West Germany by World War II to become the world's third-largest economy. The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who remained in office until 1963, had worked for a full alignment with NATO rather than neutrality. He not only secured a membership in NATO but was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present-day European Union. When the G6 was established in 1975, there was no question whether the Federal Republic of Germany would be a member as well. Following the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall, there was a
Chancellor of Germany (1949–present) Council of Ministers of the GDR "(Vorsitzender des Ministerrats der DDR)". (See Leaders of East Germany.) West Germany's 1949 constitution, the Basic Law ("Grundgesetz"), invests the Federal Chancellor ("Bundeskanzler") with central executive authority. Since the 1961 election, the two major parties (CDU/CSU and SPD) call their leading candidates for the federal election "chancellor-candidate" ("Kanzlerkandidat"), although this is not an official term and any party can nominate a Kanzlerkandidat (even if that party has no chance at all of leading or even becoming part of a government coalition). The Federal Government ("Bundesregierung") consists of the Federal Chancellor and their cabinet ministers,