Leader of the Opposition (Germany)

Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition
Oppositionsführer
	Incumbent; Friedrich Merz; since 15 February 2022
	Bundestag;
Member of	Bundestag
Term length	While parliamentary leader of the largest party not in government
Inaugural holder	Kurt Schumacher
Formation	7 September 1949
Salary	€127,100.40 (2023)

The Leader of the Opposition (German: Oppositionsführer, pronounced [ɔpoziˈt͡si̯oːnsˌfyːʁɐ] ^ⓘ) in Germany is the parliamentary leader of the largest political party in the Bundestag that is not in government.

In Germany, the Leader of the Opposition is an informal title that is not even mentioned and does not have any formal functions in the by-laws of the Bundestag. However, the Leader of the Opposition is, by convention, the first person to respond to the most senior government spokesperson during a debate.^[1]^[2] The title also exists on a state level, but only in the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein is the position formally recognized as an actual office.

Only two Leaders of the Opposition went on to be directly elected Chancellor afterwards: Helmut Kohl (1976–1982) and Angela Merkel (2002–2005).

List of opposition leaders in Germany since 1949 (Federal Republic of Germany)

No.	Image	Name (Birth–Death)	Party		Term of office			Chancellor
No.	Image	Name (Birth–Death)	Party		Took office	Left office	Term Length	Chancellor
1		Kurt Schumacher (1895–1952)		Social Democratic Party (SPD)	7 September 1949	20 August 1952	2 years, 348 days	Konrad Adenauer
2		Erich Ollenhauer (1901–1963)		Social Democratic Party (SPD)	27 September 1952	14 December 1963	11 years, 78 days	Konrad Adenauer Ludwig Erhard
3		Fritz Erler (1913–1967)		Social Democratic Party (SPD)	1963	1966	2 years, 273 days	Ludwig Erhard
4		Knut Freiherr von Kühlmann-Stumm (1916–1977)		Free Democratic Party (FDP)	1 December 1966	23 January 1968	1 year, 53 days	Kurt Georg Kiesinger
5		Wolfgang Mischnick (1921–2002)		Free Democratic Party (FDP)	23 January 1968	22 November 1969	1 year, 272 days	Kurt Georg Kiesinger
6		Rainer Barzel (1924–2006)		Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	22 November 1969	17 May 1973	3 years, 207 days	Willy Brandt
7		Karl Carstens (1914–1992)		Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	17 May 1973	13 September 1976	3 years, 119 days	Willy Brandt Helmut Schmidt
8		Helmut Kohl (1930–2017)		Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	13 September 1976	1 October 1982	6 years, 18 days	Helmut Schmidt
9		Herbert Wehner (1906–1990)		Social Democratic Party (SPD)	1 October 1982	8 March 1983	1 year, 158 days	Helmut Kohl
10		Hans-Jochen Vogel (1926–2020)		Social Democratic Party (SPD)	8 March 1983	12 November 1991	8 years, 249 days	Helmut Kohl
11		Hans-Ulrich Klose (1937–2023)		Social Democratic Party (SPD)	12 November 1991	10 November 1994	2 years, 363 days	Helmut Kohl
12		Rudolf Scharping (born 1947)		Social Democratic Party (SPD)	10 November 1994	27 October 1998	3 years, 351 days	Helmut Kohl
13		Wolfgang Schäuble (1942–2023)		Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	27 October 1998	29 February 2000	1 year, 125 days	Gerhard Schröder
14		Friedrich Merz (born 1955)		Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	29 February 2000	22 September 2002	2 years, 206 days	Gerhard Schröder
15		Angela Merkel (born 1954)		Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	22 September 2002	22 November 2005	3 years, 61 days	Gerhard Schröder
16		Wolfgang Gerhardt (1943–2024)		Free Democratic Party (FDP)	22 November 2005	1 May 2006	160 days	Angela Merkel
17		Guido Westerwelle (1961–2016)		Free Democratic Party (FDP)	1 May 2006	28 October 2009	3 years, 180 days	Angela Merkel
18		Frank-Walter Steinmeier (born 1956)		Social Democratic Party (SPD)	28 October 2009	16 December 2013	4 years, 49 days	Angela Merkel
19		Joachim Poß^{[note 1]} (born 1948)		Social Democratic Party (SPD)	23 August 2010	26 October 2010	64 days	Angela Merkel
20		Gregor Gysi (born 1948)		The Left	17 December 2013	12 October 2015	1 year, 299 days	Angela Merkel
21		Dietmar Bartsch (born 1958) Sahra Wagenknecht (born 1969)		The Left	12 October 2015	24 October 2017	2 years, 12 days	Angela Merkel
22		Alexander Gauland (born 1941) Alice Weidel (born 1979)		Alternative for Germany (AfD)	24 October 2017	26 October 2021^[a]	4 years, 2 days	Angela Merkel
23		Ralph Brinkhaus (born 1968)		Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	8 December 2021	15 February 2022	69 days	Olaf Scholz
24		Friedrich Merz (born 1955)		Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	15 February 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 280 days	Olaf Scholz

References

^ "Oppositionsführer - Ein Titel ohne Mittel". Cicero Online (in German). Retrieved 2018-07-31.
^ "Opposition: Bedeutung und Rechte im Bundestag". FOCUS Online (in German). Retrieved 2018-07-31.

^ Frank-Walter Steinmeier donated one of his kidneys to his end-stage kidney disease-stricken wife in August 2010. From 23 August to 26 October 2010, where he recovered from the procedure, senior SPD Bundestag member Joachim Poß served as interim Bundestag leader in his absence.

^ After the first Bundestag session following the 2021 federal election, the unofficial position of Leader of the Opposition was for the moment effectively vacant: the government-forming negotiations that eventually led to a coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP were still underway, so the Merkel IV cabinet remained in office as a caretaker government, but the AfD was no longer the strongest non-government party, as the Greens held more seats in the Bundestag. Technically, then, the role of opposition leader would have fallen to the group leadership of the Greens, but as a party that would foreseeably soon enter government, they did not appear that way, and were not perceived that way in the media. There was no opposition leader again until 8 December with the election of Olaf Scholz as chancellor, which meant that Ralf Brinkaus, as leader of the largest opposition group, fell into this role.

[1] "Oppositionsführer - Ein Titel ohne Mittel". Cicero Online (in German). Retrieved 2018-07-31.

[2] "Opposition: Bedeutung und Rechte im Bundestag". FOCUS Online (in German). Retrieved 2018-07-31.

[3] Frank-Walter Steinmeier donated one of his kidneys to his end-stage kidney disease-stricken wife in August 2010. From 23 August to 26 October 2010, where he recovered from the procedure, senior SPD Bundestag member Joachim Poß served as interim Bundestag leader in his absence.

[4] After the first Bundestag session following the 2021 federal election, the unofficial position of Leader of the Opposition was for the moment effectively vacant: the government-forming negotiations that eventually led to a coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP were still underway, so the Merkel IV cabinet remained in office as a caretaker government, but the AfD was no longer the strongest non-government party, as the Greens held more seats in the Bundestag. Technically, then, the role of opposition leader would have fallen to the group leadership of the Greens, but as a party that would foreseeably soon enter government, they did not appear that way, and were not perceived that way in the media. There was no opposition leader again until 8 December with the election of Olaf Scholz as chancellor, which meant that Ralf Brinkaus, as leader of the largest opposition group, fell into this role.

[1]

[2]

[note 1]

[a]

Leader of the Opposition
Oppositionsführer
Incumbent Friedrich Merz since 15 February 2022
Bundestag
Member of	Bundestag
Term length	While parliamentary leader of the largest party not in government
Inaugural holder	Kurt Schumacher
Formation	7 September 1949
Salary	€127,100.40 (2023)