A Federal Minister for Special Affairs (german: Bundesminister für besondere Aufgaben, ) is a member of the

German government The Federal Cabinet or Federal Government (german: link=no, Bundeskabinett or ') is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and cabinet ministers. The fundamentals of the cabinet's or ...

without portfolio. Early Minister for Special Affairs were assigned different tasks by the Chancellor. For example,

Robert Tillmanns Robert Tillmanns (April 5, 1896 in Barmen – November 12, 1955 in Berlin) was a German politician. From 1953 to 1955 he was Federal Minister for Special Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany. Life and work After the Abitur in 1914, T ...

, one of the first two Ministers for Special Affairs, represented the federal government in the

Council of Elders of the Bundestag The Council of Elders (german: Ältestenrat) of the German parliament Bundestag is a joint deliberative body which includes the following members: * President; * Vice presidents; * Bundestag members appointed by parliamentary groups in proportion ...

. Other responsibilities delegated to different Ministers for Special Affairs included the middle class, water management, the Federal Defense Council or the affairs of the

Vice-Chancellor of Germany The vice-chancellor of Germany, unofficially the vice-chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (), officially the deputy to the federal chancellor (), is the second highest ranking German cabinet member. The chancellor is the head of governme ...

. Since 1964, this use of the title fell out of favour. Instead, the title is often given to the Chief of staff of the Chancellery to provide him with a vote in cabinet meetings. The last Chief of staff of the Chancellery not to concurrently hold the title of minister special affairs was

Frank-Walter Steinmeier Frank-Walter Steinmeier (; born 5 January 1956) is a German politician serving as President of Germany since 19 March 2017. He was previously Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2017, as well as Vice Chan ...

(1999–2005), who instead retained the lower Secretary of State rank; however regardless of ministerial rank, the title "Kanzleramtsminister" (Minister of the Chancellery) is frequently used to refer to the job. Historically, appointees to the ministry who weren't heads of the chancellery at the same time have often been important political aides or politicians waiting for a portfolio or representatives of certain parties, groups or regions. For instance, after German reunification in 1990, some members of the final East German government, former

Association of Free Democrats The Association of Free Democrats (german: Bund Freier Demokraten) was a liberal coalition, later party, formed in East Germany on 12 February 1990. It originally consisted of the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany, Liberal Democratic Party, the F ...

(the affiliated group of the FDP, the then-junior coalition partner) Volkskammer leader

Rainer Ortleb Rainer Ortleb (born Gera 5 June 1944) is a German academic and politician. From October 1990 he served under Helmut Kohl as a Federal Minister for Special Affairs in Germany's first post-reunification government. In the next government, bet ...

and

President of the Volkskammer __NOTOC__ The Volkskammer (, ''People's Chamber'') was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic (colloquially known as East Germany). The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house ...

Sabine Bergmann-Pohl Sabine Bergmann-Pohl (née Schulz; ; born 20 April 1946) is a German doctor and politician. A member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), she was president of the People's Chamber of East Germany from April to October 1990. Durin ...

were appointed as Federal Ministers for Special Affairs, in order to provide a representation of the

New states of Germany The new states of Germany () are the five re-established states of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) that unified with the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) with its 10 states upon German reunification on 3 October 1990. The new st ...

in the federal government.

List of Federal Ministers for Special Affairs

Political Party: {{Foreign Ministers of Germany Special Affairs