Religious affiliations of chancellors of Germany

Most German chancellors have been followers of a Christian church. German society has been affected by a Catholic-Protestant divide since the Protestant Reformation, and the same effect is visible in this list of German chancellors. It is largely dominated by Catholics and Protestants as these remain the main confessions in the country.

The current German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is unaffiliated.

The current German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is unaffiliated to any church or other religious body; he was raised Protestant.

Details

Most of Germany's chancellors have been either Protestants or Catholics. A significant portion of Protestant chancellors belonged to the Prussian Union of churches, which united the Reformed and Lutheran confessions throughout the Kingdom of Prussia, and was in force since 1817. Some Catholic chancellors came from the Catholic Centre Party. The Christian Democratic Union, a party of both Roman Catholics and Protestants, produced both kinds of chancellors. One chancellor, namely Philipp Scheidemann, was Reformed (Calvinist).[1]

Although there were some religiously sceptic chancellors, most never officially renounced their faith and were given a Christian funeral. Hermann Müller, a Social Democrat heavily influenced by his father-an advocate of Ludwig Feuerbach's views, is the only one notable for not having been a member of any confession at all. Friedrich Ebert was baptised Roman Catholic, but later officially left the denomination.[2] Gustav Bauer is on record as unaffiliated to any recognised religion at least from 1912 to 1924 (thus including his term of office),[3] but was buried in a Protestant cemetery.[4]

As some chancellors' views are uncertain or causing confusion among researchers, only their official affiliation to a church is mentioned. Due to the German church tax system, legal membership in a church that has the right to collect taxes is officially registered and certain information on this status is available. Actual worldviews are not known for some chancellors; for others, they may clearly differ from the belief system of the church of which they were legal members, as is the case for e.g. Hitler and Goebbels. A further link to information on their worldviews is given where available, but the absence of such a mention does not mean that other chancellors’ views were necessarily in line with the teachings of their church. For issues pertaining to Nazi stance on religion, see Religion in Nazi Germany, Religious aspects of Nazism, and Religious views of Adolf Hitler.

By term

North German Confederation (1867–1871)
NameTermLegal affiliation
01Otto von Bismarck1867–1871Protestant[5]

German Reich (1871–1945)
NameTermLegal affiliation
German Empire (1871–1918)
01Otto von Bismarck1871–1890Protestant[5]
02Leo von Caprivi1890–1894Protestant[6]
03Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst1894–1900Roman Catholic[7]
04Bernhard von Bülow1900–1909Protestant[8]
05Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg1909–1917Protestant[9]
06Georg Michaelis1917Protestant[10]
07Georg von Hertling1917–1918Roman Catholic[11]
08Max von Baden1918Protestant[12]
Weimar Republic (1918-1933)
09Friedrich Ebert1918–1919none[2]
10Philipp Scheidemann1919Protestant[13]
11Gustav Bauer1919–1920none[3]
12Hermann Müller1920none[14]
13Constantin Fehrenbach1920–1921Roman Catholic[15]
14Joseph Wirth1921–1922Roman Catholic[16]
15Wilhelm Cuno1922–1923Roman Catholic[17]
16Gustav Stresemann1923Protestant[18]
17Wilhelm Marx1923–1925Roman Catholic[19]
18Hans Luther1925–1926Protestant[20]
19
(17)		Wilhelm Marx1926–1928Roman Catholic[19]
20
(12)		Hermann Müller1928–1930none[14]
21Heinrich Brüning1930–1932Roman Catholic[21]
22Franz von Papen1932Roman Catholic[22]
23Kurt von Schleicher1932–1933Protestant[23]
Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
24Adolf Hitler1933–1945Roman Catholic,[24]
see more details
25Joseph Goebbels1945Roman Catholic[25]
see more details
26Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk1945Protestant[26]

Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present)
NameTermLegal affiliation
01Konrad Adenauer1949–1963Roman Catholic[27]
02Ludwig Erhard1963–1966Protestant[28]
03Kurt Georg Kiesinger1966–1969Roman Catholic[29]
04Willy Brandt1969–1974Protestant[30]
05Helmut Schmidt1974–1982Protestant[31]
06Helmut Kohl1982–1998Roman Catholic[32]
07Gerhard Schröder1998–2005Protestant[33]
08Angela Merkel2005–2021Protestant[34]
09Olaf Scholz2021–presentnone[35]

Affiliation totals
Affiliation
Protestant16
Roman Catholic13a
none4

a. ^ Including two determined opponents of the Roman Catholic faith, Hitler and Goebbels (see Nazi attitudes towards Christianity).

See also

References
  1. Scheidemann, Philipp Heinrich
  2. Federal Archives, files of the Reich chancellery, Friedrich Ebert's death
  3. See parliamentary handbooks downloadable here
  4. See "Gemeinde Glienicke/Nordbahn: Schon fast in Vergessenheit geraten"
  5. Deutsche Biographie: Otto von Bismarck
  6. Deutsche Biographie: Leo von Caprivi
  7. Deutsche Biographie: Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
  8. Deutsche Biographie: Bernhard von Bülow
  9. Deutsche Biographie: Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg
  10. Deutsche Biographie: Georg Michaelis
  11. Deutsche Biographie: Georg von Hertling
  12. Deutsche Biographie: Max von Baden
  13. Deutsche Biographie: Philipp Scheidemann (reformed)
  14. Deutsche Biographie: Hermann Müller
  15. Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Biographical entry for Constantin Fehrenbach
  16. Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Biographical entry for Joseph Wirth
  17. Deutsche Biographie: Wilhelm Cuno
  18. Deutsche Biographie: Gustav Stresemann
  19. Deutsche Biographie: Wilhelm Marx
  20. Deutsche Biographie: Hans Luther
  21. University of Rostock: Inscription of Heinrich Brüning as a student
  22. Deutsche Biographie: Franz von Papen
  23. Deutsche Biographie: Kurt von Schleicher
  24. Deutsche Biographie: Adolf Hitler
  25. Deutsche Biographie: Joseph Goebbels
  26. Deutsche Biographie: Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk
  27. Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Biographical entry for Konrad Adenauer
  28. Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Biographical entry for Ludwig Erhard
  29. Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Biographical entry for Kurt Georg Kiesinger
  30. Der Spiegel, 21/1960: Anti-Brandt-Feldzug: Reise in die Vergangenheit
  31. Kommission für Geschichte des Parlamentarismus und der politischen Parteien: Die Volksvertretung 1946–1972
  32. Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Biographical entry for Helmut Kohl
  33. Kath.net: In Schröders Kabinett ist jeder zweite Minister evangelisch
  34. Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Biographical entry for Angela Merkel
  35. Bundestag: Biographical entry for Olaf Scholz
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.