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 Lutherans as these remain the main confessions in the country.

Current German Chancellor, Angela Merkel is Lutheran.

The current German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is a Lutheran Protestant within the Evangelical Church.

Details

Most of Germany's chancellors have been either Lutherans 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 a 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 he was buried on a Protestant cemetery.[4]

As some chancellors' views are uncertain or causing confusion among researchers, such as these of Adolf Hitler or Joseph Goebbels, the official religion they were brought up in is only mentioned with a further information on their worldviews, if available. 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

NameTermReligious affiliation
1Otto von Bismarck1867–1871Lutheran

German Empire

NameTermReligious affiliation
1Otto von Bismarck1871–1890Lutheran
2Leo von Caprivi1890–1894Lutheran
3Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst1894–1900Catholic
4Bernhard von Bülow1900–1909Lutheran
5Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg1909–1917Lutheran
6Georg Michaelis1917Lutheran
7Georg von Hertling1917–1918Catholic
8Max von Baden1918Lutheran

Weimar Republic

NameTermReligious affiliation
1Friedrich Ebert1918–1919Irreligious (see details above)
2Philipp Scheidemann1919Reformed
3Gustav Bauer1919–1920Irreligious (see details above)
4Hermann Müller1920Irreligious
5Constantin Fehrenbach1920-1921Roman Catholic
6Joseph Wirth1921–1922Roman Catholic
7Wilhelm Cuno1922–1923Roman Catholic
8Gustav Stresemann1923Lutheran
9Wilhelm Marx1923–1925Roman Catholic
10Hans Luther1925–1926Lutheran
11Wilhelm Marx1926–1928Roman Catholic
12Hermann Müller1928-1930Irreligious
13Heinrich Brüning1930-1932Roman Catholic
14Franz von Papen1932Roman Catholic
15Kurt von Schleicher1932–1933Lutheran

Nazi Germany

NameTermReligious affiliation
1Adolf Hitler1933–1945initially Roman Catholic, see details
2Joseph Goebbels1945initially Roman Catholic
3Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk1945Lutheran

West Germany and reunified Germany

NameTermReligious affiliation
N/AVacant1945-1949N/A
1Konrad Adenauer1949–1963Roman Catholic
2Ludwig Erhard1963–1966Lutheran
3Kurt Georg Kiesinger1966–1969Roman Catholic
4Willy Brandt1969–1974Lutheran
N/AWalter Scheel1974, actingLutheran
5Helmut Schmidt1974–1982Lutheran
6Helmut Kohl1982–1998Roman Catholic
7Gerhard Schröder1998-2005Lutheran
8Angela Merkel2005–presentLutheran

Affiliation totals

This table doesn't include Walter Scheel, a Lutheran who served as acting Chancellor in May 1974.

Affiliation
Lutheran16
Roman Catholic12
initially Roman Catholic2
Reformed1
Irreligious3

See also

References

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