Federal ministry (Germany)

In Germany, a Federal ministry (Bundesministerium) is a supreme federal agency subordinate to a at the federal level. According to Article 62 of the Basic Law, the Federal Government consists of the Federal Chancellor and the federal ministers. Within the Chancellor's power to issue directives, each federal minister manages their ministry independently (also known as departmental authority). This includes, in addition to the ministry itself, the upper, middle, and lower federal authorities assigned to that department.

The civil servants (Beamter) and public employees () of the Federal Ministry perform the duties of the Federal Minister on his behalf and in his name, in particular the and of subordinate authorities and the political duties vis-à-vis the German Bundestag and other federal bodies. The Ministry stands at the interface between political leadership () and the apolitical administration (Executive in the narrower sense). The activities of the ministerial administration therefore differ from those of subordinate administrations.