Vice-Chancellor of Germany

Deputy to the Federal Chancellor Stellvertreter des Bundeskanzlers
Coat of Arms of the German Government
Flag of Germany
Incumbent Lars Klingbeil since 6 May 2025
Style	Mr. Vice-chancellor (informal) His Excellency (diplomatic)
Status	Deputy head of government
Member of	Federal Cabinet
Seat	As Federal Minister; currently Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Berlin/Bonn
Nominator	Chancellor or the coalition party
Appointer	Chancellor
Term length	At the Chancellor's pleasure
Constituting instrument	German Basic Law (German Constitution)
Formation	24 May 1949 (1949-05-24)
First holder	Franz Blücher

The vice-chancellor of Germany, inofficially the vice-chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Vizekanzler der Bundesrepublik Deutschland), officially the deputy to the federal chancellor (German: Stellvertreter des Bundeskanzlers), 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.).

Although Stellvertreter is the constitutional term, most Germans know the deputy by the expression Vice-Chancellor (Vizekanzler). Chancellor (Kanzler) is the traditional term for the German head of government since 1867/71. A general deputy has been introduced only in 1878 by law (Stellvertretungsgesetz). In the Weimar Republic of 1919–1933, the office of Vizekanzler 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:   FKP   FVP

No.	Portrait	Name	Birth	Death	Term start	Age start	Term end	Age end	Days	Party	Portfolio		Cabinet
1		Otto Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode	30 October 1837	19 November 1896	1 June 1878	40	20 June 1881	43	1115	FKP			Bismarck
2		Karl Heinrich von Boetticher	6 January 1833	6 March 1907	20 June 1881	48	1 July 1897	64	5855	FKP	Secretary of State for the Interior		Bismarck
													Caprivi
													Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
3		Arthur von Posadowsky-Wehner	3 June 1845	23 October 1932	1 July 1897	52	24 June 1907	62	3644	FKP	Secretary of State for the Interior		Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
													Bülow
4		Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg	29 November 1856	1 January 1921	24 June 1907	50	14 July 1909	52	751	Independent	Secretary of State for the Interior		Bülow
5		Clemens von Delbrück	19 January 1856	17 December 1921	14 July 1909	53	22 May 1916	60	2501	Independent	Secretary of State for the Interior		Bethmann-Hollweg
7		Karl Helfferich	22 July 1872	23 April 1924	22 May 1916	43	9 November 1917	45	536	Independent	Secretary of State for the Interior (until 23 October 1917)		Bethmann-Hollweg
													Michaelis
													Hertling
8		Friedrich von Payer	12 June 1847	14 July 1931	9 November 1917	70	10 November 1918	71	366	FVP			Hertling
													Baden
													Ebert

Weimar Republic (Allgemeiner Stellvertreter des Reichskanzlers)

Political Party:   DDP   Centre   DVP   SPD   DNVP

No.	Portrait	Name	Birth	Death	Term start	Age start	Term end	Age end	Days	Party	Portfolio		Cabinet
1		Eugen Schiffer	14 February 1860	5 September 1954	13 February 1919	58	19 April 1919	59	65	DDP	Deputy Minister-President / Minister of Finance		Scheidemann
2		Bernhard Dernburg	17 July 1865	14 October 1937	30 April 1919	53	20 June 1919	53	51	DDP	Deputy Minister-President / Minister of Finance		Scheidemann
3		Matthias Erzberger	20 September 1875	26 August 1921	21 June 1919	43	3 October 1919	44	104	Centre	Deputy Minister-President (until 14 August 1919) / Minister of Finance		Bauer
4		Eugen Schiffer	14 February 1860	5 September 1954	3 October 1919	59	27 March 1920	60	176	DDP	Minister of Justice		Bauer
5		Erich Koch-Weser	26 February 1875	19 October 1944	27 March 1920	45	21 June 1920	45	86	DDP	Minister of the Interior		Müller I
6		Rudolf Heinze	22 July 1865	26 May 1928	25 June 1920	54	4 May 1921	55	313	DVP	Minister of Justice		Fehrenbach
7		Gustav Bauer	6 January 1870	16 September 1944	10 May 1921	51	14 November 1922	52	553	SPD	Minister of Finance		Wirth I
													Wirth II
8		Robert Schmidt	15 May 1864	16 September 1943	13 August 1923	59	3 November 1923	59	82	SPD	Minister for Reconstruction		Stresemann I
9		Karl Jarres	21 September 1874	20 October 1951	30 November 1923	49	15 December 1924	50	381	DVP	Minister of the Interior		Marx I
													Marx II
10		Oskar Hergt	22 October 1869	9 May 1967	28 January 1927	57	12 June 1928	58	501	DNVP	Minister of Justice		Marx IV
11		Hermann Dietrich	14 December 1879	6 March 1954	30 March 1930	50	30 May 1932	52	792	DDP	Minister of Finance (from 26 June 1930)		Brüning I
													Brüning II

Nazi Germany

No.	Portrait	Name	Birth	Death	Term start	Age start	Term end	Age end	Days	Party	Portfolio	Other positions		Cabinet
1		Franz von Papen	29 October 1879	2 May 1969	30 January 1933	53	7 August 1934	54	554	Non-partisan		Minister President of Prussia (until 10 April 1933)		Hitler

Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present)

Political party:   FDP   CDU   SPD   Green

No.	Portrait	Name	Term start	Term end	Days	Party	Portfolio		Cabinet
1		Franz Blücher (1896–1959)	20 September 1949	29 October 1957	2961	FDP (until 1956) FVP (1956–57) DP (1957–)	Marshall Plan (later renamed to Economic Cooperation)		Adenauer I • II
2		Ludwig Erhard (1897–1977)	29 October 1957	16 October 1963	2178	CDU	Economic Affairs		Adenauer III • IV
3		Erich Mende (1916–1998)	17 October 1963	28 October 1966	1107	FDP	Intra-German Relations		Erhard I • II
The office was vacant from 28 October to 8 November 1966.
4		Hans-Christoph Seebohm (1903–1967)	8 November 1966	1 December 1966	22	CDU	Transport		Erhard II
5		Willy Brandt (1913–1992)	1 December 1966	22 October 1969	1054	SPD	Foreign Affairs		Kiesinger
6		Walter Scheel (1919–2016)	22 October 1969	16 May 1974	1668	FDP	Foreign Affairs		Brandt I • II
7		Hans-Dietrich Genscher (1927–2016) First term	17 May 1974	17 September 1982	3045	FDP	Foreign Affairs		Schmidt I • II • III
8		Egon Franke (1913–1995)	17 September 1982	1 October 1982	14	SPD	Intra-German Relations		Schmidt III
The office was vacant from 1 October to 4 October 1982.
9 (7)		Hans-Dietrich Genscher (1927–2016) Second term	4 October 1982	18 May 1992	3516	FDP	Foreign Affairs		Kohl I • II • III • IV
10		Jürgen Möllemann (1945–2003)	18 May 1992	21 January 1993	248	FDP	Economic Affairs		Kohl IV
11		Klaus Kinkel (1936–2019)	21 January 1993	27 October 1998	2104	FDP	Foreign Affairs		Kohl IV • V
12		Joschka Fischer (born 1948)	27 October 1998	22 November 2005	2583	Green	Foreign Affairs		Schröder I • II
13		Franz Müntefering (born 1940)	22 November 2005	21 November 2007	729	SPD	Labour and Social Affairs		Merkel I
14		Frank-Walter Steinmeier (born 1956)	21 November 2007	27 October 2009	706	SPD	Foreign Affairs		Merkel I
15		Guido Westerwelle (1961–2016)	27 October 2009	16 May 2011	565	FDP	Foreign Affairs		Merkel II
16		Philipp Rösler (born 1973)	16 May 2011	17 December 2013	946	FDP	Economic Affairs		Merkel II
17		Sigmar Gabriel (born 1959)	17 December 2013	14 March 2018	1548	SPD	Economic Affairs (2013–17) Foreign Affairs (2017–18)		Merkel III
18		Olaf Scholz (born 1958)	14 March 2018	8 December 2021	1365	SPD	Finance		Merkel IV
19		Robert Habeck (born 1969)	8 December 2021	6 May 2025	1245	Green	Economic Affairs and Climate Protection		Scholz
20		Lars Klingbeil (born 1978)	6 May 2025	Incumbent	0	SPD	Finance		Merz