The Minister of Justice is the member of a government who is responsible for the judiciary of the state.
In Germany, the first all-German government was the provisional central power of the emerging revolutionary German Empire . In the North German Confederation (from 1867) there was no supreme judicial authority. This came into being in the German Empire in 1876 through a spin-off from the Reich Chancellery . After 1919 the heads of the highest judicial authority were given the title and rank of minister.
Reich Minister of the Provisional Central Authority (1848/1849)
Stamp of the Reich Ministry of Justice
State Secretaries of the Reich Justice Office in the German Empire (1876–1919)
Coat of arms of the German Empire
Surname
|
Term of office (beginning)
|
Term of office (end)
|
Heinrich Friedberg |
December 21, 1876 |
October 30, 1879
|
Hermann von Schelling |
November 19, 1879 |
January 31, 1889
|
Otto von Oehlschläger |
February 19, 1889 |
February 2, 1891
|
Robert Bosse |
February 2, 1891 |
March 24, 1892
|
Eduard Hanauer |
April 2, 1892 |
April 30, 1893
|
Rudolf Arnold Nieberding |
July 11, 1893 |
October 25, 1909
|
Hermann Lisco |
October 25, 1909 |
August 5, 1917
|
Paul von Krause |
August 7, 1917 |
February 13, 1919
|
Reich Minister of Justice in the Weimar Republic (1919–1933)
Coat of arms of the Weimar Republic
Surname
|
Term of office (beginning)
|
Term of office (end)
|
Political party
|
Otto Landsberg |
February 13, 1919 |
June 20, 1919 |
SPD
|
Eugene Schiffer |
October 3, 1919 |
March 26, 1920 |
DDP
|
Andreas Blunck |
March 27, 1920 |
June 8, 1920 |
DDP
|
Rudolf Heinze |
June 25, 1920 |
May 4, 1921 |
DVP
|
Eugene Schiffer |
May 10, 1921 |
October 22, 1921 |
DDP
|
Gustav Radbruch |
October 26, 1921 |
November 14, 1922 |
SPD
|
Rudolf Heinze |
November 22, 1922 |
August 12, 1923 |
DVP
|
Gustav Radbruch |
August 13, 1923 |
November 3, 1923 |
SPD
|
Erich Emminger |
November 30, 1923 |
April 15, 1924 |
BVP
|
Curt Joël |
April 15, 1924 |
December 15, 1924 |
-
|
Josef Frenken |
January 15, 1925 |
November 21, 1925 |
center
|
Hans Luther |
November 21, 1925 |
December 5, 1925 |
-
|
Wilhelm Marx |
January 20, 1926 |
May 12, 1926 |
center
|
Johannes Bell |
May 16, 1926 |
December 17, 1926 |
center
|
Oskar Hergt |
January 29, 1927 |
June 12, 1928 |
DNVP
|
Erich Koch-Weser |
June 28, 1928 |
April 13, 1929 |
DDP
|
Theodor von Guérard |
April 13, 1929 |
March 27, 1930 |
center
|
Johann Viktor Bredt |
March 30, 1930 |
5th December 1930 |
Economic party
|
Curt Joël |
5th December 1930 |
May 30, 1932 |
-
|
Franz Gürtner |
June 1, 1932 |
January 30, 1933 |
DNVP
|
Reich Minister of Justice under National Socialism (1933–1945)
Coat of arms of Germany during the National Socialism
Federal Minister of Justice in the Federal Republic of Germany (since 1949)
Coat of arms of the Federal Republic
Federal Minister of Justice (1949–2013)
Surname
|
Term of office (beginning)
|
Term of office (end)
|
Political party
|
Thomas Dehler |
September 20, 1949 |
October 20, 1953 |
FDP
|
Fritz Neumayer |
October 20, 1953 |
October 16, 1956 |
FDP
|
Hans-Joachim von Merkatz |
October 16, 1956 |
October 29, 1957 |
DP
|
Fritz Schäffer |
October 29, 1957 |
November 14, 1961 |
CSU
|
Wolfgang Stammberger |
November 14, 1961 |
November 19, 1962 |
FDP
|
Ewald Bucher |
December 14, 1962 |
March 27, 1965 |
FDP
|
Karl Weber |
April 1, 1965 |
October 6, 1965 |
CDU
|
Richard Jaeger |
October 26, 1965 |
November 30, 1966 |
CSU
|
Gustav Heinemann |
1st December 1966 |
March 26, 1969 |
SPD
|
Horst Ehmke |
March 26, 1969 |
October 21, 1969 |
SPD
|
Gerhard Jahn |
October 22, 1969 |
May 7th 1974 |
SPD
|
Hans-Jochen Vogel |
May 16, 1974 |
January 22, 1981 |
SPD
|
Jürgen Schmude |
January 22, 1981 |
October 1, 1982 |
SPD
|
Hans A. Engelhard |
4th October 1982 |
January 18, 1991 |
FDP
|
Klaus Kinkel |
January 18, 1991 |
May 18, 1992 |
FDP
|
Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger |
May 18, 1992 |
January 17, 1996 |
FDP
|
Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig |
January 17, 1996 |
October 26, 1998 |
FDP
|
Herta Däubler-Gmelin |
October 26, 1998 |
October 22, 2002 |
SPD
|
Brigitte Zypries |
October 22, 2002 |
October 28, 2009 |
SPD
|
Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger |
October 28, 2009 |
17th December 2013 |
FDP
|
Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection (since 2013)
Minister of Justice in the German Democratic Republic (1949–1990)
Surname
|
Term of office (beginning)
|
Term of office (end)
|
Political party
|
Max Fechner |
October 11, 1949 |
July 15, 1953 |
SED
|
Hilde Benjamin |
July 15, 1953 |
July 14, 1964 |
SED
|
Kurt wishes |
July 14, 1964 |
October 16, 1972 |
LDPD
|
Hans-Joachim Heusinger |
October 16, 1972 |
January 12, 1990 |
LDPD
|
Kurt wishes |
January 12, 1990 |
August 16, 1990 |
LDPD
|
Manfred Walther |
August 16, 1990 |
October 2, 1990 |
CDU
|
literature
- Hans Schenk, Elfriede Eißelt: Reich Ministries of the Provisional Central Authority. Stocks DB 52-59. Part I. Federal Archives, Koblenz 1986.
German ministers by department