In 1934, after the death of President Hindenburg, Adolf Hitler, already Chancellor, assumed the powers of the Presidency"§ 1 The office of the Reichspräsident is merged with that of the Reichskanzler. Therefore, the previous rights of the Reichspräsident pass over to the Führer and Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler. He names his deputy."</ref> as "Führer und Reichskanzler" ("Leader and Chancellor"), highlighting the positions he already held in party and government. In his last will in April 1945, Hitler named Joseph Goebbels his successor as Chancellor but named Karl Dönitz as "Reichspräsident", thus reviving the presidential office. However, this revival only lasted until shortly after the German surrender in May 1945.