Historical rankings of chancellors of Germany are surveys conducted to construct rankings of the success and popularity of the individuals who have served as

Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...

in the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

Opinion polls

Overview

Opinion poll rankings of the greatest chancellor

^ Following Willy Brandt's resignation as Chancellor, Walter Scheel was acting Chancellor for nine days.

Opinion poll rankings of the most important chancellor

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SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

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Olaf Scholz Olaf Scholz (; born ) is a German politician who has served as the chancellor of Germany since 8 December 2021. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as Vice Chancellor of German ...

, , SPD , , 2021 – present , , – , , – , , – ^ Following Willy Brandt's resignation as Chancellor, Walter Scheel was acting Chancellor for nine days.

ZDF (2003)

For the TV show ''

Unsere Besten ' ("Our Best") is a television series shown in German public television (ZDF) in November 2003, similar to the BBC series ''100 Greatest Britons'' and that program's spin-offs. In subsequent years, a dozen similar rankings were compiled, mostly ...

'', more than 1 million Germans were asked to rank the 100 most notable Germans in an unrepresentative opinion poll. The list also included German chancellors: # Konrad Adenauer (#1 overall) #

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

(#5) # Helmut Kohl (#13) # Helmut Schmidt (#21) #

Ludwig Erhard Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (; 4 February 1897 – 5 May 1977) was a German politician affiliated with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and chancellor of West Germany from 1963 until 1966. He is known for leading the West German postwar economic ...

(#27) #

Gerhard Schröder Gerhard Fritz Kurt "Gerd" Schröder (; born 7 April 1944) is a German lobbyist and former politician, who served as the chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. From 1999 to 2004, he was also the Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ...

(#82) Neither

Kurt Georg Kiesinger Kurt Georg Kiesinger (; 6 April 1904 – 9 March 1988) was a German politician who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1 December 1966 to 21 October 1969. Before he became Chancellor he served as Minister President of Baden-Württemberg ...

nor Angela Merkel (who was leader of the opposition at that time) were ranked among the 100 most notable Germans.

Forsa (2005)

In an opinion poll conducted by Forsa in July 2005, the 1002 pollees were supposed to name the most notable German chancellor: # Konrad Adenauer – 35% #

– 20% # Helmut Schmidt – 18% # Helmut Kohl – 17% #

– 5% #

– 1% #

– 0% The poll didn't include Chancellor Angela Merkel, since she had only assumed office in November 2005.

Emnid (2005)

In an opinion poll from November 2005, the polling company Emnid asked for the best German chancellor: # Helmut Schmidt – 28% # Helmut Kohl – 18% # Konrad Adenauer – 17% #

– 15% #

– 10% #

– 3% #

– 1% The poll didn't include Chancellor Angela Merkel, since she had only assumed office in November 2005.

Infratest dimap (2010)

In March 2010, Infratest dimap asked 1500 people for their view of the term in office of German chancellors. The given numbers show the percentage of people agreeing with the statement that the named chancellor was a good one: # Helmut Schmidt – 75% #

– 68% # Angela Merkel – 67% # Helmut Kohl – 59% #

– 47% The poll didn't include the first three German chancellors (Adenauer, Erhard, Kiesinger).

Forsa (2013)

In December 2013, Forsa asked 1002 Germans to name the most notable German chancellor: # Helmut Schmidt – 25% # Konrad Adenauer – 23% #

– 18% # Helmut Kohl – 17% # Angela Merkel – 6% #

– 3% #

– 2% #

– 0%

YouGov (2015)

In May 2015,

YouGov YouGov is a British international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm, headquartered in the UK, with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. In 2007, it acquired US company Polimetrix, and sinc ...

asked 1111 Germans to name the best German chancellor in their opinion:Schmidt bester Kanzler, von Weizsäcker bester Bundespräsident
YouGov # Helmut Schmidt – 24% # Konrad Adenauer and Angela Merkel – 18% #

– 15% # Helmut Kohl – 9% #

– 5% #

– 4% #

– 1%