German Chancellors and Presidents

This list is comprised of German Chancellors and Presidents. The Chancellor is the head of the government. Germany was unified in 1871, with the Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck becoming the first Chancellor.

The President is the official head of state. The office was established in 1919 during the Weimar Republic and re-established in 1949 in West Germany.

In German the Chancellor was originally called Reichskanzler meaning "imperial chancellor". Since 1949 the title is Bundeskanzler meaning "federal chancellor" (the first female chancellor, Angela Merkel, has the title Bundeskanzlerin). Likewise, the President was originally Reichspräsident and then Bundespräsident after 1949.