German Chancellery

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Kanzleramt, view from the Reichstag

Kanzleramt

Kanzleramt, view from the Spree river

Kanzleramt

Former Federal Chancellery, Bonn, 1976-99

The Chancellor's Office (Chancellery) (in German, Bundeskanzleramt, or more commonly Kanzleramt) is the office of the Chancellor, the head of the German federal government (Bundesregierung). The chief of the Chancellery (Chef des Bundeskanzleramtes) holds the rank of either a state secretary (Staatssekretär) or a federal minister (Bundesminister). The chief's primary function is to assist the Chancellor in coordinating the activities of the Federal Government. Despite this important position in the German political system, the Chancellery and its chief largely work in the background and have little public attention. The current chief of the Chancellery is Thomas de Maizière.

The Chancellery is also the name of the building that houses the personal offices of the Chancellor and the Chancellery staff. From 1949 to 1999, the Chancellery, along with the rest of the federal administration, was situated in Bonn. The Palais Schaumburg was originally used until the construction of a new Chancellery building in 1976. In the summer of 1999, as part of the German government's move to Berlin, the Chancellery was temporarily housed in the former GDR State Council building (Staatsratsgebäude) in eastern Berlin as the new Chancellery building was not yet finished at the time. The current Chancellery building (opened in the spring of 2001) was built of concrete and glass in a modern style. Occupying 12,000 square meters (129,166 square feet), it is also one of the largest government headquarters buildings in the world. By comparison, the new Chancellery building is eight times the size of the White House.^[1] Because of the round area of windows on the back and its cubic form, it's nicknamed Waschmaschine, washing-machine.

1 History
- 1.1 Heads of the Chancellery since 1950
2 References
3 External link

[edit] History

The Chancellery was established in 1871, and originally had its seat in the Radziwill Palace in Wilhelmstraße 77 in Berlin. In 1938-39 a new Chancellery was built, located at Voß-straße 6. It was damaged during World War II and later demolished by Soviet occupation forces.

[edit] Heads of the Chancellery since 1950

Directors of the Chancellery attend Cabinet meetings. They may also sit as members of the Cabinet if they are also given the position of Minister for Special Affairs (Minister für besondere Aufgaben), similar to that of Minister without Portfolio in some other countries. They are often uncorrectly called "Kanzleramtsminister" (chancellery minister).

1950–1951: Walter Hallstein
1951–1953: Otto Lenz
1953–1963: Hans Globke
1963–1966: Ludger Westrick (also Minister for Special Affairs and the Defense Council, 1964-66)
1966–1967: Werner Knieper
1967–1969: Karl Carstens
1969–1972: Horst Ehmke (also Minister for Special Affairs)
1972–1974: Horst Grabert
1974–1980: Manfred Schüler
1980–1982: Manfred Lahnstein
1982: Gerhard Konow
1982–1984: Waldemar Schreckenberger
1984–1989: Wolfgang Schäuble (also Minister for Special Affairs)
1989–1991: Rudolf Seiters (also Minister for Special Affairs)
1991–1998: Friedrich Bohl (also Minister for Special Affairs)
1998–1999: Bodo Hombach (also Minister for Special Affairs)
1999-2005: Frank-Walter Steinmeier
since 2005: Thomas de Maizière (also Minister for Special Affairs)