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
Chancellor of Germany DDR)". (See Leaders of East Germany.) The head of the federal government of the North German Confederation, which was created on 1 July 1867, had the title "Bundeskanzler". The only person to hold the office was Otto von Bismarck, the prime minister of Prussia. The king, being the bearer of the "Bundespräsidium", installed him on 14 July. Under the constitution of 1 January 1871, the king had additionally the title of Emperor. The constitution still called the chancellor "Bundeskanzler". This was only changed in the new constitution of 16 April 1871 to "Reichskanzler". The office remained the same, and Bismarck