Chancellor of Germany was not even re-installed. In the 1871 German Empire, the imperial chancellor ("Reichskanzler") served both as the emperor's first minister, and as presiding officer of the Bundesrat, the upper chamber of the German parliament. He was neither elected by nor responsible to Parliament (the "Reichstag"). Instead, the chancellor was appointed by the emperor. The federal level had four organs: Technically, the foreign ministers of the empire's states instructed their states' deputies to the federal council (Bundesrat) and therefore outranked the chancellor. For this reason, Prince Bismarck (as he was from 1871 onwards) continued to serve as both prime minister and
Chancellor of Germany is the country's effective leader, although in formal protocol, the "Bundespräsident" and "Bundestagspräsident" are ranked higher. In German politics, the chancellor is the equivalent of a prime minister in many other countries. The chancellor is elected by the Bundestag. The current, official title in German is "Bundeskanzler(in)", which means "federal chancellor", and is sometimes shortened to "Kanzler(in)". The 8th and current chancellor is Angela Merkel, who is serving her fourth term in office. She is the first female chancellor. The title of Chancellor has a long history, stemming back to the Holy Roman Empire, when the office of German archchancellor