Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Germany)

federal ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany

The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture is a ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its headquarters are in Bonn, but it has a second seat in Berlin.

Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture
Agency overview
Formed1949, (Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forests)
13 February 1919 („Reichsministerium für Ernährung“)
JurisdictionGovernment of Germany
HeadquartersBonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Minister responsible
  • Cem Özdemir,
    Bundesminister für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz
Websitewww.bmelv.de/

The Ministry was formed on 22 November 2005.

Organisation change

The ministry has two "parliamentary permanent secretaries", Gerd Müller, CSU and Ursula Heinen, CDU, and the top civil servant is Gert Lindemann. He is the "established permanent secretary".

The ministry’s work is done in six departments

  • Department 1: Central division
  • Department 2: Consumer protection, diet, and biological and genetic engineering
  • Department 3: Food safety, the veterinary surgeon
  • Department 4: Agricultural markets, planning bases
  • Department 5: Rural room, social system, vegetable production, forest and timber industry
  • Department 6: EU matters, international matters, fishing

The Federal Ministers change

Food, Agriculture and Forests 1949 2001
No Name (life data.) Term start Term end Party
1 Wilhelm Niklas (1887-1957) 20 September 1949 20 October 1953 CSU
2 Heinrich Lübke (1894-1972) 20 October 1953 15 September 1959 CDU
3 Werner Schwarz (1900-1982) 14 October 1959 26 October 1965 CDU
4 Hermann Höcherl (1912-1989) 26 October 1965 21 October 1969 CSU
5 Josef Ertl (1925-2000) 22 October 1969 17 September 1982 FDP
6 Björn Engholm (1939-) 17 September 1982 1 October 1982 SPD
7 Josef Ertl (1925-2000) 4 October 1982 29 March 1983 FDP
8 Ignaz Kiechle (1930-2003) 30 March 1983 21 January 1993 CSU
9 Jochen Borchert (1940-) 21 January 1993 26 October 1998 CDU
10 Karl-Heinz Funke (1946-) 27 October 1998 12 January 2001 SPD
Consumer Protection, Food, and Agriculture 2001 2005
No Name (life data.) Term start Term end Party
1 Renate Künast (1955-) 12 January 2001 4 October 2005 Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
2 Jürgen Trittin (acting) (1954-) 4 October 2005 18 October 2005 Bündnis 90/Die Grünen
Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection 2005 2013
No Name (life data.) Term start Term end Party
1 Horst Seehofer (1949-) 22 November 2005 27 October 2008 CSU
2 Ilse Aigner (1964-) 31 October 2008 30 September 2013 CSU
Food and Agriculture 2013 Present
No Name (life data.) Term start Term end Party
1 Hans-Peter Friedrich (1957-) 17 December 2013 14 February 2014 CSU
2 Christian Schmidt (1957-) 14 February 2014 14 March 2018 CSU
3 Julia Klöckner (1972-) 14 March 2018 8 December 2021 CDU
4 Cem Özdemir (1965-) 8 December 2021 Bündnis 90/Die Grünen

Competition change

The ministry organizes the nationwide competition "Our Village has a Future".