The Minister of Finance of Germany (german: Finanzminister) is the head of the Federal Ministry of Finance and a member of the Federal Cabinet.

State Secretaries for Finance of the German Empire (1880–1918)

Adolf Heinrich Wilhelm Scholz Adolf Heinrich Wilhelm Scholz, since 1883 Adolf Heinrich Wilhelm von Scholz (born 1 November 1833 in Świdnica, Schweidnitz, died 20 March 1924 at Schloss Seeheim, Konstanz, Constance) was a German army officer and politician. From 1864–1871 he w ...

1880–1882 *

Franz Emil Emanuel von Burchard Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

1882–1886 *

Karl Rudolf Jacobi Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austria ...

1886–1888 * Baron

Helmuth von Maltzahn Helmuth Ludwig Wilhelm Freiherr von Maltzahn (6 January 1840 – 11 February 1923) was a German finance minister and a representative in the Reichstag. Maltzahn was born in Gültz in the Prussian Province of Pomerania. After finishing school h ...

1888–1893 * Count

Arthur von Posadowsky-Wehner Arthur Adolf, Count of Posadowsky-Wehner, Baron of Postelwitz (german: Arthur Graf von Posadowsky-Wehner Freiherr von Postelwitz, 3 June 1845 – 23 October 1932) was a German conservative statesman. He served as the secretary for the Treasury (18 ...

1893–1897 * Baron Max Franz Guido von Thielmann 1897–1903 * Baron

Hermann von Stengel Hermann Guido Leopold Freiherr von Stengel (19 July 1837 – 1919) was a Bavarian administrator, a German politician and Finance Minister of the German Empire from 1903 to 1908. Early life He was born in Speyer, Electorate of the Palatinate, on 19 ...

1903–1908 *

Reinhold Sydow Reinhold is a German male given name. This German name is originally from "Reinold", composed of two elements. The first is from ''ragin'', meaning "the (Germanic) Gods" and ''wald'' meaning "powerful". This name was popularised by the ancient Ge ...

1908–1909 *

Adolf Wermuth Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in var ...

1909–1912 *

Hermann Kühn Hermann or Herrmann may refer to: * Hermann (name), list of people with this name * Arminius, chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe in the 1st century, known as Hermann in the German language * Éditions Hermann, French publisher * Hermann, Mis ...

1912–1915 *

Karl Helfferich Karl Theodor Helfferich (22 July 1872 – 23 April 1924) was a German politician, economist, and financier from Neustadt an der Weinstraße in the Palatinate. Biography Helfferich studied law and political science at the universities of Munich, B ...

1915–1916 * Count

Siegfried von Roedern Siegfried Friedrich Wilhelm Erdmann Graf von Roedern (born 27 July 1870 in Marburg, died 14 April 1954 in Bergen, Upper Bavaria), was a German politician. He served as Secretary in the Ministry for Alsace-Lorraine from 1914 to 1916, and as Federa ...

1916–1918

Ministers of Finance (1918–1945)

Minister of Finance of the German Democratic Republic (1949–1990)

Ministers of Finance of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present)

Political party: {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" ! colspan=2, Name
(born and died) ! Party ! colspan=2, Term of office !

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

(Cabinet) , - ! style="background:;" , 1 ,

Fritz Schäffer Fritz Schäffer (12 May 1888 – 29 March 1967) was a German politician of the Bavarian People's Party (BVP) and the Christian Social Union (CSU). He was the Bavarian Minister of Finance from 1931 to 1933, when the Nazis came to power in Berlin ...

(1888–1967) ,

CSU CSU may refer to: * Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card * Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code * Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation * Christian Social Un ...

, 20 September 1949 , 29 October 1957 ,

Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Demo ...

( I • II) , - ! style="background:;color:white;" , 2 ,

Franz Etzel Franz Etzel (12 August 1902 – 9 May 1970) was a German politician of the CDU. Etzel was born in Wesel, Rhine Province. From 1949 to 4 January 1953 and from 1957 to 1965 Etzel was member of the German Bundestag. From 1957 to 1961 he was Minis ...

(1902–1970) , CDU , 29 October 1957 , 14 November 1961 ,

(III) , - ! style="background:;" , 3 ,

Heinz Starke Heinz Starke (27 February 1911 – 31 January 2001) was a German politician. He was born in Schweidnitz, Silesia. He was Minister of Finance of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1961–62. He was a member of the Bundestag from 1953 to 1980 repr ...

(1911–2001) , FDP , 14 November 1961 , 19 November 1962 ,

(IV) , - ! style="background:;" , 4 ,

Rolf Dahlgrün Rolf Dahlgrün (19 May 1908 – 19 December 1969) was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). From 1962 to 1966, he was the Minister of Finance. Dahlgrün studied law. He worked since 1936 for the Phönix Gummiwerke AG in Hamb ...

(1908–1969) , FDP , 14 December 1962 , 28 October 1966 ,

(V)

Erhard Erhard is a male German given name and surname, and may refer to: People *Erhard of Regensburg, bishop of Regensburg in the 7th century *Erhard Altdorfer (c. 1480–1561), German Early Renaissance printmaker, painter and architect *Erhard Arnold Ju ...

(I • II) , - ! style="background:;color:white;" , 5 ,

Kurt Schmücker Kurt Schmücker (10 November 1919 – 6 January 1996) was a German politician, member of Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Biography Schmücker was born on 10 November 1919 in Löningen, in the Free State of Oldenburg. In 1938, he ended a book ...

(1919–1996) , CDU , 8 November 1966 , 30 November 1966 ,

(II) , - ! style="background:;" , 6 ,

Franz Josef Strauß Franz Josef Strauss ( ; 6 September 1915 – 3 October 1988) was a German politician. He was the long-time chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions between ...

(1915–1988) , CSU , 1 December 1966 , 21 October 1969 , Kiesinger
( I) , - ! style="background:;" , 7 ,

Alex Möller Alexander Johann Heinrich Friedrich Möller (26 April 1903 – 2 October 1985) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD). Möller was born in Dortmund. He was a member of the Landtag of Bad ...

(1903–1985) ,

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 ...

, 22 October 1969 , 13 May 1971 , rowspan=2,

Brandt Brandt may refer to: Places United States * Brandt, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Brandt, South Dakota, a town * Brandt Township, Polk County, Minnesota Elsewhere * Mount Brandt, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica * Brandt Cove, South Georgia Is ...

( I) , - ! style="background:;" , 8 ,

Karl Schiller Karl August Fritz Schiller (24 April 1911 – 26 December 1994) was a German economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). From 1966 to 1972, he was Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and from 1971 to 1972 Federal Minister o ...

(1911–1994) , SPD , 13 May 1971 , 7 July 1972 , - ! style="background:;" , 9 ,

Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Before becoming Cha ...

(1918–2015) , SPD , 7 July 1972 , 1 May 1974 ,

( I • II) , - ! style="background:;" , 10 ,

Hans Apel Hans Eberhard Apel (25 February 1932 – 6 September 2011) was a German politician and a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). From 1972 to 1974 he was Parliamentary State Secretary to the Foreign Minister. From 1974 to 1978 he was th ...

(1932–2011) , SPD , 16 May 1974 , 15 February 1978 ,

Schmidt Schmidt may refer to: * Schmidt (surname), including list of people with the surname * Schmidt (singer) (born 1990), German pop and jazz singer * Schmidt (lunar crater), a small lunar impact crater * Schmidt (Martian crater), a List of craters on ...

( I • II) , - ! style="background:;" , 11 ,

Hans Matthöfer Hans Hermann Matthöfer (25 September 1925 – 14 November 2009) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Between 1974 and 1978 Matthöfer served as secretary of research and technology. In 1978 he took over as secretary of ...

(1925–2009) , SPD , 16 February 1978 , 28 April 1982 ,

(II • III) , - ! style="background:;" , 12 ,

Manfred Lahnstein Manfred Lahnstein (born 20 December 1937) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). In 1982 he was German Federal Minister of Finance as well as Federal Minister of Economics and until 2004 worked for the media conglomerat ...

(b. 1937) , SPD , 28 April 1982 , 1 October 1982 ,

(III) , - ! style="background:;color:white;" , 13 ,

Gerhard Stoltenberg Gerhard Stoltenberg (29 September 1928 – 23 November 2001) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and minister in the cabinets of Ludwig Erhard, Kurt Georg Kiesinger and Helmut Kohl. He served as Minister-President o ...

(1928–2001) , CDU , 4 October 1982 , 21 April 1989 ,

Kohl Kohl may refer to: *Kohl (cosmetics), an ancient eye cosmetic *Kohl (surname), including a list of people with the surname *Kohl's Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. ...

( I • II • III) , - ! style="background:;" , 14 ,

Theodor Waigel Theodor Waigel (born 22 April 1939) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). He represented Neu-Ulm in the Bundestag from 1976 to 2002. Waigel is a lawyer, and earned a doctorate in 1967. He was a member of the Bu ...

(b. 1939) , CSU , 21 April 1989 , 27 October 1998 ,

( III • IV • V) , - ! style="background:;" , 15 ,

Oskar Lafontaine Oskar Lafontaine (; born 16 September 1943) is a German politician. He served as Minister-President of the state of Saarland from 1985 to 1998, and was federal leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 1995 to 1999. He was the lead candid ...

(b. 1943) , SPD , 27 October 1998 , 18 March 1999 ,

Schröder Schröder (Schroeder) is a German language, German surname often associated with the Schröder family. Notable people with the surname include: * Arthur Schröder (1892–1986), German actor * Atze Schröder, stage name of German comedian Hubertu ...

( I) , - ! style="background:;" , 16 ,

Hans Eichel Hans Eichel (born 24 December 1941) is a German politician (SPD) and the co-founder of the G20, or "Group of Twenty", an international forum for the governments and central bank governors of twenty developed and developing nations to discuss po ...

(b. 1941) , SPD , 12 April 1999 , 22 November 2005 ,

( I • II) , - ! style="background:;" , 17 ,

Peer Steinbrück Peer Steinbrück (born 10 January 1947) is a German politician who was the Chancellor-candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the 2013 federal election. Steinbrück served as the eighth Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia f ...

(b. 1947) , SPD , 22 November 2005 , 28 October 2009 , Merkel
( I) , - ! style="background:;color:white;" , 18 ,

Wolfgang Schäuble Wolfgang Schäuble (; born 18 September 1942) is a German lawyer, politician and statesman whose political career has spanned for more than five decades. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), he is one of the longest-serving politi ...

(b. 1942) , CDU , 28 October 2009 , 24 October 2017 , Merkel
( II • III) , - , - ! style="background:;color:white;" , – ,

Peter Altmaier Peter Altmaier (born 18 June 1958) is a German lawyer and CDU politician who served as Acting Minister of Finance from 2017 to 2018 and as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy from 2018 to 2021. He previously served as Federal Mi ...

(''acting'')
(b. 1958) , CDU , 24 October 2017 , 14 March 2018 , Merkel
( III) , - ! style="background:;" , 19 ,

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 ...

(b. 1958) , SPD , 14 March 2018 , 8 December 2021 , Merkel
( IV) , - ! style="background:{{party color, Free Democratic Party (Germany);" , 20 ,

Christian Lindner Christian Wolfgang Lindner (born 7 January 1979) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) serving as the Federal Minister of Finance since 8 December 2021. He has been the party leader of the liberal FDP since 2013 and a Memb ...

(b. 1979) , FDP , 8 December 2021 , ''Incumbent'' , Scholz
( Scholz)

State Secretaries for Finance of the German Empire (1880–1918)

Ministers of Finance (1918–1945)

Minister of Finance of the German Democratic Republic (1949–1990)

Ministers of Finance of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present)

See also