Chancellor of Germany it is regarded as impolite and was seen as a way of acknowledging Merkel's future leadership. There is one living former German Chancellor: Chancellor of Germany The title Chancellor has designated different offices in the history of Germany. It is currently used for the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (), the head of government of Germany. The term, dating from the Early Middle Ages, is derived from the Latin term "cancellarius". The modern office of chancellor evolved from the position created for Otto von Bismarck in the North German Confederation in 1867; this federal state evolved into a
Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland The Vice-Chancellor of Switzerland was initially named Federal Secretary ("Bundesschreiber"). The title of the Vice-Chancellor was established in 1851, first as Federal Chancellor Deputy, then formally as Vice-Chancellor in 1881. In order to provide a balance between languages and geographical representation, it became custom since 1895 to name a second Vice-Chancellor from a French-speaking canton if both the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor were Swiss-German. The second Vice-Chancellor became a permanent position in 1967. Unlike the Federal Chancellor, Vice-Chancellors are appointed by the Federal Council directly. After both Vice-Chancellors retired in 2005, a row erupted over language representation when