Federal Chancellery (North German Confederation)

Karl von Hofmann was Hessian Prime Minister until 1876 and then became the last President of the Reich Chancellery.

The Federal Chancellery was a supreme federal authority in the North German Confederation . In the German Empire it was called the Reich Chancellery from May 12, 1871 . It should not be confused with the Reich Chancellery from 1878.

Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was head of the executive but did not want any ministries set up. On August 12, 1867, he founded the Federal Chancellery as the federal authority of the Federal Chancellor. It was responsible for the internal affairs of the federal government. In practice, Prussian ministries often worked for the federal government. During the North German Confederation, another federal authority came into being: at the beginning of 1870 the Prussian Foreign Ministry was transferred to the Bund and became the Foreign Office of the North German Confederation .

During the Empire, individual areas of activity were spun off from the Reich Chancellery and became their own supreme Reich authorities: the Reich Offices. The Reich Chancellery itself was renamed Reich Office of the Interior in 1879 . Sub-authorities were later assigned to the Reich Office of the Interior, such as the Reich Health Office.

President of the Federal Chancellery and then Reich Chancellery was initially Rudolph von Delbrück , a close colleague of Bismarck. On June 1, 1876, Karl von Hofmann replaced him . From December 24, 1879, Hofmann was State Secretary of the Reich Office of the Interior.

See also

• Reich Chancellery

supporting documents

1. ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789 . Volume III: Bismarck and the Reich. 3rd edition, Stuttgart 1988, p. 835.