List of German foreign ministers
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This page lists State Secretaries for Foreign Affairs under the German Empire (1871-1919), Ministers of Foreign Affairs (1919-1945) and Federal Ministers of Foreign Affairs in West Germany (1945-1990) and the reunified Germany from 1990 onwards.
Under the Empire, the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs did not exactly fulfill the role of a foreign minister. Generally, the Imperial Chancellor would also hold the position of Prussian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and often the state secretary's role would be closer to that of an assistant to the chancellor, acting largely to draft correspondence rather than to actually direct the formation of foreign policy. This was especially true during the chancellorships of Otto von Bismarck (1871-1890) and Bernhard von Bülow (1900-1909), both of whom had considerable prior experience with foreign affairs.
See also: Foreign Minister of Prussia, Foreign Minister of the GDR, Foreign Office (Germany)
[edit] State Secretaries for Foreign Affairs (Außenstaatssekretäre), 1871-1919 |
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| No. | Name | Took office | Left office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hermann von Thile (1812–1889) | 21 March 1871 | 30 September 1872 | |
| 2 | Hermann Ludwig von Balan (1812–1874)1 | 3 October 1872 | 9 October 1873 | |
| 3 | Bernhard Ernst von Bülow (1815–1879) | 9 October 1873 | 20 October 1879 | |
| 4 | Josef Maria von Radowitz (1839–1912)1 | 6 November 1879 | 17 April 1880 | |
| 5 | Chlodwig Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst (1819-1901)1 | 20 April 1880 | 1 September 1880 | |
| 6 | Friedrich Graf zu Limburg Stirum (1835–1912)1 | 1 September 1880 | 25 June 1881 | |
| 7 | Clemens Busch (1834–1895)1 | 25 June 1881 | 16 July 1881 | |
| 8 | Paul Graf von Hatzfeld zu Trachenberg (1831–1901) | 16 July 1881 | 24 October 1885 | |
| 9 | Herbert Fürst von Bismarck (1849–1904)2 | 24 October 1885 | 26 March 1890 | |
| 10 | Adolf Freiherr Marschall von Bieberstein (1842–1912) | 31 March 1890 | 19 October 1897 | |
| 11 | Bernhard Graf von Bülow (1849–1929) | 20 October 1897 | 23 October 1900 | |
| 12 | Oswald Freiherr von Richthofen (1847–1906) | 23 October 1900 | 17 January 1906 | |
| 13 | Heinrich Leonhard von Tschirschky und Bögendorff (1858–1916) | 24 January 1906 | 25 October 1907 | |
| 14 | Wilhelm Freiherr von Schoen (1851–1933) | 26 October 1907 | 27 June 1910 | |
| 15 | Alfred von Kiderlen-Wächter (1852–1912) | 27 June 1910 | 30 December 1912 | |
| 16 | Gottlieb von Jagow (1863–1935) | 11 January 1913 | 22 November 1916 | |
| 17 | Arthur Zimmermann (1864–1940) | 22 November 1916 | 6 August 1917 | |
| 18 | Richard von Kühlmann (1873–1948) | 6 August 1917 | 9 July 1918 | |
| 19 | Paul von Hintze (1864–1941) | 9 July 1918 | 3 October 1918 | |
| 20 | Wilhelm Solf (1862–1936) | 3 October 1918 | 13 December 1918 | |
| 21 | Ulrich Graf von Brockdorff-Rantzau (1869–1928) | 13 December 1918 | 13 February 1919 | |
| 1 Held office only provisionally. 2 Held office provisionally until 17 May 1886. |
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[edit] Ministers of Foreign Affairs (Reichsminister des Auswärtigen), 1919-1945 |
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| No. | Name | Begin of office | End of office | Party |
| 1 | Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau (1869–1928) | February 13th 1919 | June 20th 1919 | none |
| 2 | Hermann Müller (1876–1931) | June 21st 1919 | March 26th 1920 | SPD |
| 3 | Adolf Köster (1883–1930) | April 10th 1920 | June 8th 1921 | SPD |
| 4 | Walter Simons (1861–1937) | June 25th 1920 | May 4th 1921 | none |
| 5 | Friedrich Rosen (1856–1935) | May 10th 1921 | October 22nd 1921 | none |
| 6 | Joseph Wirth (1879–1956) | October 26th 1921 | January 31st 1922 | Zentrum |
| 7 | Walther Rathenau (1867–1922) | February 1st 1922 | June 21st 1922 | DDP |
| 8 | Joseph Wirth (1879–1956) | June 21st 1922 | November 14th 1922 | Zentrum |
| 9 | Friedrich von Rosenberg (1874–1937) | November 22nd 1922 | August 11th 1923 | none |
| 10 | Gustav Stresemann (1878–1929) | August 13th 1923 | October 3rd 1929 | DVP |
| 11 | Julius Curtius (1877–1948) | October 4th 1929 | October 9th 1931 | DVP |
| 12 | Heinrich Brüning (1885–1970) | October 9th 1931 | May 30th 1932 | Zentrum |
| 13 | Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath (1873–1956) | 1 June 1932 | February 4th 1938 | none (NSDAP after 1937) |
| 14 | Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893–1946) | February 4th 1938 | April 30th 1945 | NSDAP |
| 15 | Arthur Seyss-Inquart (1892–1946) | April 30th 1945 | May 2nd 1945 | NSDAP |
| 16 | Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (1887–1977) | May 2nd 1945 | May 23rd 1945 | none |
[edit] Federal Foreign Ministers (Bundesminister des Auswärtigen), since 1951 |
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| No. | Name | Begin of office | End of office | Party |
| 1 | Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967) | March 15th 1951 | June 6th 1955 | CDU |
| 2 | Heinrich von Brentano (1904-1964) | June 6th 1955 | October 17th 1961 | CDU |
| 3 | Gerhard Schröder (1910-1989) | November 14th 1961 | November 30th 1966 | CDU |
| 4 | Willy Brandt (1913-1992) | December 1st 1966 | October 20th 1969 | SPD |
| 5 | Walter Scheel (*1919) | October 21st 1969 | May 15th 1974 | FDP |
| 6 | Hans-Dietrich Genscher (*1927) | May 17th 1974 | September 17th 1982 | FDP |
| 7 | Helmut Schmidt (*1918) | September 17th 1982 | October 1st 1982 | SPD |
| 8 | Hans-Dietrich Genscher (*1927) | October 1st 1982 | May 17th 1992 | FDP |
| 9 | Klaus Kinkel (*1936) | May 18th 1992 | October 26th 1998 | FDP |
| 10 | Joschka Fischer (*1948) | October 27th 1998 | November 22nd 2005 | GRÜNE |
| 11 | Frank-Walter Steinmeier (*1956) | November 22nd 2005 | Incumbent | SPD |
