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32-957: The Colonial Council was an advisory body of the Government of Germany that existed from 1890 to 1907 again from 1911 to 1913. It advised the Imperial Colonial Office , a part of the Foreign Office , on political and economic matters relevant to the German colonies in Africa and around the world. Its members were appointed by the Chancellor . This German history article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Government of Germany The Federal Cabinet (German: Bundeskabinett pronounced [ˈbʊndəskabiˌnɛt] ), or according to

64-571: A new Adolf Hitler and to ensure that there will not be a political vacuum left by the removal of Chancellor through a vote of confidence and the failure to elect a new one in their place, as had happened during the Weimar period with the Reichstag removing Chancellors but failing to agree on the election of a new one. If the Chancellor loses a simple confidence motion (without the election of

96-623: A new Chancellor by the Bundestag ), this does not force them out of office, but allows the Chancellor, if they wish to do so, to ask the President of Germany for the dissolution of the Bundestag , triggering a snap election within 60 days (this happened in 1972 , 1983 , and 2005 ), or to ask the President to declare a legislative state of emergency, which allows the cabinet to use a simplified legislative procedure, in which bills proposed by

128-471: A plurality of votes on this last ballot, as Chancellor or to dissolve the Bundestag and call a snap election within 60 days. Following their election in the Bundestag , the Chancellor-elect will visit Bellevue Palace , the residence of the President, to receive a certificate of appointment. This is the moment, the elected individual actually enters office. After this short appointment-ceremony,

160-507: Is a ballroom on the upper floor designed by Carl Gotthard Langhans , the architect of the Brandenburg Gate . The palace is surrounded by a park of about 20 hectares. In 1843, King Frederick William IV of Prussia inherited Bellevue from Prince Augustus of Prussia , a son of the builder. In 1865 it became the residence of his niece Princess Alexandrine after her marriage to Duke William of Mecklenburg-Schwerin . It served

192-497: Is only limited by some constitutional provisions: The Chancellor has to appoint a Minister of Defence, a Minister of Economic Affairs and a Minister of Justice and is implicitly forbidden to head one of these departments himself, as the constitution invests these ministers with some special powers. For example, the Minister of Defence is commander-in-chief during peacetime (only in wartime does the Chancellor becomes supreme commander),

224-696: The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany ( Grundgesetz ). In contrast to the system under the Weimar Republic , the Bundestag may only dismiss the Chancellor with a constructive vote of no confidence (electing a new Chancellor at the same time) and can thereby only choose to dismiss the Chancellor with their entire cabinet and not simply individual ministers. These procedures and mechanisms were put in place to prevent election of

256-452: The Bundestag and take their oaths of office, completing the appointment-process. The Chancellor is the chief executive leader. Therefore, the whole cabinet's tenure is linked to the Chancellor's tenure: The Chancellor's (and the cabinet's) term automatically ends, if a newly elected Bundestag sits for the first time, if they are replaced by a constructive vote of no confidence , or if the Chancellor resigns or dies. Nevertheless, apart from

288-406: The Bundestag for a motion of confidence or ask the President for the appointment of new ministers. If an acting minister leaves the cabinet, another member of government has to take over their department. The Chancellor is responsible for guiding the cabinet and deciding its political direction ( Richtlinienkompetenz ). According to the principle of departmentalization ( Ressortprinzip ),

320-672: The German Basic Law , the Federal Government (German: Bundesregierung ), is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany . It consists of the Federal Chancellor and cabinet ministers . The fundamentals of the cabinet's organisation, as well as the method of its election and appointment, along with the procedure for its dismissal, are set down in articles 62 through 69 of

352-661: The Nazi government which had purchased it in 1938. However, from 1939, it was occupied by Otto Meissner , the head of the Office of the President of Germany. It was there that Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov stayed with his retinue during his visit to Berlin in November 1940. During World War II , the Palace was severely damaged by strategic bombing and in the 1945 Battle of Berlin , before being substantially refurbished in

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384-639: The 1950s. Inaugurated by President Theodor Heuss in 1959, it served as the secondary residence of the West German president, a pied-à-terre in West Berlin to supplement his primary residence at the Hammerschmidt Villa in Bonn. In 1986–87, Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker had the interior of the palace completely redesigned by the architect Otto Meitinger in order to adapt

416-562: The Berlin lodging of the West-German chancellors since 1962. Contrary to popular belief, the presidential standard is flown at the palace even on many days when the president is not in Berlin. It is lowered only when the president takes up official residence elsewhere – e.g. on the occasion of a state visit, when the standard is raised over his temporary residence abroad, or when he uses his second residence at Villa Hammerschmidt . If he

448-414: The Chancellor returns to the Bundestag , in order to take the oath of office. Having taken the oath, the Chancellor will once again visit Bellevue Palace, this time joined by the individuals the Chancellor intends to propose as members of the cabinet. The President will officially appoint the new cabinet members, again handing over certificates of appointment. After the ministers are appointed, they return to

480-656: The Federal Government presents an annual report on arms exports, which contains statistical information on export permits issued and gives figures for the types of arms concerned as well as their destination. As a general rule, the Federal Government, if asked, is required to inform the Bundestag that the Federal Security Council has approved a given armaments export transaction or not. The current and 24th federal cabinet of Germany has been in office since 8 December 2021. It currently consists of

512-612: The Minister of Economic Affairs may veto decisions by the Federal Cartel Office and the Minister of Justice appoints and dismisses the Public Prosecutor General . If two ministers disagree on a particular point, the cabinet resolves the conflict by a majority vote ( Kollegialprinzip or principle of deference) or the Chancellor decides the case themselves. This often depends on the Chancellor's governing style. The Chancellor has to appoint one of

544-400: The President of Germany with a majority of all members of the Bundestag ( Chancellor-majority ). However, the Bundestag is free to disregard the President's proposal (which has, as of 2023, never happened), in which case the parliament may within 14 days hold further ballots and try to elect another individual, which the parties in the Bundestag can now propose themselves, to the post with

576-632: The Vice Chancellor) are present. The cabinet regularly convenes on Wednesday mornings in the Chancellery . According to established practice, decisions on important armaments exports are made by the Federal Security Council  [ de ] ( Bundessicherheitsrat ), a cabinet committee chaired by the Chancellor. Pursuant to its (classified) rules of procedure, its sessions are confidential. According to practice,

608-401: The cabinet ministers are free to carry out their duties independently within the boundaries set by the Chancellor's political directives. The Chancellor may at any time ask the President to dismiss a minister or to appoint a new minister; the President's appointment is only a formality, he may not refuse a Chancellor's request for dismissal or appointment of a minister. The Chancellor also decides

640-478: The cabinet ministers as Vice Chancellor , who may deputise for the Chancellor in their absence. In coalition governments the Vice Chancellor is usually the highest ranking minister of the second-biggest coalition party. If the Chancellor dies or is unwilling or unable to act as Chancellor after the end of their term, until a new Chancellor has been elected, the Vice Chancellor becomes Acting Chancellor until

672-460: The cabinet only need the consent of the Bundesrat (as yet, this has never been applied). The President is, however, not bound to follow the Chancellor's request in both cases. The Chancellor and the other members of the cabinet are allowed to be also members of the Bundestag (though they are not required to be). The Chancellor is elected by the federal parliament ( Bundestag ) on proposal of

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704-400: The case of a constructive vote of no confidence , which by nature instantly invests a new Chancellor (and a new cabinet), the Chancellor and their ministers stay in office as an acting cabinet on the President's request, until the Bundestag has elected a new Chancellor. An acting cabinet and its members have (theoretically) the same powers as an ordinary cabinet, but the Chancellor may not ask

736-414: The election of a new Chancellor by the Bundestag , who then has to form a new government. (To date, this has happened once: On 7 May 1974 Chancellor Willy Brandt resigned and declared his refusal to act as Chancellor until his successor's election. Vice Chancellor Walter Scheel was appointed as Acting Chancellor and served until the election of Helmut Schmidt on 16 May.) The Chancellor is in charge of

768-610: The following ministers: Bellevue Palace, Germany Designed by architect Michael Philipp Boumann (1747–1803), Schloss Bellevue was erected in 1786 as a residence for Prince Augustus Ferdinand of Prussia , Master of the Knights of the Order of Saint John and youngest brother of King Frederick II of Prussia . There were preexisting structures on the site, including the manor house which King Frederick's architect Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff had built for himself in 1743, which

800-534: The government's administrative affairs, which are usually delegated to the Head of staff of the Chancellery , who is usually also appointed as minister for special affairs. Details are laid down in the government's rules for internal procedures ( Geschäftsordnung ). These state, for example, that the cabinet is quorate only if at least half of the ministers including the chair (the Chancellor or in their absence

832-568: The rooms to the character of the external historical appearance, whereby the sequence of rooms was also restored according to plans from the time before the destruction. Weizsäcker had the palace furnished with part of the valuable Empire style furniture collection from Wilhelmshöhe Palace in Kassel as a permanent loan and initiated the exchange of paintings with German museums in order to present guests with classical and modern German art. However, two rooms have been preserved with their furnishings in

864-528: The royal and imperial princes of the Hohenzollern dynasty until the German Revolution of 1918–19 . The last German Emperor Wilhelm II used it as a guest house as well as a private school for his seven children. The Free State of Prussia acquired the property from the former Emperor in 1928 and used it as a museum of ethnography during the 1930s before being renovated as a guest house for

896-478: The same so called Chancellor-majority, whom the President is then obliged to appoint. If the Bundestag fails to do so, a last ballot will be held on the 15th day (again the parties in the Bundestag may field candidates): If an individual is elected with the Chancellor-majority, the President must appoint them as Chancellor. If not, the President is free to either appoint the individual, who received

928-465: The scope of each minister's duties and can at his own discretion nominate ministers heading a department and so-called ministers for special affairs without an own department. A Chancellor can also lead a department; this is not usual, but it has occurred on three occasions with Konrad Adenauer and Willy Brandt also serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs, while Helmut Schmidt held the post of Minister of Defence. The Chancellor's freedom to shape his cabinet

960-521: The style of post-war modernism. In 1994, after German reunification , Weizsäcker made it his primary residence. A modern oval office building was built in 1998 in a section of the park near the palace to house the offices of the affiliated Bundespräsidialamt ("Office of the Federal President"), a federal agency . Roman Herzog , president from 1994 to 1999, remains the only officeholder who lived at Bellevue while incumbent. The palace

992-665: Was demolished, and a leather factory on the Spree river waterfront which was converted into the right side-wing. The palace was named Bellevue as its view reached the tower of Schloss Charlottenburg before the viaduct of the Berlin Stadtbahn was built nearby in the 1880s. It was the first Neoclassical building in Germany, characterized by its Corinthian pilasters, with wings on either side ("Ladies' wing" and "River Spree wing"). The only room that kept its original decoration

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1024-571: Was reconstructed again in 2004 and 2005 to replace ailing infrastructure; during this period, President Horst Köhler used nearby Charlottenburg Palace for representative purposes. Bellevue became the president's primary official seat again in January 2006, but since then has not included living quarters. Instead, the federal president now lives in a government-owned villa in Dahlem , a suburban district of southwestern Berlin, which had previously been

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