Fourth Kohl cabinet

The fourth cabinet led by Helmut Kohl was sworn in on 18 January 1991 and laid down its function on 15 November 1994. The cabinet was formed after the 1990 elections. It laid down its function after the formation of the Cabinet Kohl V, which was formed following the 1994 elections.

This cabinet was the first to be formed after German Reunification. Among the East German politicians to enter the government was Angela Merkel, the current chancellor, as minister of women and health.

The cabinet had the following composition:

• Helmut Kohl (CDU) – Chancellor
• Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) – Vice Chancellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Rudolf Seiters (CDU) – Minister of Special Tasks and Chief of the Chancellery
• Gerhard Stoltenberg (CDU) – Minister of Defense
• Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) – Minister of the Interior
• Theo Waigel (CSU) – Minister of Finance
• Klaus Kinkel (FDP) – Minister of Justice
• Jürgen Möllemann (FDP) – Minister of Economics
• Norbert Blüm (CDU) – Minister of Labour and Social Affairs
• Ignaz Kiechle (CSU) – Minister of Food, Agriculture, And Forestry
• Günther Krause (CDU) – Minister of Transport
• Irmgard Adam-Schwaetzer (CSU) – Minister of Construction
• Hannelore Rönsch (CDU) – Minister of Family and Senior Citizens
• Angela Merkel (CDU) – Minister of Women and Youth
• Gerda Hasselfeldt (CDU) – Minister of Health
• Heinz Riesenhuber (CDU) – Minister of Research and Technology
• Rainer Ortleb (FDP) – Minister of Education and Science
• Carl-Dieter Spranger (CSU) – Minister of Economic Cooperation, brother to Lt Col Wolfgang Spranger
• Klaus Töpfer (CDU) – Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation, and Reactor Security
• Christian Schwarz-Schilling (CDU) – Minister of Posts and Communications

The composition changed nine times:

• 26 November 1991 – Rudolf Seiters (CDU) succeeds Schäuble as Minister of the Interior. Friedrich Bohl (CDU) succeeds Seiters as Minister of Special Tasks.
• 1 April 1992 – Volker Rühe (CDU) succeeds Stoltenberg as Minister of Defense.
• 6 May 1992 – Horst Seehofer (CSU) succeeds Hasselfeldt as Minister of Health.
• 18 May 1992 – Jürgen Möllemann (FDP) succeeds Genscher as Vice Chancellor, remaining also Minister of Economics. Klaus Kinkel (FDP) succeeds Genscher as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (FDP) succeeds Kinkel as Minister of Justice.
• 17 December 1992 – Schwarz-Schilling resigns as Minister of Posts and Communications with immediate effect, Wolfgang Bötsch (CSU) succeeds him on 21 January 1993
• 21 January 1993 – Klaus Kinkel (FDP) succeeds Möllemann as Vice Chancellor, remaining also Minister of Foreign Affairs. Günter Rexrodt (FDP) succeeds Möllemann as Minister of Economics. Jochen Borchert (CDU) succeeds Kiechle as Minister of Food, Agriculture, and Forestry. Matthias Wissmann (CDU) succeeds Riesenhuber as Minister of Science and Technology. Carl-Dieter Spranger (CSU) becomes Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, rather than Minister of Economic Cooperation.
• 13 May 1993 – Matthias Wissmann (CDU) succeeds Krause as Minister of Transport. Paul Krüger (CDU) succeeds Wissmann as Minister of Research and Technology.
• 7 July 1993 – Manfred Kanther (CDU) succeeds Seiters as Minister of the Interior.
• 4 February 1994 – Karl-Hans Laermann (FDP) succeeds Ortleb as Minister of Education and Science.

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