Chancellor of Germany (1949–present) on the recommendation of the chancellor; no parliamentary approval is needed. According to the Basic Law, the chancellor may set the number of cabinet ministers and dictate their specific duties. Chancellor Ludwig Erhard had the largest cabinet, with 22 ministers, in the mid-1960s. Helmut Kohl presided over 17 ministers at the start of his fourth term in 1994; the 2002 cabinet, the second of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, had 13 ministers, and the Angela Merkel cabinet as of 22 November 2005 had 15. Article 65 of the Basic Law sets forth three principles that define how the executive branch functions: Whenever
History of Germany since 1990 decision by Merkel to authorize unrestricted entry led to heavy criticism in Germany as well as within Europe. In that period, Berlin was affected by a truck ramming incident in a Christmas market in December 2016. In 2017, Angela Merkel was elected to a fourth term as Chancellor. The FDP reenters the Bundestag and for the first time, the right-wing conservative AfD also enters. History of Germany since 1990 The history of Germany since 1990 spans the period following the Reunification of Germany, when West Germany and East Germany were reunited after being divided during the Cold War. Germany after