von Bismarck | 1867–1871 | Protestant |
German Reich (1871–1945)
| Name | Term | Legal affiliation during office and notes on belief | |
|---|---|---|---|
| German Empire (1871–1918) | |||
| 01 | Otto von Bismarck | 1871–1890 | Affiliation: Protestant |
| 02 | Leo von Caprivi | 1890–1894 | Affiliation: Protestant |
| 03 | Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst | 1894–1900 | Affiliation: Catholic |
| 04 | Bernhard von Bülow | 1900–1909 | Affiliation: Protestant |
| 05 | Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg | 1909–1917 | Affiliation: Protestant |
| 06 | Georg Michaelis | 1917 | Affiliation: Protestant |
| 07 | Georg von Hertling | 1917–1918 | Affiliation: Catholic |
| 08 | Max von Baden | 1918 | Affiliation: Protestant |
| Weimar Republic (1918–1933) | |||
| 09 | Friedrich Ebert | 1918–1919 | Affiliation: None Baptised Catholic, but later (before 1912) officially left the denomination. |
| 10 | Philipp Scheidemann | 1919 | Affiliation: Protestant |
| 11 | Gustav Bauer | 1919–1920 | Affiliation: None Unaffiliated to any recognised religion at least from 1912 to 1924. Buried in a Protestant cemetery. |
| 12 | Hermann Müller | 1920 | Affiliation: None |
| 13 | Constantin Fehrenbach | 1920–1921 | Affiliation: Catholic |
| 14 | Joseph Wirth | 1921–1922 | Affiliation: Catholic |
| 15 | Wilhelm Cuno | 1922–1923 | Affiliation: Catholic |
| 16 | Gustav Stresemann | 1923 | Affiliation: Protestant |
| 17 | Wilhelm Marx | 1923–1925 | Affiliation: Catholic |
| 18 | Hans Luther | 1925–1926 | Affiliation: Protestant |
| 19 (17) |
Wilhelm Marx | 1926–1928 | Affiliation: Catholic |
| 20 (12) |
Hermann Müller | 1928–1930 | Affiliation: None |
| 21 | Heinrich Brüning | 1930–1932 | Affiliation: Catholic |
| 22 | Franz von Papen | 1932 | Affiliation: Catholic |
| 23 | Kurt von Schleicher | 1932–1933 | Affiliation: Protestant |
| Nazi Germany (1933–1945) | |||
| 24 | Adolf Hitler | 1933–1945 | Affiliation: Catholic A determined opponent of the Catholic faith, see Nazi attitudes towards Christianity and Religious views of Adolf Hitler |
| 25 | Joseph Goebbels | 1945 | Affiliation: Catholic A determined opponent of the Catholic faith, see Nazi attitudes towards Christianity. Claims in his diary that Hitler forbade him to disaffiliate for tactical political reasons. |
| 26 | Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk | 1945 | Affiliation: Protestant |
Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present)
| Name | Term | Legal affiliation during office and notes on belief | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Konrad Adenauer | 1949–1963 | Affiliation: Catholic |
| 02 | Ludwig Erhard | 1963–1966 | Affiliation: Protestant |
| 03 | Kurt Georg Kiesinger | 1966–1969 | Affiliation: Catholic |
| 04 | Willy Brandt | 1969–1974 | Affiliation: Protestant |
| 05 | Helmut Schmidt | 1974–1982 | Affiliation: Protestant He is known to have had a distant relationship with religion, having no faith in divine justice. |
| 06 | Helmut Kohl | 1982–1998 | Affiliation: Catholic |
| 07 | Gerhard Schröder | 1998–2005 | Affiliation: Protestant He has not used the religious form of his oath of office. |
| 08 | Angela Merkel | 2005–2021 | Affiliation: Protestant She is the daughter of a pastor and has regularly affirmed her Christian beliefs. |
| 09 | Olaf Scholz | 2021–present | Affiliation: None In spite of having disaffiliated, Scholz claims that he has completely read the Bible and that Christianity has left its clear mark on who he is. He has not used the religious form of his oath of office. |
Affiliation totals
| Affiliation | |
|---|---|
| Protestant | 16 |
| Catholic | 13 |
| None | 4 |
a. Including two determined opponents of the Catholic faith, Hitler and Goebbels (see Nazi attitudes towards Christianity).
See also
- List of prime ministers of Canada by religious affiliation
- Religious affiliations of presidents of Lebanon
- Religious affiliations of prime ministers of the Netherlands
- Religious affiliations of presidents of the United States
References
- Scheidemann, Philipp Heinrich
- ^ Deutsche Biographie: Otto von Bismarck
- Deutsche Biographie: Leo von Caprivi
- Deutsche Biographie: Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
- Deutsche Biographie: Bernhard von Bülow
- Deutsche Biographie: Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg
- Deutsche Biographie: Georg Michaelis
- Deutsche Biographie: Georg von Hertling
- Deutsche Biographie: Max von Baden
- Federal Archives, files of the Reich chancellery, Friedrich Ebert's death
- Deutsche Biographie: Philipp Scheidemann (reformed)
- See parliamentary handbooks downloadable here; for the burial see: "Gemeinde Glienicke/Nordbahn: Schon fast in Vergessenheit geraten".
- ^ Deutsche Biographie: Hermann Müller
- Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Biographical entry for Constantin Fehrenbach
- Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Biographical entry for Joseph Wirth
- Deutsche Biographie: Wilhelm Cuno
- Deutsche Biographie: Gustav Stresemann
- ^ Deutsche Biographie: Wilhelm Marx
- Deutsche Biographie: Hans Luther
- University of Rostock: Inscription of Heinrich Brüning as a student
- Deutsche Biographie: Franz von Papen
- Deutsche Biographie: Kurt von Schleicher
- Deutsche Biographie: Adolf Hitler
- Deutsche Biographie: Joseph Goebbels
- Deutsche Biographie: Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk
- Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Biographical entry for Konrad Adenauer
- Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Biographical entry for Ludwig Erhard
- Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Biographical entry for Kurt Georg Kiesinger
- Der Spiegel, 21/1960: Anti-Brandt-Feldzug: Reise in die Vergangenheit
- Kommission für Geschichte des Parlamentarismus und der politischen Parteien: Die Volksvertretung 1946–1972
- See: Deutschlandfunk Kultur: Ein Urprotestant mit schwindendem Gottvertrauen
- Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Biographical entry for Helmut Kohl
- Kath.net: In Schröders Kabinett ist jeder zweite Minister evangelisch
- Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Biographical entry for Angela Merkel
- Bundestag: Biographical entry for Olaf Scholz
- See: Sonntagsblatt: Wie religiös ist die neue Bundesregierung? Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz.