List of German presidents

A number of presidential offices have existed in Germany since the fall of the monarchies in 1918. During the 1919-1933 Weimar Republic the head of state was the President of Germany (German: Reichspräsident). Upon the death of Paul von Hindenburg in August 1934 the office was left vacant, with Adolf Hitler becoming head of state as Führer und Reichskanzler. In 1945, Karl Dönitz briefly became President.

The West German constitution (Grundgesetz, Basic Law) of May 1949 created the office of President of Germany (German: Bundespräsident). Since Germany was reunited in 1990 the President has been the head of state for all of Germany.

The East German constitution of October 1949 created the office of Präsident der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (DDR) ("President of the German Democratic Republic"). Upon the death of Wilhelm Pieck in 1960, the office of Präsident der DDR was abolished and replaced by a collective head of state, the Staatsrat ("State Council"). The Staatsrat was abolished by a constitutional amendment of the Volkskammer ("People's Chamber") on 5 April 1990. From then until the GDR joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, the president of the Volkskammer also served as the GDR head of state.

Weimar Republic (1919–1933)

Political Party

      SPD       none

Status

  Acting President

№	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of Office		Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office
President of the Reich (Reichspräsident)
1		Friedrich Ebert (1871–1925)	11 February 1919	28 February 1925 (died in office)	SPD
—		Hans Luther^[A] (1879–1962)	28 February 1925	12 March 1925	Non-partisan
—		Walter Simons^[B] (1861–1937)	12 March 1925	12 May 1925	Non-partisan
2		General Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934)	12 May 1925	until 2 August 1934 (died in office)	Non-partisan

^A Acting President, as Chancellor of Germany.

^B Acting President, as President of the Reichsgericht.

Nazi Germany (1933–1945)

Political Party

      NSDAP       none

№	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of Office		Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office
2		Reichspräsident	since 12 May 1925	2 August 1934 (died in office)	Non-partisan
		General Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934)
—		Führer und Reichskanzler	2 August 1934	30 April 1945 (committed suicide)	NSDAP
		Adolf Hitler (1889–1945)
—		Reichspräsident	30 April 1945	23 May 1945 (arrested by the Allies)	NSDAP
		Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz (1891–1980)

Partitioned Germany (1949–1990)

West Germany Political Party       CDU       FDP       SPD       None Status   Acting President № Portrait Name (Birth–Death) Term of Office Political Party Took Office Left Office Federal President (Bundespräsident) — Karl Arnold^[C] (1901–1958) 7 September 1949 12 September 1949 CDU 1 Theodor Heuss (1884–1963) 13 September 1949 12 September 1959 FDP 2 Heinrich Lübke (1894–1972) 13 September 1959 30 June 1969 (resigned) CDU 3 Gustav Heinemann (1899–1976) 1 July 1969 30 June 1974 SPD 4 Walter Scheel (1919–) 1 July 1974 30 June 1979 FDP 5 Karl Carstens (1914–1992) 1 July 1979 30 June 1984 CDU 6 Richard von Weizsäcker (1920–2015) 1 July 1984 until 30 June 1994 CDU ^C Acting President, as President of the Bundesrat.

East Germany Political Party       LDPD       SED       CDU Status   Acting head of state № Name (Birth–Death) Term of Office Political Party Took Office Left Office President of the State (Staatspräsident) — Johannes Dieckmann^[D] (1893–1969) 7 October 1949 11 October 1949 LDPD 1 Wilhelm Pieck (1876–1960) 11 October 1949 7 September 1960 (died in office) SED — Johannes Dieckmann^[D] (1893–1969) 7 September 1960 12 September 1960 LDPD Chairman of the State Council (Vorsitzender des Staatsrats) 1 Walter Ulbricht (1893–1973) 12 September 1960 1 August 1973 (died in office) SED — Friedrich Ebert, Jr.^[E] (1894–1979) 1 August 1973 3 October 1973 SED 2 Willi Stoph (1914–1999) 3 October 1973 29 October 1976 SED 3 Erich Honecker (1912–1994) 29 October 1976 18 October 1989 (resigned) SED 4 Egon Krenz (1937–) 18 October 1989 6 December 1989 (resigned) SED 5 Manfred Gerlach (1928–2011) 6 December 1989 5 April 1990 (office abolished) LDPD — Sabine Bergmann-Pohl^[F] (1946–) 5 April 1990 2 October 1990 (office abolished) CDU ^D Acting President, as President of the People's Chamber. ^E Acting Chairman of the State Council, as Deputy Chairman of the State Council. ^F Acting head of state, as President of the People's Chamber.

Reunified Germany (1990–present)

Political Party

      CDU       SPD       CSU       none

Status

  Acting President

№	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of Office		Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office
Federal President (Bundespräsident)
6		Richard von Weizsäcker (1920–2015)	since 1 July 1984	30 June 1994	CDU
7		Roman Herzog (1934–)	1 July 1994	30 June 1999	CDU
8		Johannes Rau (1931–2006)	1 July 1999	30 June 2004	SPD
9		Horst Köhler (1943–)	1 July 2004	31 May 2010 (resigned)	CDU
—		Jens Böhrnsen^[C] (1949–)	31 May 2010	30 June 2010	SPD
10		Christian Wulff (1959–)	30 June 2010	17 February 2012 (resigned)	CDU
—		Horst Seehofer^[C] (1949–)	17 February 2012	18 March 2012	CSU
11		Joachim Gauck (1940–)	18 March 2012	Incumbent	Independent

^C Acting President, as President of the Bundesrat.

See also

• List of German monarchs
• President of Germany
• President of Germany (1919–45)
• Leadership of East Germany
• Chancellor of Germany
  • List of Chancellors of Germany