sociology - List of German presidents since 1919

A number of presidential offices have existed in Germany since the abolition of the imperial monarchy in 1918. During the 1919-1933 Weimar Republic the head of state was the Reichspräsident ("Reich President"). From 1934-1945, during the Nazi era, Adolf Hitler presided under the the title of Führer und Reichskanzler ("Führer and Reich Chancellor"). On Hitler's death in 1945 Karl Dönitz briefly became Reichspräsident.

From 1949-1990 Germany was divided between East Germany and West Germany. During its existence there was only one individual in East Germany to bear the title of President on a permanent basis. This was Wilhelm Pieck who was State President (Staatspräsident) from 1949-1960. Upon its establishment the head of state of West Germany became the Federal President (Bundespräsident) and, since reunification in 1990, the holder of this office has been the president of all Germany.

Contents

1 Presidents of the German Reich (1919-1945)

2 Heads of state of the German Democratic Republic (1949-1990)

3 Presidents of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949-present)

4 List of acting heads of state

5 See also

Presidents of the German Reich (1919-1945)

No.	Name	Position	Took office	Left office	Party
1.	Friedrich Ebert	Reichspräsident	11th February 1919	28th February, 1925	SPD
2.	Paul von Hindenburg	Reichspräsident	12th May, 1925	2nd August 1934	(None)
3.	Adolf Hitler	Führer und Reichskanzler	2nd August 1934	30th April, 1945	NSDAP
4.	Karl Dönitz	Reichspräsident	1st May, 1945	23rd May, 1945	(None)

Heads of state of the German Democratic Republic (1949-1990)

No.	Name	Position	Took office	Left office	Party
1.	Wilhelm Pieck	State President	11 October 1949	7 September 1960	SED
2.	Walter Ulbricht	Chairman of the Council of State	12 September 1960	1 August 1973	SED
3.	Willi Stoph	Chairman of the Council of State	3 October 1973	29 October 1976	SED
4.	Erich Honecker	Chairman of the Council of State	29 October 1976	24 October 1989	SED
5.	Egon Krenz	Chairman of the Council of State	24 October 1989	6 December 1989	SED
6.	Sabine Bergmann-Pohl	President of the People's Chamber	5 April 1990	2 October 1990	CDU

Presidents of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949-present)

No.	Name	Took office	Left office	Party
1.	Theodor Heuss	13th September, 1949	12th September, 1959	FDP
2.	Heinrich Lübke	13 September,1959	30th June,1969	CDU
3.	Gustav Heinemann	1st July,1969	30th June, 1974	SPD
4.	Walter Scheel	1st July,1974	30th June, 1979	FDP
5.	Karl Carstens	1st July, 1979	30th June, 1984	CDU
6.	Richard von Weizsäcker	1st July, 1984	30th June, 1994	CDU
7.	Roman Herzog	1st July, 1994	30th June, 1999	CDU
8.	Johannes Rau	1st July, 1999	30th June, 2004	SPD
9.	Horst Köhler	1st July, 2004	(Incumbent)	CDU

List of acting heads of state

Hans Luther (DVP) was acting Reichspräsident from 28th February to 12th March, 1925.
Walter Simons was acting Reichspräsident from 12th March to 12th May, 1925.
Karl Arnold (CDU) was acting head of state of West Germany from September 7th to September 12th, 1949. He filled this role in his capacity as President of the Bundesrat.
Johannes Dieckmann (SED) briefly filled the role of acting State President of East Germany on two occasions: in 1949 (before Wilhelm Pieck took office) and again in 1960 (after Pieck left office).
Fritz Ebert (LDPD) was Acting Chairman of the Council of State in East Germany from 1 August 1973 to 3 October 1973.
Manfred Gerlach (LDPD) was Acting Chairman of the Council of State in East Germany from 6 December 1989 to 5 April 1990.