Since the unification of Germany in 1871, the head of the German government has been known as the Chancellor (Kanzler in German). The title actually dates back to the Holy Roman Empire, when the Archbishop of Mainz was given the additional title of Kanzler in recognition of his duties as director of the Imperial Chapel. The title disappeared with the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, but was revived when Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck was named Chancellor of the North German Confederation in 1867.

From 1871 until 1945, the official title of the German Chancellor was Reichskanzler, or "Imperial Chancellor." Since 1949, the official title has been Bundeskanzler, or "Federal Chancellor," the title incidentally also used today in leaders of the governments of Switzerland and Austria.

East Germany never had a Chancellor. Instead, the General Secretary of the "Socialist Unity Party" (the East German Communist Party) headed the government.

Chancellors of the German Empire (1871-1919)

• 1871-1890 Otto von Bismarck
• 1890-1894 Leo von Caprivi
• 1894-1900 Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst
• 1900-1909 Bernhard von Bülow
• 1909-1917 Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg
• 1917 Georg Michaelis
• 1917-1918 Georg von Hertling (CCP)
• 1918 Maximilian von Baden

  With its defeat in World War I, the German Empire came to an end and Chancellor Max von Baden handed over his office to Friedrich Ebert. Ebert served as Head of Government during the three months between the end of the war in November, 1918 and the first gathering of the new National Assembly in February, 1919, but did not use the title of Chancellor.
  
  

• 1918 Friedrich Ebert (SPD)

Chancellors of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933)

• 1919 Philipp Scheidemann (SPD), officially titled Reichsministerpräsident ("Imperial Minister-President")
• 1919-1920 Gustav Bauer (SPD)
• 1920 Hermann Müller (SPD)
• 1920-1921 Konstantin Fehrenbach (CCP)
• 1921-1922 Joseph Wirth (CCP)
• 1922-1923 Wilhelm Cuno (unaffiliated)
• 1923 Gustav Stresemann (DVP)
• 1923-1925 Wilhelm Marx (CCP)
• 1925-1926 Hans Luther (unaffiliated)
• 1926-1928 Wilhelm Marx (CCP)
• 1928-1930 Hermann Müller (SPD)
• 1930-1932 Heinrich Brüning (CCP)
• 1932 Franz von Papen (unaffiliated)
• 1932-1933 Kurt von Schleicher (unaffiliated)

Chancellors of the Third Reich (1933-1945)

• 1933-1945 Adolf Hitler (NSDAP)
• 1945 Joseph Goebbels (NSDAP), for one day between Hitler's suicide and his own
• 1945 Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk, (NSDAP), appointed by President Karl Dönitz as Leitender Minister der geschäftsführenden Reichsregierung ("Senior Minister of the Acting Government")

Chancellors of the Federal Republic of Germany

• 1949-1963 Konrad Adenauer (CDU)
• 1963-1966 Ludwig Erhard (CDU)
• 1966-1969 Kurt Georg Kiesinger (CDU)
• 1969-1974 Willy Brandt (SPD)
• 1974 Walter Scheel (SPD), acting Chancellor
• 1974-1982 Helmut Schmidt (SPD)
• 1982-1998 Helmut Kohl (CDU)
• 1998-2005 Gerhard Schröder (SPD)
• 2005-present Angela Merkel (CDU), the first female Chancellor, or Kanzlerin