List of German Foreign Ministers

Foreign ministers of Germany are responsible in the government for representing Germany vis-à-vis other states. You are head of a relevant ministry.

The first all-German government was the provisional central power of the emerging German Empire from 1848/1849 . It was also called the entire Reich Ministry or Reich Government. Three years after the founding of the North German Confederation in 1867, the Prussian Foreign Office was transferred to the federal level in 1870 . This traditional name for the German Foreign Ministry has been retained.

In the North German Confederation (1867–1870) and in the German Empire (1871–1918) the foreign minister had the title of State Secretary and was not a responsible minister in a collegial government. Instead, as with the other highest federal or Reich authorities, it was an office manager who was subordinate to the Federal Chancellor or Reich Chancellor.

A Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs by name and position did not exist until 1919 with the law on provisional imperial power and then the Weimar Constitution . The name stayed the same during the Nazi era (1933–1945). In the GDR it was called Minister for Foreign Affairs . In the Federal Republic of Germany, the title is Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs .

Reich Minister of the Provisional Central Authority of the German Empire 1848/1849

Imperial eagle of the central power

Surname	Term start	Term of office
Anton von Schmerling (interim)	Jul 14, 1848	Aug 5, 1848
Karl zu Leiningen	Aug 5, 1848	Aug 9, 1848
Johann Gustav Heckscher	Aug 9, 1848	6 Sep 1848
Anton von Schmerling	Sep 24 1848	Dec 15, 1848
Heinrich von Gagern	December 17, 1848	May 16, 1849
August Jochmus	May 16, 1849	December 20, 1849

State Secretary of the Foreign Office of the North German Confederation 1870

Coat of arms of the North German Confederation

Surname	Term start	Term of office
Hermann von Thile	Jan. 12, 1870	21 Mar 1871

State Secretaries of the Foreign Office of the German Empire ( German Empire 1871–1919)

Coat of arms of the German Empire

Surname	Term start	Term of office
Hermann von Thile	21 Mar 1871	Sep 30 1872
Hermann Ludwig von Balan	Oct 3, 1872	Oct 9, 1873
Bernhard Ernst von Bülow	Oct 9, 1873	Oct. 20, 1879
Josef Maria von Radowitz	Nov 6, 1879	Apr 17, 1880
Clovis of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst	Apr 20, 1880	Sep 1 1880
Friedrich of Limburg-Stirum	Sep 1 1880	Jun 25, 1881
Clemens Busch	Jun 25, 1881	Jul 16, 1881
Paul von Hatzfeld zu Trachenberg	Jul 16, 1881	Oct. 24, 1885
Herbert von Bismarck	Oct. 24, 1885	26th Mar 1890
Adolf Marshal von Bieberstein	31 Mar 1890	Oct. 19, 1897
Bernhard von Bülow	Oct. 20, 1897	Oct 23, 1900
Oswald von Richthofen	Oct 23, 1900	Jan. 17, 1906
Heinrich Leonhard von Tschirschky and Bögendorff	Jan. 24, 1906	Oct 25, 1907
Wilhelm von Schoen	Oct. 26, 1907	Jun 27, 1910
Alfred von Kiderlen-Wächter	Jun 27, 1910	Dec 30, 1912
Gottlieb von Jagow	Jan. 11, 1913	Nov 22, 1916
Arthur Zimmermann	Nov 22, 1916	Aug 6, 1917
Richard von Kühlmann	Aug 6, 1917	Jul 9, 1918
Paul von Hintze	Jul 9, 1918	Oct 3, 1918
Wilhelm Solf	Oct 3, 1918	Dec 13, 1918
Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau	December 20, 1918	Feb 13, 1919

Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs of the German Reich ( Weimar Republic 1919–1933)

Coat of arms of the Weimar Republic

Surname	Term start	Term of office	Political party
Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau	Feb 13, 1919	Jun 21, 1919	-
Hermann Muller	Jun 21, 1919	26th Mar 1920	SPD
Adolf Koester	Apr 10, 1920	Jun 8, 1920	SPD
Walter Simons	Jun 25, 1920	May 4, 1921	-
Friedrich Rosen	May 10, 1921	Oct. 22, 1921	-
Joseph Wirth	Oct 26, 1921	Jan. 31, 1922	center
Walther Rathenau	Feb. 1, 1922	Jun 21, 1922	DDP
Joseph Wirth	Jun 21, 1922	Nov 14, 1922	center
Friedrich von Rosenberg	Nov 22, 1922	Aug 11, 1923	-
Gustav Stresemann	Aug 13, 1923	Oct 3, 1929	DVP
Julius Curtius	Oct. 4, 1929	Oct 9, 1931	DVP
Heinrich Brüning	Oct 9, 1931	May 30, 1932	center
Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath	Jun 1, 1932	Jan. 30, 1933	-

Reich Minister for Foreign Affairs of the German Reich ( German Reich 1933–1945 )

Coat of arms during the Nazi era

Surname	Term start	Term of office	Political party
Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath	Jan. 30, 1933	Feb. 4, 1938	NSDAP
Joachim von Ribbentrop	Feb. 4, 1938	Apr 30, 1945	NSDAP
Arthur Seyss-Inquart	Apr 30, 1945	May 1, 1945	NSDAP
Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk	May 2, 1945	May 23, 1945	NSDAP

Minister for Foreign Affairs of the German Democratic Republic (1949–1990)

Coat of arms of the GDR

Surname	Term start	Term of office	Political party
Georg Dertinger	Oct 12, 1949	Jan 15, 1953	CDU
Anton Ackermann	Jan 15, 1953	Jul 1, 1953	SED
Lothar Bolz	Jul 1, 1953	Jun 24, 1965	NDPD
Otto winemaker	Jun 24, 1965	Jan. 20, 1975	SED
Oskar Fischer	3rd Mar 1975	Apr 12, 1990	SED
Markus Meckel	Apr 12, 1990	Aug 20, 1990	SPD
Lothar de Maizière	Aug 20, 1990	Oct 2, 1990	CDU

Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany (since 1951)

Coat of arms of the Federal Republic

No.	Surname	Life dates	Term start	Term of office	Political party
1	Konrad Adenauer	1876-1967	15th Mar 1951	Jun 6, 1955	CDU
2	Heinrich von Brentano	1904-1964	Jun 6, 1955	Oct 30, 1961	CDU
3	Gerhard Schröder	1910-1989	Nov 14, 1961	Nov 30, 1966	CDU
4th	Willy Brandt	1913-1992	Dec. 1, 1966	Oct 21, 1969	SPD
5	Walter Scheel	1919-2016	Oct 22, 1969	May 16, 1974	FDP
6th	Hans-Dietrich Genscher	1927-2016	May 16, 1974	17 Sep 1982	FDP
7th	Helmut Schmidt	1918-2015	17 Sep 1982	Oct. 4, 1982	SPD
8th	Hans-Dietrich Genscher	1927-2016	Oct. 4, 1982	17th May 1992	FDP
9	Klaus Kinkel	1936-2019	May 18, 1992	Oct 26, 1998	FDP
10	Joschka Fischer	1948	Oct 27, 1998	Nov 22, 2005	Green
11	Frank-Walter Steinmeier	1956	Nov 22, 2005	Oct 28, 2009	SPD
12	Guido Westerwelle	1961-2016	Oct 28, 2009	Dec 17, 2013	FDP
13	Frank-Walter Steinmeier	1956	Dec 17, 2013	Jan. 27, 2017	SPD
14th	Sigmar Gabriel	1959	Jan. 27, 2017	14 Mar 2018	SPD
15th	Heiko Maas	1966	14 Mar 2018	officiating	SPD