German Chancellery

The Chancellor's Office (Chancellery) (in German, Bundeskanzleramt, or more commonly Kanzleramt) is the office of the Chancellor, the head of the German federal government (Bundesregierung). The chief of the Chancellery (Chef des Bundeskanzleramtes) holds the rank of either a state secretary (Staatssekretär) or a federal minister (Bundesminister). The chief's primary function is to assist the Chancellor in coordinating the activities of the Federal Government, and may be compared to the White House Chief of Staff. The current chief of the Chancellery is Thomas de Maizière.

The Chancellery is also the name of the building that houses the personal offices of the Chancellor and the Chancellery staff.

History

The German Chancellery was established in 1871 as the Imperial Chancellery (Reichskanzlei), and originally had its seat in the Radziwill Palace (also known as Reichskanzlerpalais), built by Anton Radziwill in Wilhelmstraße 77 in Berlin. In 1938–39, the New Chancellery (Neue Reichskanzlei), designed by Albert Speer, was built; it was located at 6 Voßstraße and occupied the entire northern side of the Voßstraße between Wilhelmplatz (to the east) and Hermann-Göring-Straße (to the west). It was damaged during World War II and later demolished by Soviet occupation forces.

After the war, Bonn became seat of the West German government and the Chancellery (now known as the Bundeskanzleramt — Chancellor's Office) moved into Palais Schaumburg until a new Chancellery building was completed in 1976. The new West German Chancellery building was a black structure completed in the International Style, in an unassuming example of modernism.

In the summer of 1999, as part of the German government's move to Berlin, the Chancellery was temporarily housed in the former GDR State Council building (Staatsratsgebäude) in eastern Berlin as the new Chancellery building was not yet finished at the time.

The new Chancellery building

The current Chancellery building (opened in the spring of 2001) was designed by Charlotte Frank and Axel Schultes and was built by the Spanish Acciona from concrete and glass in an essentially postmodern style, though some elements of modernist style are evident. Occupying 12,000 square meters (129,166 square feet), it is also one of the largest government headquarters buildings in the world. By comparison, the new Chancellery building is eight times the size of the White House.. Because of its distinctive but controversial architecture, journalists, tourist guides and some locals refer to the buildings as Kohllosseum (as a mix of collosseum and former chancellor Helmut Kohl under whom it was built), Waschmaschine (laundry machine; because of the round-shaped windows and its cubic form), or Elefantenklo (elephant loo).

Visitors

Access for the general public is only possible on particular days during the year. Since 1999, the German government has welcomed the general public for one weekend per year to visit its buildings. This usually takes place in August and follows a German tradition called Tag der offenen Tür ("Day of the open door"), during which many institutions such as museums or other establishments are open for visitors (free of charge).

Heads of the Chancellery since 1950

Directors of the Chancellery attend Cabinet meetings. They may also sit as members of the Cabinet if they are also given the position of Minister for Special Affairs (Minister für besondere Aufgaben), similar to that of Minister without Portfolio in some other countries. They are often incorrectly called "Kanzleramtsminister" (chancellery minister).

  • 1950–1951: Walter Hallstein
  • 1951–1953: Otto Lenz
  • 1953–1963: Hans Globke
  • 1963–1966: Ludger Westrick (also Minister for Special Affairs and the Defense Council, 1964-66)
  • 1966–1967: Werner Knieper
  • 1967–1969: Karl Carstens
  • 1969–1972: Horst Ehmke (also Minister for Special Affairs)
  • 1972–1974: Horst Grabert
  • 1974–1980: Manfred Schüler
  • 1980–1982: Manfred Lahnstein
  • 1982: Gerhard Konow
  • 1982–1984: Waldemar Schreckenberger
  • 1984–1989: Wolfgang Schäuble (also Minister for Special Affairs)
  • 1989–1991: Rudolf Seiters (also Minister for Special Affairs)
  • 1991–1998: Friedrich Bohl (also Minister for Special Affairs)
  • 1998–1999: Bodo Hombach (also Minister for Special Affairs)
  • 1999–2005: Frank-Walter Steinmeier
  • since 2005: Thomas de Maizière (also Minister for Special Affairs)

See also

  • Austrian Chancellery
  • Executive Office of the President, a typical example of an American-style presidential system's equivalent of the institution of the Chancellery

References

Шаблон:Reflist

External links

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4sq SUs Germany
28 August 2016
You can actually visit the "Kanzleramt" once a year on the last weekend of August on the Open Days of the federal government together with all the other ministries in Berlin. Check #tdot16 on Twitter!
Petsch Moser????????????????????????????????
Completed in 2001 by the architects Axel Schultes and Charlotte Frank, this building serves as the main office of the German Chancellor.
Maynard Tann
20 May 2017
Very nice modern design.
Marcel Schöne
2 July 2018
Tolle Architektur. Lohnt sich sehr in den morgen Stunden. Wenn man mal nicht weiß wo hin. Ist nen schöner Foto Ausflug.
Thomas M.
23 October 2010
Wenn ihr durch das Foyer fast bis zum Ende durchgeht, steht rechterhand eine tolle Skulptur von Gerhard Marcks.
marcus H
11 September 2016
Die Kanzlerin wohnt hier nicht, was für ein Unsinn. Aber sie und hunderte andere arbeiten hier!
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Willy-Brandt-Straße 1, 10557 Berlin, Germany Get directions
Fri 9:00 AM–7:00 PM
Sat 10:00 AM–8:00 PM
Sun 10:00 AM–7:00 PM
Mon 10:00 AM–7:00 PM
Tue-Wed 10:00 AM–8:00 PM

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