Leader of the Opposition
Oppositionsführer
Incumbent
Friedrich Merz
since 15 February 2022
Member ofBundestag
Term lengthWhile parliamentary leader of the largest party not in government
Inaugural holderKurt Schumacher
Formation7 September 1949
Salary€10,012.89 (2022)
Then-Leader of the Opposition Angela Merkel with future Leader of the Opposition Guido Westerwelle at the Munich Security Conference in early 2005.

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
Took office Left office Term Length
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
(born 1943)		 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[lower-alpha 1] 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
(14)		 Friedrich Merz
(born 1955)		 Christian Democratic Union
(CDU)		 15 February 2022 Incumbent 1 year, 334 days Olaf Scholz

References

  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.
  1. ↑ 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.
  1. ↑ 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.
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