| Minister-President of Lower Saxony | |
|---|---|
| Ministerpräsident des Landes Niedersachsen | |
 Coat of arms of Lower Saxony | |
.jpg) | |
| Residence | Hanover |
| Appointer | Landtag of Lower Saxony |
| Term length | Pending resignation or theelection of a successor |
| Inaugural holder | Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf |
| Formation | 1 November 1946 |
| Salary | regulated by legislation (€13521, as of 2011)[1] |
| Website | www |
Theminister-president of Lower Saxony (German:Ministerpräsident des Landes Niedersachsen), also referred to as thepremier orprime minister, is thehead of government of theGermanstate ofLower Saxony.[2] The position was created in 1946, when the states ofBrunswick,Oldenburg,Schaumburg-Lippe and theState of Hanover were merged to form the state of Lower Saxony. The current minister-president isOlaf Lies, headinga coalition government [de] between theSocial Democrats and theGreens. Lies succeededStephan Weil after his resignation 2025.
The office of the minister-president is known as the state chancellery (German:Staatskanzlei), and is located in the capital ofHanover, along with the rest of the cabinet departments.
The state of Lower Saxony sees itself in the tradition notably of theKingdom of Hanover, having adopted many of its symbols. For the predecessor office in the Kingdom of Hanover, seePrivy Council of Hanover.
The German titleMinisterpräsident may be translated literally asminister-president, although the state government sometimes uses the titleprime minister in English.[2][3] Further, some third parties refer to the position in this fashion.[4][5]
An alternate English translation ispremier, the title given to heads of state governments in other federal systems such as Australia, Canada and South Africa.[6][7]
After the Second World War, the states ofBrunswick,Oldenburg,Schaumburg-Lippe and theState of Hanover were administered as part of the zone allocated to theBritish military administration. With the passage of time, the British government began to back the advocates of a merger of the states.Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf, who went on to become Lower Saxony's first minister-president, was a fervent advocate of the merger towards the British military authorities. On 23 October 1946, the British administration announced that they would support amerger of the states, as proposed by Kopf.[8]
Consequently, the four states were merged to form the state of Lower Saxony via Ordinance No. 55 of 1 November 1946. Article 3 of the Ordinance created the position of minister-president:
Article 4 of Ordinance No. 55 stipulated the appointment of the minister-president by the military government, until the holding of free legislative elections in 1947. The British military administration then appointed Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf, the erstwhile minister-president of the former state of Hanover, to serve as the first minister-president of Lower Saxony.
The minister-president is elected by theLegislative Assembly, by a majority of its members in asecret ballot.[9] However, he does not have to be a Member of the Legislative Assembly.[10] The only restriction is that the minister-president may not be a member of theBundestag. Before assuming his duties, the minister-president-elect takes the following oath before the members of the Legislative Assembly:
Upon election, the minister-president then appoints his Cabinet which requires subsequent confirmation by the Legislative Assembly.[11] In practical terms, the confirmation of the cabinet is an essential requirement for the minister-president to govern, as until then the cabinet departments would be run by the (possibly defeated) predecessors.[12] The minister-president can be removed by the Legislative Assembly, through aconstructive vote of no confidence – namely the election of a successor.[13] To this day, no vote of no-confidence has succeeded in the Lower Saxony Legislative Assembly, with the last attempt being made in November 1988.[14]
According to the Lower Saxony Constitution, the minister-president is the effective leader of the state government, being responsible for the determination and formulation of policy guidelines.[15] In this context, he chairs the cabinet meetings and may cast a tie-breaking vote in case of a stalemate between the ministers. Additionally, the minister-president also represents the Lower Saxony externally and exercises the right of clemency in individual criminal cases.[16] In titular terms, the minister-president is also regarded as head of the state of Lower Saxony, thereby taking precedence over officials like the speaker of the Lower Saxony Legislative Assembly.[17]
The minister-president, like the other members of the state government, is not a civil servant—his salary is regulated by law. Like his ministers, the minister-president is subject to the Lower Saxony Ministers Act, which regulates matters of salary, confidentiality and ethics.[18] Furthermore, the minister-president signs treaties made by the state of Lower Saxony and has to be consulted by other cabinet members prior to the start of any negotiations.[19] The minister-president is also authorized to appoint one of his cabinet members as his deputy in case of absence or illness. The only currently known instance of a deputy minister-president taking over the duties of the minister-president was in July 2010, whenJörg Bode (FDP) served as acting minister-president in the interval between Christian Wulff's election as president of Germany and David McAllister's confirmation as minister-president on 1 July 2010.[20] Meetings of the Cabinet traditionally take place in the guesthouse of the Lower Saxony Government, located close to the Hanover Zoological Gardens.[21]
The minister-president of Lower Saxony, like his fellow minister-presidents in their respective states, has the staff of the State Chancellery at his disposal. The State Chancellery assists the minister-president in the preparation of draft legislation, the management of day-to-day government business and the coordination of media policy for the entire state.[22] Additionally, it is responsible for relations to the other states in Germany and the European Union.
The State Chancellery, by convention, is headed by astate secretary appointed by the minister-president. The current incumbent isJörg Mielke. Under theMcAllister administration, the State Chancellery was divided into four overall departments (Department 1:Policy Guidelines, Department 2:Legal/Administration/Media, Department 3:Europe/International Cooperation, Department 4:Lower Saxony Representation to the Federal Government). While each of these departments is headed by a separate section head, the Press and Information Office is under the direct purview of the minister-president.[23]
As the leader of one of Germany's territorially largest and most populous states, the minister president of Lower Saxony has traditionally been a major player in federal politics: The state's first minister-president,Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf often used theBundesrat as a forum to oppose the policies of theAdenauer government. Alfred Kubel, one of Kopf's successors, played a major role in negotiating a compromise between all German states on the creation of a national fiscal transfer mechanism (Länderfinanzausgleich). Minister-PresidentErnst Albrecht, contrary to prevailing majority opinion in his own party, advocated and voted for the ratification of the treaties around whichWilly Brandt'sOstpolitik was centred.[24]
Ernst Albrecht was a candidate for the CDU nomination for president in 1979 and chancellor in 1980,Gerhard Schröder became thechancellor of Germany in 1998, his successorSigmar Gabriel served as thevice-chancellor of Germany between 2013 and 2018 andChristian Wulff was electedpresident of Germany in 2010. Examples of Lower Saxony's influence on policy debates in federal politics include Ernst Albrecht's advocacy of financial transfers from other states and Gerhard Schröder's usage of Lower Saxony'sBundesrat votes in matters of fiscal and tax policy.[25]
| Portrait | Name (Born–Died) | Term of office | Political party | Election | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Days | |||||
| State of Lower Saxony (1946–present) | |||||||
| British occupation zone of Germany (1946–1949) | |||||||
| State of theFederal Republic of Germany (as of 23 May 1949) | |||||||
| 1 | .jpg) | Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf (1893–1961) | 9 December 1946 | 26 May 1955 | 3090 | Social Democratic Party | 1947 1951 |
| 2 |  | Heinrich Hellwege (1908–1991) | 26 May 1955 | 12 May 1959 | 1447 | German Party | 1955 |
| 3 (1) | | Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf (1893–1961) | 12 May 1959 | 21 December 1961 (died in office) | 954 | Social Democratic Party | 1959 |
| 4 |  | Georg Diederichs (1900–1983) | 29 December 1961 | 8 July 1970 | 3113 | Social Democratic Party | 1963 1967 |
| 5 | .jpg) | Alfred Kubel (1909–1999) | 8 July 1970 | 6 February 1976 (resigned) | 2039 | Social Democratic Party | 1970 1974 |
| 6 | .jpg) | Ernst Albrecht (1930–2014) | 6 February 1976 | 21 June 1990 | 5249 | Christian Democratic Union | 1974 1978 1982 1986 |
| 7 | .jpg) | Gerhard Schröder (born 1944) | 21 June 1990 | 27 October 1998 (resigned to becomeChancellor) | 3050 | Social Democratic Party | 1990 1994 1998 |
| 8 |  | Gerhard Glogowski (born 1943) | 28 October 1998 | 15 October 1999 (resigned) | 352 | Social Democratic Party | 1998 |
| 9 | .jpg) | Sigmar Gabriel (born 1959) | 15 October 1999 | 4 March 2003 | 1236 | Social Democratic Party | 1998 |
| 10 |  | Christian Wulff (born 1959) | 4 March 2003 | 30 June 2010 (resigned to become President) | 2675 | Christian Democratic Union | 2003 2008 |
| 11 |  | David McAllister (born 1971) | 1 July 2010 | 19 February 2013 | 964 | Christian Democratic Union | 2008 |
| 12 | .jpg) | Stephan Weil (born 1958) | 19 February 2013 | 20 May 2025 | 4473 | Social Democratic Party | 2013 2017 2022 |
| 13 | .jpg) | Olaf Lies (born 1967) | 20 May 2025 | Incumbent | 190 | Social Democratic Party | 2022 |
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Cabinets ofLower Saxony | ||
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| Minister-presidents |
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