Heads of the German Chancellery

The Head of the Chancellery (German: Chef des Bundeskanzleramtes, abbreviated ChefBK) is the highest-ranking official of the German Chancellery and the principal assistant of the Chancellor of Germany. The Chief of Staff is in charge of the running of the German Chancellery as well as with coordinating the federal government's work. All Chiefs of Staff since 2005 have been members of the federal cabinet.

Head of the Chancellery Chef des Bundeskanzleramtes  (German)
Incumbent Wolfgang Schmidt since 8 December 2021
German Chancellery
Abbreviation	ChefBK
Member of	Cabinet
Reports to	Chancellor of Germany
Appointer	Chancellor
Precursor	Chief of the Reich Chancellery
Formation	12 October 1949
First holder	Franz-Josef Wuermeling
Website	Official website

List of the heads of the Federal Chancellery

No.	Portrait	Name (born–died)	Term of office			Political party		Rank	Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Franz-Josef Wuermeling (1900–1986)	12 October 1949	14 January 1951	1 year, 94 days		CDU	Secretary of State
2		Walter Hallstein (1901–1982)	17 October 1949	1 March 1950	135 days
3		Otto Lenz (1903–1957)	15 January 1951	19 September 1953	2 years, 247 days
4		Hans Globke (1898–1973)	28 October 1953	15 October 1963	9 years, 352 days
5		Ludger Westrick (1894–1990)	17 October 1963	16 June 1964	243 days
			16 June 1964	30 November 1966	2 years, 167 days			Federal Minister
6		Werner Knieper (1909–1977)	1 December 1966	31 December 1967	1 year, 30 days			Secretary of State
7		Karl Carstens (1914–1992)	1 January 1968	22 October 1969	1 year, 294 days
8		Horst Ehmke (1927–2017)	22 October 1969	18 December 1972	3 years, 57 days		SPD	Federal Minister
9		Horst Grabert (1927–2011)	18 December 1972	15 May 1974	1 year, 148 days			Secretary of State
10		Manfred Schüler (born 1932)	16 May 1974	1 December 1980	6 years, 199 days
11		Manfred Lahnstein (born 1937)	1 December 1980	28 April 1982	1 year, 148 days
12		Gerhard Konow (1929–1997)	29 April 1982	4 October 1982	159 days		CDU
13		Waldemar Schreckenberger (1929–2017)	4 October 1982	15 November 1984	2 years, 42 days
14		Wolfgang Schäuble (born 1942)	15 November 1984	20 April 1989	4 years, 156 days			Federal Minister
15		Rudolf Seiters (born 1937)	21 April 1989	25 November 1991	2 years, 218 days
16		Friedrich Bohl (born 1945)	26 November 1991	27 October 1998	6 years, 335 days
17		Bodo Hombach (born 1952)	27 October 1998	7 July 1999	253 days		SPD
18		Frank-Walter Steinmeier (born 1956)	7 July 1999	22 November 2005	6 years, 138 days			Secretary of State
19		Thomas de Maizière (born 1954)	22 November 2005	28 October 2009	3 years, 340 days		CDU	Federal Minister
20		Ronald Pofalla (born 1959)	28 October 2009	17 December 2013	4 years, 50 days
21		Peter Altmaier (born 1958)	17 December 2013	14 March 2018	4 years, 87 days
22		Helge Braun (born 1972)	14 March 2018	8 December 2021	3 years, 269 days
23		Wolfgang Schmidt (born 1970)	8 December 2021	Incumbent	3 years, 15 days		SPD