Minister president (Germany)

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The Minister-president (German: Ministerpräsident, pronounced [miˈnɪstɐpʁɛziˌdɛnt] ^ⓘ) is the head of state and government in thirteen of Germany's sixteen states.

In Berlin, the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the heads of the state hold different titles:

• in Berlin Governing Mayor (Regierender Bürgermeister) (before 1951 Mayor/Bürgermeister)
• in Bremen President of the Senate and Mayor (Präsident des Senats und Bürgermeister)^[1]
• in Hamburg First Mayor (Erster Bürgermeister).

In the former states of Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern, defunct since 1952, the heads of state held the title State President (Staatspräsident).

Nevertheless, in Germany, it is common to refer to all sixteen heads of the states as minister-presidents, if they are referred to collectively. For example, the regular meetings of the sixteen office-holders are called Conference of minister-presidents (Ministerpräsidentenkonferenz).

As the German constitution (Basic Law) defines the Federal Republic of Germany as a federation, each German state enjoys sovereignty, limited only by the Basic Law. The Basic Law gives the states a broad discretion to determine their respective state structure, only stating that each German state has to be a social and democratic republic under the rule of law (Article 28.1). In practice all German states have adopted some form of a mixed parliamentary republican system: Despite some differences between the individual state constitutions, the minister-presidents have both typical powers of an executive leader (for example appointing and dismissing cabinet members or defining the political guidelines of the cabinet) and typical powers and functions of a head of state (for example the power to grant pardons on behalf of the state and to perform certain ceremonial duties). As such, their powers and functions resemble those of an executive president, but in contrast to a presidential system, they are not directly elected and depend on the confidence of the respective state parliament. Thus, the constitutional position of a minister-president differs from that of the Chancellor of Germany at the federal level, who only holds the role of a chief executive leader, while the President of Germany performs the more ceremonial powers and functions of the federal head of state.

Even though all sixteen Minister-presidents hold roughly the same position in their states, there are also some important differences between the provisions of the state constitutions with regard to the head of state and government. This begins with the election procedure: All Minister-presidents are elected by the state parliament, but while in some states a majority of parliament members is needed for a successful election, in other states a simple majority (a plurality of votes cast) is sufficient. The same goes for recall procedures: In some states, the parliament may simply vote an officeholder out of office, while in other states the parliament has to elect a new officeholder at the same time (Constructive vote of no confidence). In Bavaria, the constitution does not allow a recall of the minister-president at all. In fifteen states, the state constitution defines the minister-president as the leader of the cabinet, giving him or her the right, to determine the cabinet's political guidelines, but this is not the case in Bremen, where the President of the Senate and Mayor only has a ceremonial precedence over the other cabinet members. There are also differences regarding the Minister-president power, to shape his or her cabinet: While in some states the office-holder is free to appoint or dismiss cabinet ministers at his or her discretion, in other states there are limits to this power, while the constitution of Bremen does not give the President of the Senate and Mayor any power, to directly influence the composition of his or her cabinet.

State	Title	Election threshold	Recall procedure	Position in cabinet	Power to shape the cabinet	Right to grant pardon	Minimum age	Other provisions
Baden-Württemberg[2]	Minister-president	majority of members	constructive vote of no confidence	guideline competence	limited (cabinet appointments subject to parliamentary approval, the state parliament may recall individual cabinet ministers with a two-thirds majority)	yes	35
Free State of Bavaria[3]	Minister-president	simple majority	none	guideline competence	limited (cabinet appointments subject to parliamentary approval)	yes	40
Berlin[4]	Governing Mayor	simple majority	vote of no confidence (if the state parliament does not elect a new Governing Mayor within 21 days, the former officeholder is reinvested automatically)	guideline competence	full	no (whole cabinet)	18 (de facto)
Brandenburg[5]	Minister-President	majority of members (first and second ballot), plurality (third ballot)	constructive vote of no confidence	guideline competence	full	yes	18 (de facto)
Bremen[6]	President of the Senate and Mayor	simple majority	constructive vote of no confidence	ceremonial precedence	none (the parliament elects and dismisses all cabinet members)	no (whole cabinet)	18	may not be a member of the state parliament
Hamburg[7]	First Mayor	majority of members	constructive vote of no confidence	guideline competence	limited (cabinet appointments subject to parliamentary approval)	no (whole cabinet)	18	may not be a member of the state parliament
Hesse[8]	Minister-president	majority of members	vote of no confidence	guideline competence	limited (dismissal of cabinet members subject to parliamentary approval)	yes	18 (de facto)	members of noble houses, which have reigned in Germany before 1918, are ineligible for office
Lower Saxony[9]	Minister-president	majority of members or plurality, if the state parliament does not elect a minister-president in 21 days and does not dissolve itself thereupon	constructive vote of no confidence	guideline competence	limited (cabinet appointments subject to parliamentary approval)	yes	18 (de facto)
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern[10]	Minister-president	majority of members or plurality, if the state parliament does not elect a minister-president in 28 days and does not dissolve itself thereupon	constructive vote of no confidence	guideline competence	full	yes	18 (de facto)
North Rhine-Westphalia[11]	Minister-President	majority of members (first ballot), simple majority (second and third ballot), runoff (fourth ballot)	constructive vote of no confidence	guideline competence	full	yes	18	has to be a member of the state parliament
Rhineland-Palatinate[12]	Minister-president	majority of members	vote of no confidence	guideline competence	full	yes	18 (de facto)
Saarland[13]	Minister-president	majority of members	vote of no confidence	guideline competence	limited (cabinet appointments and dismissals subject to parliamentary approval)	no (whole cabinet)	18 (de facto)
Free State of Saxony[14]	Minister-president	majority of members (first ballot), simple majority (following ballots)	constructive vote of no confidence	guideline competence	full	yes	18 (de facto)
Saxony-Anhalt[15]	Minister-president	majority of members or simple majority, if the state parliament does not elect a minister-president in 14 days and does not dissolve itself thereupon	constructive vote of no confidence	guideline competence	full	yes	18 (de facto)
Schleswig-Holstein[16]	Minister-president	majority of members (first and second ballot), plurality (third ballot)	constructive vote of no confidence	guideline competence	full	yes	18 (de facto)
Free State of Thuringia[17]	Minister-president	majority of members (first and second ballot), plurality (third ballot)	constructive vote of no confidence	guideline competence	full	yes	18 (de facto)

By virtue of their position in the Bundesrat, the Minister-presidents can exert considerable influence on national politics within the federal structure. Along with several of their ministers, they commonly represent their state in the Bundesrat (the German Federal Council). Each state government is represented in the Bundesrat by three to six delegates, depending on the state's population.

The minister-presidents appoint one (or in some states two) member(s) of their cabinet as their deputies. In most states the deputy of the minister-president holds the title Deputy Minister-president. Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein have a higher ranking First Deputy Minister-president and a lower ranking Second Deputy Minister-president. Bavaria has a higher ranking Deputy Minister-president and a lower ranking Additional Deputy Minister-president. Berlin has two equally ranking Mayors deputizing for the Governing Mayor, while Bremen has a Mayor deputizing for the President of the Senate and Mayor and Hamburg has a Second Mayor deputizing for the First Mayor.

Their duties and functions mirror roughly those of the Vice Chancellor of Germany on federal level. Most importantly, the Deputy Minister-president (or equivalent) temporarily act as Minister-president in case of the office-holder's death or incapacity until the end of the incapacity or the election of a successor by the state parliament. An exception to this are the regulations in the state constitution of Bavaria (Art. 44.3), which designates both the Deputy Minister-president (for internal affairs) and the President of the Landtag (for the external representation) as acting successors. Resigning minister-presidents normally stay in office as acting minister-presidents (or equivalent) themselves until a successor is elected. This is however not the case, if the reason for the resignation is some form of constitutional, legal or traditional incompatibility with an office, on which the resigning office-holder has entered: The Basic Law prohibits the President of Germany from holding office in a state government at the same time (Art. 55.1). According to the Federal Constitutional Court Act, the same applies to judges on the Federal Constitutional Court (§ 3.3). Simultaneous membership in the Bundestag or the federal government is not prohibited for a Minister-president (or other members of a state government) under federal law, but in some states (for example North Rhine-Westphalia) it is forbidden by the state constitution and generally it is not in line with political tradition. Therefore, office-holders elected or appointed to such office usually resign and refrain from continuing to hold the office of Minister-president on an acting basis, leaving that role to their deputy.^[18]

Normally, such full replacements last only a few days or even a few hours, but there have also been cases in which such acting Minister-president have had to remain in office for a longer period because the election of a new regular incumbent had proved difficult; this occurred for example in Schleswig-Holstein in 1987/88: The state election on 13 September 1987 had resulted in a stalemate between the centre-right bloc of CDU and FDP, which supported the incumbent Uwe Barschel, and the centre-left parties SPD and SSW, each with 37 seats. Due to the weak election results for the CDU and above all the Barschel affair, a supposed election-fraud scandal, Barschel declared his resignation with effect from 2 October and died a few days later in a hotel in Geneva under circumstances that have not been clarified to this day. As a result, the previous deputy Henning Schwarz became acting Minister-president. Attempts to elect a new Minister-president in the state parliament failed because of the stalemate, so the parliament dissolved itself and early state elections were held on 8 May 1988. The SPD emerged from these with an absolute majority of seats and its leading candidate Björn Engholm was elected Minister-president on 31 May. Schwarz thus held office as acting Minister-president for 242 days.

The longest-serving incumbent office-holder is Reiner Haseloff, who has served as the Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt since 19 April 2011. Alexander Schweitzer, the Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate (since 10 July 2024), is the shortest-serving incumbent.

	Portrait	Name Cabinet	Title	entered office	Party	Deputy Title
Baden-Württemberg		Winfried Kretschmann Kretschmann III	Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg	12 May 2011	Alliance 90/The Greens	Thomas Strobl (CDU) Deputy Minister-President
Free State of Bavaria		Markus Söder Söder III	Minister-President of Bavaria	16 March 2018	CSU	Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters) Deputy Minister-President Ulrike Scharf (CSU) Additional Deputy Minister-President
Berlin		Kai Wegner Wegner	Governing Mayor of Berlin	27 April 2023	CDU	Franziska Giffey (SPD) Mayor Stefan Evers (CDU) Mayor
Brandenburg		Dietmar Woidke Woidke III	Minister-President of Brandenburg	28 August 2013	SPD	Michael Stübgen (CDU) First Deputy Minister-President Ursula Nonnenmacher (Alliance 90/The Greens) Second Deputy Minister-President
Free Hanseatic City of Bremen		Andreas Bovenschulte Bovenschulte II	President of the Senate and Mayor of Bremen	15 August 2019	SPD	Maike Schaefer (Alliance 90/The Greens) Deputy President of the Senate and Mayor
Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg		Peter Tschentscher Tschentscher II	First Mayor of Hamburg	28 March 2018	SPD	Katharina Fegebank (Alliance 90/The Greens) Second Mayor
Hesse		Boris Rhein Rhein II	Minister-President of Hesse	31 May 2022	CDU	Kaweh Mansoori (SPD) Deputy Minister-President
Lower Saxony		Stephan Weil Weil III	Minister-President of Lower Saxony	19 February 2013	SPD	Julia Hamburg (Alliance 90/The Greens) Deputy Minister-President
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern		Manuela Schwesig Schwesig II	Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	4 July 2017	SPD	Simone Oldenburg (The Left) Deputy Minister-President
North Rhine-Westphalia		Hendrik Wüst Wüst II	Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia	27 October 2021	CDU	Mona Neubaur (Alliance 90/The Greens) Deputy Minister-President
Rhineland-Palatinate		Alexander Schweitzer Schweitzer	Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate	10 July 2024	SPD	Katharina Binz (Alliance 90/The Greens) Deputy Minister-President
Saarland		Anke Rehlinger Rehlinger	Minister-President of Saarland	25 April 2022	SPD	Jürgen Barke (SPD) Deputy Minister-President
Free State of Saxony		Michael Kretschmer Kretschmer II	Minister-President of Saxony	13 December 2017	CDU	Wolfram Günther (Alliance 90/The Greens) First Deputy Minister-President Martin Dulig (SPD) Second Deputy Minister-President
Saxony-Anhalt		Reiner Haseloff Haseloff III	Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt	19 April 2011	CDU	Armin Willingmann (SPD) First Deputy Minister-President Lydia Hüskens (FDP) Second Deputy Minister-President
Schleswig-Holstein		Daniel Günther Günther II	Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein	28 June 2017	CDU	Aminata Touré (Alliance 90/The Greens) Deputy Minister-President
Free State of Thuringia		Bodo Ramelow Ramelow II	Minister-President of Thuringia	4 March 2020	The Left	Georg Maier (SPD) First Deputy Minister-President Anja Siegesmund (Alliance 90/The Greens) Second Deputy Minister-President

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Reinhold Maier (1889–1971)	25 April 1952	30 September 1953 resigned	1 year, 158 days	FDP
2		Gebhard Müller (1900–1990)	30 September 1953	17 December 1958 resigned appointed to the Federal Constitutional Court	5 years, 78 days	CDU
3		Kurt Georg Kiesinger (1904–1988)	17 December 1958	1 December 1966 resigned elected Chancellor	7 years, 349 days	CDU
Deputy Minister-President Wolfgang Haußmann (FDP) served as acting Minister-President from 1 to 16 December 1966.
4		Hans Filbinger (1913–2007)	16 December 1966	30 August 1978 resigned	11 years, 257 days	CDU
5		Lothar Späth (1937–2016)	30 August 1978	22 January 1991 resigned	12 years, 145 days	CDU
6		Erwin Teufel (born 1939)	22 January 1991	21 April 2005 resigned	14 years, 89 days	CDU
7		Günther Oettinger (born 1953)	21 April 2005	10 February 2010 resigned appointed to the European Commission	4 years, 295 days	CDU
8		Stefan Mappus (born 1966)	10 February 2010	12 May 2011	1 year, 91 days	CDU
9		Winfried Kretschmann (born 1948)	12 May 2011	Incumbent	13 years, 203 days	Alliance 90/The Greens

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Fritz Schäffer (1888–1967)	28 May 1945	28 September 1945	123 days	CSU
2		Wilhelm Hoegner (1887–1980) 1st term	28 September 1945	16 December 1946	1 year, 79 days	SPD
3		Hans Ehard (1887–1980) 1st term	21 December 1946	14 December 1954	7 years, 358 days	CSU
4		Wilhelm Hoegner (1887–1980) 2nd term	14 December 1954	8 October 1957 resigned	2 years, 298 days	SPD
5		Hanns Seidel (1901–1961)	16 October 1957	22 January 1960 resigned	2 years, 98 days	CSU
6		Hans Ehard (1887–1980) 2nd term	26 January 1960	11 December 1962	2 years, 319 days	CSU
7		Alfons Goppel (1905–1991)	11 December 1962	6 November 1978	15 years, 330 days	CSU
8		Franz Josef Strauss (1915–1988)	6 November 1978	3 October 1988 died in office	9 years, 332 days	CSU
Deputy Minister-President Max Streibl and President of the Landtag Franz Heubl (both CSU) served together as acting Minister-Presidents from 3 to 19 October 1988.
9		Max Streibl (1932–1998)	19 October 1988	28 May 1993 resigned	4 years, 221 days	CSU
10		Edmund Stoiber (born 1941)	28 May 1993	9 October 2007 resigned	14 years, 135 days	CSU
11		Günther Beckstein (born 1943)	9 October 2007	27 October 2008	1 year, 18 days	CSU
12		Horst Seehofer (born 1949)	27 October 2008	13 March 2018 resigned appointed Federal Minister of the Interior	9 years, 140 days	CSU
Deputy Minister-President Ilse Aigner and President of the Landtag Barbara Stamm (both CSU) served together as acting Minister-Presidents from 13 to 16 March 2018.
13		Markus Söder (born 1967)	16 March 2018	Incumbent	6 years, 260 days	CSU

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Ernst Reuter (1889–1953)	7 December 1948	29 September 1953 died in office	4 years, 296 days	SPD
2		Walther Schreiber (1884–1958)	29 September 1953	11 January 1955	1 year, 104 days	CDU
3		Otto Suhr (1894–1957)	11 January 1955	30 August 1957 died in office	2 years, 231 days	SPD
Mayor Franz Amrehn (CDU) served as acting Governing Mayor 30 August to 3 October 1957.
4		Willy Brandt (1913–1992)	3 October 1957	1 December 1966 resigned appointed Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and Vice Chancellor	9 years, 59 days	SPD
5		Heinrich Albertz (1915–1993)	1 December 1966	19 October 1967 resigned	322 days	SPD
6		Klaus Schütz (1926–2012)	19 October 1967	2 May 1977 resigned	9 years, 195 days	SPD
7		Dietrich Stobbe (1938–2011)	2 May 1977	23 January 1981 resigned	3 years, 266 days	SPD
8		Hans-Jochen Vogel (1926–2020)	23 January 1981	11 June 1981	139 days	SPD
9		Richard von Weizsäcker (1920–2015)	11 June 1981	9 February 1984 resigned elected President of Germany	2 years, 243 days	CDU
10		Eberhard Diepgen (born 1941) 1st term	9 February 1984	16 March 1989	5 years, 35 days	CDU
11		Walter Momper[a] (born 1945)	16 March 1989	24 January 1991	1 year, 314 days	SPD
12		Eberhard Diepgen (born 1941) 2nd term	24 January 1991	16 June 2001 voted out of office by a vote of no confidence	10 years, 143 days	CDU
13		Klaus Wowereit (born 1953)	16 June 2001	11 December 2014 resigned	13 years, 178 days	SPD
14		Michael Müller (born 1964)	11 December 2014	21 December 2021	7 years, 10 days	SPD
15		Franziska Giffey (born 1978)	21 December 2021	27 April 2023	1 year, 127 days	SPD
16		Kai Wegner (born 1972)	27 April 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 218 days	CDU

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
1		Manfred Stolpe (1936–2019)	1 November 1990	26 June 2002 resigned	11 years, 237 days	SPD
2		Matthias Platzeck (born 1953)	26 June 2002	28 August 2013 resigned	11 years, 63 days	SPD
3		Dietmar Woidke (born 1961)	28 August 2013	Incumbent	11 years, 95 days	SPD

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
1		Wilhelm Kaisen (1887–1979)	31 July 1945	20 July 1965	19 years, 354 days	SPD
2		Willy Dehnkamp (1903–1985)	20 July 1965	28 November 1967	2 years, 141 days	SPD
3		Hans Koschnick (1929–2016)	28 November 1967	18 September 1985	17 years, 294 days	SPD
4		Klaus Wedemeier (born 1944)	18 September 1985	4 July 1995	9 years, 289 days	SPD
5		Henning Scherf (born 1938)	4 July 1995	8 November 2005 resigned	10 years, 127 days	SPD
6		Jens Böhrnsen (born 1949)	8 November 2005	17 July 2015	9 years, 251 days	SPD
7		Carsten Sieling (born 1959)	17 July 2015	15 August 2019	4 years, 29 days	SPD
8		Andreas Bovenschulte (born 1965)	15 August 2019	Incumbent	5 years, 108 days	SPD

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
1		Max Brauer (1887–1973) 1st term	22 November 1946	2 December 1953 replaced by a constructive vote of no confidence	7 years, 10 days	SPD
2		Kurt Sieveking (1897–1986)	2 December 1953	4 December 1957	4 years, 2 days	CDU
3		Max Brauer (1887–1973) 2nd term	4 December 1957	31 December 1960 resigned	3 years, 27 days	SPD
4		Paul Nevermann (1902–1979)	1 January 1961	9 June 1965 resigned	4 years, 159 days	SPD
5		Herbert Weichmann (1896–1983)	9 June 1965	9 June 1971 resigned	6 years, 0 days	SPD
6		Peter Schulz (1930–2013)	9 June 1971	12 November 1974	3 years, 156 days	SPD
7		Hans-Ulrich Klose (1937–2023)	12 November 1974	24 June 1981 resigned	6 years, 224 days	SPD
8		Klaus von Dohnanyi (born 1928)	24 June 1981	8 June 1988	6 years, 350 days	SPD
9		Henning Voscherau (1941–2016)	8 June 1988	12 November 1997	9 years, 157 days	SPD
10		Ortwin Runde (born 1944)	12 November 1997	31 October 2001	3 years, 353 days	SPD
11		Ole von Beust (born 1955)	31 October 2001	25 August 2010 resigned	8 years, 298 days	CDU
12		Christoph Ahlhaus (born 1969)	25 August 2010	7 March 2011	194 days	CDU
13		Olaf Scholz (born 1958)	7 March 2011	13 March 2018 resigned appointed Federal Minister of Finance and Vice Chancellor	7 years, 6 days	SPD
Second Mayor Katharina Fegebank (Alliance 90/The Greens) served as acting First Mayor from 13 March to 28 March 2018.
14		Peter Tschentscher (born 1966)	28 March 2018	Incumbent	6 years, 248 days	SPD

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
1		Christian Stock (1884–1967)	20 December 1946	14 December 1950	3 years, 359 days	SPD
2		Georg-August Zinn (1901–1976)	14 December 1950	3 October 1969	18 years, 293 days	SPD
3		Albert Osswald (1919–1996)	3 October 1969	16 October 1976 resigned	7 years, 13 days	SPD
4		Holger Börner (1931–2006)	16 October 1976	23 April 1987	10 years, 189 days	SPD
5		Walter Wallmann (1932–2013)	23 April 1987	5 April 1991	3 years, 347 days	CDU
6		Hans Eichel (born 1941)	5 April 1991	7 April 1999	8 years, 2 days	SPD
7		Roland Koch (born 1958)	7 April 1999	31 August 2010 resigned	11 years, 146 days	CDU
8		Volker Bouffier (born 1951)	31 August 2010	31 May 2022 resigned	11 years, 273 days	CDU
9		Boris Rhein (born 1972)	31 May 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 184 days	CDU

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
1		Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf (1893–1961) 1st term	9 December 1946	26 May 1955	8 years, 168 days	SPD
2		Heinrich Hellwege (1908–1991)	26 May 1955	12 May 1959	3 years, 351 days	German Party
3		Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf (1893–1961) 2nd term	12 May 1959	21 December 1961 died in office	2 years, 223 days	SPD
Deputy Minister-President Hermann Ahrens (GB/BHE) served as acting Minister-President from 21 to 29 December 1961.
4		Georg Diederichs (1900–1983)	29 December 1961	8 July 1970	8 years, 191 days	SPD
5		Alfred Kubel (1909–1999)	8 July 1970	6 February 1976 resigned	5 years, 213 days	SPD
6		Ernst Albrecht (1930–2014)	6 February 1976	21 June 1990	14 years, 135 days	CDU
7		Gerhard Schröder (born 1944)	21 June 1990	28 October 1998 resigned elected Chancellor	8 years, 129 days	SPD
8		Gerhard Glogowski (born 1943)	28 October 1998	15 October 1999 resigned	352 days	SPD
9		Sigmar Gabriel (born 1959)	15 October 1999	4 March 2003	3 years, 140 days	SPD
10		Christian Wulff (born 1959)	4 March 2003	30 June 2010 resigned elected President of Germany	7 years, 118 days	CDU
Deputy Minister-President Jörg Bode (FDP) served as acting Minister-President from 30 June to 1 July 2010.
11		David McAllister (born 1971)	1 July 2010	19 February 2013	2 years, 233 days	CDU
12		Stephan Weil (born 1958)	19 February 2013	Incumbent	11 years, 286 days	SPD

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term			Party
			Took office	Left office	Days
1		Alfred Gomolka (1942–2020)	27 October 1990	19 March 1992 resigned	1 year, 144 days	CDU
2		Berndt Seite (born 1940)	19 March 1992	3 November 1998	6 years, 229 days	CDU
3		Harald Ringstorff (1939–2020)	3 November 1998	6 October 2008 resigned	9 years, 338 days	SPD
4		Erwin Sellering (born 1949)	6 October 2008	4 July 2017 resigned	8 years, 271 days	SPD
5		Manuela Schwesig (born 1974)	4 July 2017	Incumbent	7 years, 150 days	SPD

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
1		Rudolf Amelunxen (1888–1969)	23 August 1946	17 June 1947	298 days	Non-partisan (until 1947)
						Centre Party (from 1947)
2		Karl Arnold (1901–1958)	17 June 1947	20 February 1956 replaced by a constructive vote of no confidence	8 years, 248 days	CDU
3		Fritz Steinhoff (1897–1969)	20 February 1956	21 July 1958	2 years, 151 days	SPD
4		Franz Meyers (1908–2002)	21 July 1958	8 December 1966 replaced by a constructive vote of no confidence	8 years, 140 days	CDU
5		Heinz Kühn (1912–1992)	8 December 1966	20 September 1978	11 years, 286 days	SPD
6		Johannes Rau (1931–2006)	20 September 1978	27 May 1998 resigned	19 years, 249 days	SPD
7		Wolfgang Clement (1940–2020)	27 May 1998	22 October 2002 resigned appointed Federal Minister for the Economy and Labour	4 years, 148 days	SPD
Deputy Minister-President Michael Vesper (Alliance 90/The Greens) served as acting Minister-President from 22 October to 6 November 2002
8		Peer Steinbrück (born 1947)	6 November 2002	22 June 2005	2 years, 228 days	SPD
9		Jürgen Rüttgers (born 1951)	22 June 2005	14 July 2010	5 years, 22 days	CDU
10		Hannelore Kraft (born 1961)	14 July 2010	27 June 2017	6 years, 348 days	SPD
11		Armin Laschet (born 1961)	27 June 2017	26 October 2021 resigned elected to the Bundestag	4 years, 121 days	CDU
Deputy Minister-President Joachim Stamp (FDP) served as acting Minister-President from 26 to 27 October 2021
12		Hendrik Wüst (born 1975)	27 October 2021	Incumbent	3 years, 35 days	CDU

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
1		Wilhelm Boden (1890–1961)	1 December 1946	9 July 1947	220 days	CDU
2		Peter Altmeier (1899–1977)	9 July 1947	19 May 1969	21 years, 314 days	CDU
3		Helmut Kohl (1930–2017)	19 May 1969	2 December 1976 resigned elected to the Bundestag	7 years, 197 days	CDU
4		Bernhard Vogel (born 1932)	2 December 1976	8 December 1988 resigned	12 years, 6 days	CDU
5		Carl-Ludwig Wagner (1930–2012)	8 December 1988	21 May 1991	2 years, 164 days	CDU
6		Rudolf Scharping (born 1947)	21 May 1991	26 October 1994 resigned elected to the Bundestag	3 years, 158 days	SPD
7		Kurt Beck (born 1949)	26 October 1994	16 January 2013 resigned	18 years, 82 days	SPD
8		Malu Dreyer (born 1961)	16 January 2013	10 July 2024	11 years, 176 days	SPD
9		Alexander Schweitzer (born 1973)	10 July 2024	Incumbent	144 days	SPD

Portrait		Name (born and died)	Term of office			Political party
			Took office	Left office	Days
1		Johannes Hoffmann (1890–1967)	20 December 1947	29 October 1955 resigned	7 years, 313 days	CVP
2		Heinrich Welsch (1888–1976)	29 October 1955	10 January 1956	73 days	Independent
3		Hubert Ney[a] (1892–1984)	10 January 1956	4 June 1957 resigned	1 year, 145 days	CDU
4		Egon Reinert (1908–1959)	4 June 1957	23 April 1959 died in office	1 year, 323 days	CDU
5		Franz-Josef Röder (1909–1979)	23 April 1959	26 June 1979 died in office	20 years, 64 days	CDU
Deputy Minister-President Werner Klumpp (FDP) served as acting Minister-President from 26 June to 5 July 1979.
6		Werner Zeyer (1929–2000)	5 July 1979	9 April 1985	5 years, 278 days	CDU
7		Oskar Lafontaine (born 1943)	9 April 1985	10 November 1998 resigned appointed Federal Minister of Finance	13 years, 215 days	SPD
8		Reinhard Klimmt (born 1942)	10 November 1998	29 September 1999	323 days	SPD
9		Peter Müller (born 1955)	29 September 1999	10 August 2011 resigned appointed to the Federal Constitutional Court	11 years, 315 days	CDU
10		Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (born 1962)	10 August 2011	1 March 2018 resigned	6 years, 203 days	CDU
11		Tobias Hans (born 1978)	1 March 2018	25 April 2022	4 years, 55 days	CDU
12		Anke Rehlinger (born 1976)	25 April 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 220 days	SPD

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
1		Kurt Biedenkopf (1930–2021)	27 October 1990	18 April 2002 resigned	11 years, 173 days	CDU
2		Georg Milbradt (born 1945)	18 April 2002	28 May 2008 resigned	6 years, 40 days	CDU
3		Stanislaw Tillich (born 1959)	28 May 2008	13 December 2017 resigned	9 years, 199 days	CDU
4		Michael Kretschmer (born 1975)	13 December 2017	Incumbent	6 years, 354 days	CDU

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
1		Gerd Gies (born 1943)	28 October 1990	4 July 1991 resigned	249 days	CDU
2		Werner Münch (born 1940)	4 July 1991	2 December 1993 resigned	2 years, 151 days	CDU
3		Christoph Bergner (born 1948)	2 December 1993	21 June 1994	201 days	CDU
4		Reinhard Höppner (1948–2014)	21 June 1994	16 May 2002	7 years, 329 days	SPD
5		Wolfgang Böhmer (born 1936)	16 May 2002	19 April 2011	8 years, 338 days	CDU
6		Reiner Haseloff (born 1954)	19 April 2011	Incumbent	13 years, 226 days	CDU

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
1		Theodor Steltzer (1885–1967)	12 September 1946	29 April 1947	229 days	CDU
2		Hermann Lüdemann (1880–1959)	29 April 1947	29 August 1949	2 years, 122 days	SPD
3		Bruno Diekmann (1897–1982)	29 August 1949	5 September 1950	1 year, 7 days	SPD
4		Walter Bartram (1893–1971)	5 September 1950	25 June 1951 resigned	293 days	CDU
5		Friedrich-Wilhelm Lübke (1887–1954)	25 June 1951	11 October 1954 resigned	3 years, 108 days	CDU
6		Kai-Uwe von Hassel (1913–1997)	11 October 1954	14 January 1963 resigned appointed Federal Minister of Defence	8 years, 95 days	CDU
7		Helmut Lemke (1907–1990)	14 January 1963	24 May 1971	8 years, 130 days	CDU
8		Gerhard Stoltenberg (1928–2001)	24 May 1971	14 October 1982 resigned appointed Federal Minister of Finance	11 years, 143 days	CDU
9		Uwe Barschel (1944–1987)	14 October 1982	2 October 1987 resigned	4 years, 353 days	CDU
Deputy Minister-President Henning Schwarz (CDU) served as acting Minister-President from 2 October 1987 to 31 May 1988.
10		Björn Engholm (born 1939)	31 May 1988	19 May 1993 resigned	4 years, 353 days	SPD
11		Heide Simonis (1943–2023)	19 May 1993	27 April 2005	11 years, 343 days	SPD
12		Peter Harry Carstensen (born 1947)	27 April 2005	12 June 2012	7 years, 46 days	CDU
13		Torsten Albig (born 1963)	12 June 2012	28 June 2017	5 years, 16 days	SPD
14		Daniel Günther (born 1973)	28 June 2017	Incumbent	7 years, 156 days	CDU

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took office	Left office	Days
1		Josef Duchac (born 1938)	8 November 1990	5 February 1992 resigned	1 year, 89 days	CDU
2		Bernhard Vogel (born 1932)	5 February 1992	5 June 2003 resigned	11 years, 120 days	CDU
3		Dieter Althaus (born 1958)	5 June 2003	30 October 2009	6 years, 147 days	CDU
4		Christine Lieberknecht (born 1958)	30 October 2009	5 December 2014	5 years, 36 days	CDU
5		Bodo Ramelow (born 1956) 1st term	5 December 2014	5 February 2020	5 years, 62 days	The Left
6		Thomas Kemmerich (born 1965)	5 February 2020	4 March 2020 resigned	28 days	FDP
7		Bodo Ramelow (born 1956) 2nd term	4 March 2020	Incumbent	4 years, 272 days	The Left

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
		Leo Wohleb (1888–1955)	24 July 1947	25 April 1952 state was merged into Baden-Württemberg	4 years, 276 days	CDU

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
		Reinhold Maier (1889–1971)	19 September 1945	25 April 1952 state was merged into Baden-Württemberg	6 years, 219 days	FDP

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of Office			Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office	Days
1		Carlo Schmid (1896–1979)	16 October 1945	22 July 1947	1 year, 279 days	SPD
2		Lorenz Bock (1883–1948)	22 July 1947	3 August 1948 died in office	1 year, 12 days	CDU
Deputy State President Carlo Schmid (SPD) served as acting State President from 3 to 13 August 1948.
3		Gebhard Müller (1900–1990)	13 August 1948	25 April 1952 state was merged into Baden-Württemberg	3 years, 256 days	CDU

The office of a minister-president is both highly prestigious in its own right and acts as a potential "career springboard" for German politicians.

Three out of twelve Presidents of Germany have been head of a state before becoming President:

• Richard von Weizsäcker, Governing Mayor of Berlin (1981–1984)
• Johannes Rau, Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia (1978–1998)
• Christian Wulff, Minister-President of Lower Saxony (2003–2010)

One out of 13 Presidents of the Bundestag has been head of a state before becoming President:

• Kai-Uwe von Hassel, Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein (1954–1963)

Five out of nine Chancellors of Germany have been head of a state before becoming Chancellor:

• Kurt-Georg Kiesinger, Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg (1958–1966)
• Willy Brandt, Governing Mayor of West-Berlin (1957–1966)
• Helmut Kohl, Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate (1969–1976)
• Gerhard Schröder, Minister-President of Lower Saxony (1990–1998)
• Olaf Scholz, First Mayor of Hamburg (2011–2018)

One out of ten Presidents of the Federal Constitutional Court has been head of a state before becoming President:

• Gebhard Müller, State President of Württemberg-Hohenzollern (1948–1952), Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg (1953–1958)

Many more minister-presidents went on to become members of the federal government, EU institutions or associate judges of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany for example.

The three longest serving office-holders were:

• Peter Altmeier, Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate (1947–1969, 21 years, 314 days)
• Franz-Josef Röder, Minister-President of Saarland (1959–1979, 20 years, 64 days)
• Wilhelm Kaisen, President of the Senate and Mayor of Bremen (1945–1965, 19 years, 354 days)

The three shortest serving office-holders were:

• Thomas Kemmerich, Minister-President of Thuringia (2020, 28 days)
• Heinrich Welsch, Minister-President of Saarland (1955–1956, 73 days)
• Hans-Jochen Vogel, Governing Mayor of Berlin (1981, 139 days)

There have been eight female heads of a German state:

• Heide Simonis, Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein (1993–2005)
• Christine Lieberknecht, Minister-President of Thuringia (2009–2014)
• Hannelore Kraft, Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia (2010–2017)
• Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Minister-President of Saarland (2011–2018)
• Malu Dreyer, Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate (2013–2024)
• Manuela Schwesig, Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (incumbent since 2017)
• Franziska Giffey, Governing Mayor of Berlin (2021–2023)
• Anke Rehlinger, Minister-President of Saarland (incumbent since 2022)

One person has managed to become Minister-President of two different states, which did not merge into one another:

• Bernhard Vogel, Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate (1976–1988) and Minister-President of Thuringia (1992–2003)

Two persons have been minister-presidents of two states before and after they had merged into one another:

• Reinhold Maier, Minister-President of Württemberg-Baden (1945–1952), Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg (1952–1953)
• Gebhard Müller, State President of Württemberg-Hohenzollern (1948–1952), Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg (1953–1958)

So far, there has been already one Minister-President from a recognized national minority: Stanislaw Tillich, who served as Minister-President of Saxony between 2008 and 2017, is of Sorbian origin and speaks Sorbian and German as his mother tongue.

David McAllister, who served as the Minister-President of Lower Saxony between 2010 and 2013, has been the first office-holder with dual nationality (Germany and United Kingdom).

The vast majority former minister-presidents have been members of Germany's two biggest political parties, the center-right CDU (or, in Bavaria, its sister party CSU) and the center-left SPD. However, several other parties (including all parties currently represented in the Bundestag, apart from the AfD and BSW) have at least once provided a minister-president.

Alliance 90/The Greens:

• Winfried Kretschmann, Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg (since 2011)

Centre Party:

• Rudolf Amelunxen, Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia (1946–1947)

Christian People's Party of Saarland:

• Johannes Hoffmann, Minister-President of Saarland (1947–1955)

Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP):

• Reinhold Maier, Minister-President of Württemberg-Baden (1945–1952), Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg (1952–1953)
• Thomas Kemmerich, Minister-President of Thuringia (2020)

German Party:

• Heinrich Hellwege, Minister-President of Lower Saxony (1955–1959)

The Left:

• Bodo Ramelow, Minister-President of Thuringia (2014–2020 and since 2020)

One Minister-president was independent:

• Heinrich Welsch, Minister-President of Saarland (1955–1956)

• Ministerpräsident (Prussia)