The office of Minister-President (german: Ministerpräsident), or Prime Minister, of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

existed from 1848, when it was formed by

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

Frederick William IV during the 1848–49 Revolution, until the abolition of Prussia in 1947 by the

Allied Control Council The Allied Control Council or Allied Control Authority (german: Alliierter Kontrollrat) and also referred to as the Four Powers (), was the governing body of the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany and Allied-occupied Austria after the end of ...

History of the office

Under the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

the Minister President functioned as the chief minister of the

, and presided over the

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...

(the Prussian

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

established in 1848). After the

unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of t ...

in 1871 and until the collapse in 1918, the office of the Prussian Minister President was usually held by the

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 ...

of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

, beginning with the tenure of

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of ...

. Under the Free State of Prussia the Minister President was the head of the state government in a more traditional parliamentary role during the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...

. The office ceased to have any real meaning except as a kind of political

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

title after the takeover by the national government in 1932 ('' Preußenschlag''), and after

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

dismantled Prussia as a state in 1935 (''

Reichsstatthaltergesetz The ''Reichsstatthalter'' (, '' Imperial lieutenant'') was a title used in the German Empire and later in Nazi Germany. ''Statthalter des Reiches'' (1879–1918) The office of ''Statthalter des Reiches'' (otherwise known as ''Reichsstatthalt ...

''). Eventually, the office was abolished along with Prussia itself by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Chief Ministers of the
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
(1702–1848)

*1702–1711: Johann Kasimir Kolbe von Wartenberg *1711–1728: *1728–1739:

Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow (4 October 1678 – 18 March 1739) was a Prussian ''Generalfeldmarschall'' and statesman. The cultured Grumbkow was born in Berlin as the son of Joachim Ernst von Grumbkow, General War Minister of Brandenburg-Pr ...

*1739–1749: *1749–1753: *1749–1777:

Count Karl-Wilhelm Finck von Finckenstein Karl Wilhelm Reichsgraf Finck von Finckenstein (11 February 1714 – 3 January 1800) was a Count of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, a Prussian diplomat, and later Prime Minister of Prussia. Family He was the son of Count Albrec ...

*1777–1802: *1786–1798: *1802–1804: Count Christian Heinrich Kurt von Haugwitz (1st term) *1804–1806: Count

Karl August von Hardenberg Karl August Fürst von Hardenberg (31 May 1750, in Essenrode- Lehre – 26 November 1822, in Genoa) was a Prussian statesman and Prime Minister of Prussia. While during his late career he acquiesced to reactionary policies, earlier in his career ...

(1st term) *1806: Count Christian Heinrich Kurt von Haugwitz (2nd term) *1806–1807: *1807: Count

(2nd term) *1807–1808: Baron

Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein Heinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr vom und zum Stein (25 October 1757 – 29 June 1831), commonly known as Baron vom Stein, was a Prussian statesman who introduced the Prussian reforms, which paved the way for the unification of German ...

*1808–1810: Count Karl Friedrich Ferdinand Alexander zu Dohna-Schlobitten *1810–1822: Prince

(3rd term) *1822–1823: *1823–1841: Count Carl Friedrich Heinrich, Graf von Wylich und Lottum *1841–1848:

List of Ministers President of Prussia (1848–1945)

Ministers-President of the
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
(1848–1918)

Political Party:

Ministers-President of the Free State of Prussia (1918–1945)

Political Party:

History of the office

List of Ministers President of Prussia (1848–1945)

Ministers-President of the Free State of Prussia (1918–1945)

See also