| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of Germany |
|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Coat_of_arms_of_Germany.svg) |
&sq=&lang=&file=File:A_coloured_voting_box.svg){kind=small}
The Minister-president (German: Ministerpräsident, pronounced [miˈnɪstɐpʁɛziˌdɛnt] ) is the head of state and government in thirteen of Germany's sixteen states.
In Berlin, the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, and the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the heads of the state hold different titles:
- in Berlin Governing Mayor (Regierender Bürgermeister) (before 1951 Mayor/Bürgermeister)
- in Bremen President of the Senate and Mayor (Präsident des Senats und Bürgermeister)[1]
- in Hamburg First Mayor (Erster Bürgermeister).
In the former states of Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern, defunct since 1952, the heads of state held the title State President (Staatspräsident).
Nevertheless, in Germany, it is common to refer to all sixteen heads of the states as minister-presidents, if they are referred to collectively. For example, the regular meetings of the sixteen office-holders are called Conference of minister-presidents (Ministerpräsidentenkonferenz).
- ^ According to the Bremen state constitution, the Senate (the Bremen state government) includes two mayors, one of whom also holds the position of President of the Senate. The President of the Senate is the head of government (de facto), whose role corresponds to that of a minister-president in the other german states, while the other mayor is his or her deputy. Regardless, in informal contexts or in the media, the President of the Senate is often simply called 'mayor', although what actually matters is the title of President of the Senate.