Tietmeyer was nominated by the government of Chancellor Helmut Kohl to become a Member of the Board of Directors of the Deutsche Bundesbank in 1990, with responsibility for international monetary issues, organisations and agreements. After two years as Vice President he became President of the Deutsche Bundesbank in 1993, a position he held until August 1999. Shortly after taking office at the Bundesbank, he was also appointed by Kohl as personal adviser for the negotiations with East Germany over the economic and monetary union between the two Germanies that preceded their political unification.