section_path: History of the office (pre-1949)/Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
section_name: Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
paragraph_text: Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
  
  Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933 by Paul von Hindenburg. On taking office, Hitler immediately began accumulating power and changing the nature of the chancellorship. After only two months in office, and following the burning of the Reichstag building, the parliament passed the Enabling Act giving the chancellor full legislative powers for a period of four years – the cabinet could introduce any law without consent of parliament.
  
  Technically, however, Hindenburg was able to dismiss the chancellor. On August 1, 1934, when Hindenburg was already ill and expected to die in the near future, Hitler used the Enabling Act to pass a new law, which came into force one day later. This law on the head of state stated that the offices of Reich Chancellor and Reich President would "merge" and that the powers of the Reich President would be transferred to the " Leader and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler". This can be interpreted as the abolition of the office of president; a president had to be elected every seven years, which was not in Hitler's interests. Hindenburg actually died on August 2, 1934.
  
  In April 1945, Hitler gave instruction that upon his death, the office of the Führer would dissolve and be replaced by the previous system of administration: that of the office of the president separate from that of chancellor. On 30 April 1945, when Hitler committed suicide, he was briefly succeeded as Chancellor by Joseph Goebbels and as President of Germany by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz. When Goebbels also committed suicide, Dönitz did not appoint a successor as Chancellor, instead appointing Count Schwerin von Krosigk as head of government with the title "Leading Minister".