Minister President of Prussia

Minister-President of Prussia
Ministerpräsident
Coat of arms of Prussia
Longest serving
Otto von Bismarck

23 September 1862–1 January 1873
9 November 1873–20 March 1890
ResidenceBerlin
AppointerKing of Prussia (1848–1918)
Landtag of Prussia (1918–1933)
PrecursorChief minister of Prussia
Formation19 March 1848
First holderAdolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg
Final holderHermann Göring
Abolished23 April 1945

The office of Minister-President (German: Ministerpräsident), or Prime Minister, of Prussia existed from 1848, when it was formed by King Frederick William IV during the 1848–49 Revolution, until the abolition of Prussia in 1947 by the Allied Control Council.

History of the office

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Under the Kingdom of Prussia the Minister President functioned as the chief minister of the King, and presided over the Landtag (the Prussian legislature established in 1848). After the unification of Germany in 1871 and until the 1918–1919 Revolution, the office of the Prussian Minister President was usually held by the Chancellor of the German Empire, beginning with the tenure of Otto von Bismarck.

Under the Free State of Prussia the Minister President was the head of the state government in a more traditional parliamentary role during the Weimar Republic. The office ceased to have any real meaning except as a kind of political patronage title after the takeover by the national government in 1932 (Preußenschlag), and after Nazi Germany dismantled Prussia as a state in 1935 (Reichsstatthaltergesetz). Eventually, the office was abolished along with Prussia itself by the Allies in the aftermath of World War II.

Chief ministers of the Kingdom of Prussia (1702–1848)

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List of minister-presidents of Prussia (1848–1945)

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Minister-presidents of the Kingdom of Prussia (1848–1918)

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Political party:   Zentrum   None

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Days
Count Adolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg
(1803–1868)
19 March 1848 29 March 1848 10 Non-partisan
Gottfried Ludolf Camphausen
(1803–1890)
29 March 1848 20 June 1848 83 Non-partisan
Rudolf von Auerswald
(1795–1866)
25 June 1848 8 September 1848 75 Non-partisan
Ernst von Pfuel
(1779–1866)
21 September 1848 1 November 1848 41 Non-partisan
Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg
(1792–1850)
2 November 1848 6 November 1850 734 Non-partisan
Baron Otto Theodor von Manteuffel
(1805–1882)
9 December 1850 6 November 1858 2889 Non-partisan
Prince Karl Anton von Hohenzollern
(1811–1885)
6 November 1858 12 March 1862 1222 Non-partisan
Prince Adolf zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen
(1797–1873)
17 March 1862 23 September 1862 190 Non-partisan
Prince Otto von Bismarck
(1815–1898)
First term
23 September 1862 1 January 1873 3753 Non-partisan
Count Albrecht von Roon
(1803–1879)
1 January 1873 9 November 1873 312 Non-partisan
Prince Otto von Bismarck
(1815–1898)
Second term
9 November 1873 20 March 1890 5975 Non-partisan
Count Leo von Caprivi
(1831–1899)
20 March 1890 22 March 1892 733 Non-partisan
Count Botho zu Eulenburg
(1831–1912)
22 March 1892 26 October 1894 948 Non-partisan
Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
(1819–1901)
29 October 1894 17 October 1900 2179 Non-partisan
Prince Bernhard von Bülow
(1849–1929)
17 October 1900 14 July 1909 3192 Non-partisan
Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg
(1856–1921)
14 July 1909 13 July 1917 2921 Non-partisan
Georg Michaelis
(1857–1936)
14 July 1917 1 November 1917 110 Non-partisan
Count Georg von Hertling
(1843–1919)
1 November 1917 30 September 1918 333 Centre
Prince Maximilian von Baden
(1867–1929)
3 October 1918 9 November 1918 37 Non-partisan

Minister-presidents of the Free State of Prussia (1918–1945)

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Political party:   SPD   USPD   Zentrum   NSDAP   None

Portrait Name
(Birth–Death)
Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Days
Minister-presidents of the Free State of Prussia in the Weimar Republic
Paul Hirsch
(1868–1940)
12 November 1918 27 March 1920 501 Social Democratic Party of Germany
Heinrich Ströbel
(1869–1944)
Co-prime minister
12 November 1918 9 January 1919 29 Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany
Otto Braun
(1872–1955)
First term
27 March 1920 21 April 1921 390 Social Democratic Party of Germany
Adam Stegerwald
(1874–1945)
21 April 1921 5 November 1921 198 Centre Party
Otto Braun
(1872–1955)
Second term
5 November 1921 18 February 1925 1201 Social Democratic Party of Germany
Wilhelm Marx
(1863–1946)
18 February 1925 6 April 1925 47 Centre Party
Otto Braun
(1872–1955)
Third term
6 April 1925 20 July 1932 2662 Social Democratic Party of Germany
Franz von Papen
(1879–1969)
Reichskommissar 136 Non-partisan
20 July 1932 3 December 1932
Kurt von Schleicher
(1882–1934)
Reichskommissar 56 Non-partisan
3 December 1932 28 January 1933
Franz von Papen
(1879–1969)
Reichskommissar 70 Non-partisan
30 January 1933 10 April 1933
Adolf Hitler
(1889–1945)
Reichsstatthalter 730 Nazi Party
30 January 1933 30 January 1935
Minister-president of the Free State of Prussia in Nazi Germany
Hermann Göring
(1893–1946)
Ministerpräsident 4396 Nazi Party
10 April 1933 23 April 1945
Reichsstatthalter 3736
30 January 1935 23 April 1945

Timeline

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Hermann GöringAdolf HitlerKurt von SchleicherFranz von PapenWilhelm MarxAdam StegerwaldOtto BraunHeinrich StröbelPaul HirschPrince Maximilian of BadenGeorg von HertlingGeorg MichaelisTheobald von Bethmann HollwegBernhard von BülowChlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-SchillingsfürstBotho zu EulenburgLeo von CapriviAlbrecht von RoonOtto von BismarckPrince Adolf of Hohenlohe-IngelfingenKarl Anton, Prince of Hohenzollern (born 1811)Otto Theodor von ManteuffelFriedrich Wilhelm, Count BrandenburgErnst von PfuelRudolf von AuerswaldGottfried Ludolf CamphausenAdolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg

See also

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