Leader of the Opposition (Germany)

The Leader of the Opposition in Germany is the parliamentary leader of the strongest opposition faction in the German parliament, the Bundestag. It is a nominal title that does not have any formal functions in the by-laws of the Bundestag. The leader of the opposition is normally the first person to respond to the most senior government spokesperson during a debate.[1][2]

Currently Alexander Gauland and Alice Weidel from the Alternative for Germany party are the leaders of the opposition, since 2017.[3]

List of Opposition Leaders in Germany since 1949 (Federal Republic of Germany)

# Name
(Birth–Death)		 Party Term of office
Took office Left office
1 Kurt Schumacher (1895–1952) Social Democratic Party of Germany
(SPD)		 1949 1952
2 Erich Ollenhauer (1901–1963) Social Democratic Party of Germany
(SPD)		 1952 1963
3 Fritz Erler (1913–1967) Social Democratic Party of Germany
(SPD)		 1963 1966
4 Knut von Kühlmann-Stumm (1916–1977) Free Democratic Party
(FDP)		 1966 1968
5 Wolfgang Mischnick (1921–2002) Free Democratic Party
(FDP)		 1968 1969
6 Rainer Barzel (1924–2006) Christian Democratic Union
(CDU)		 1969 1973
7 Karl Carstens (1914–1992) Christian Democratic Union
(CDU)		 1973 1976
8 Helmut Kohl (1930–2017) Christian Democratic Union
(CDU)		 1976 1982
9 Herbert Wehner (1906–1990) Social Democratic Party of Germany
(SPD)		 1982 1983
10 Hans-Jochen Vogel (1926–) Social Democratic Party of Germany
(SPD)		 1983 1991
11 Hans-Ulrich Klose (1937–) Social Democratic Party of Germany
(SPD)		 1991 1994
12 Rudolf Scharping (1947–) Social Democratic Party of Germany
(SPD)		 1994 1998
13 Wolfgang Schäuble (1942–) Christian Democratic Union
(CDU)		 1998 2000
14 Friedrich Merz (1955–) Christian Democratic Union
(CDU)		 2000 2002
15 Angela Merkel (1954–) Christian Democratic Union
(CDU)		 2002 2005
16 Wolfgang Gerhardt (1943–) Free Democratic Party
(FDP)		 2005 2006
17 Guido Westerwelle (1961–2016) Free Democratic Party
(SPD)		 2006 2009
18 Frank-Walter Steinmeier (1956–) Social Democratic Party of Germany
(SPD)		 2009 2013
19 Gregor Gysi (1948–) The Left 2013 2015
20 Dietmar Bartsch (1958–)
and
Sahra Wagenknecht (1969–)		 The Left 2015 2017
21 Alexander Gauland (1941–)
and
Alice Weidel (1979–)		 Alternative for Germany
(AfD)		 2017

References

  1. ↑ "Oppositionsführer - Ein Titel ohne Mittel". Cicero Online (in German). Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  2. ↑ Online, FOCUS. "Opposition: Bedeutung und Rechte im Bundestag". FOCUS Online (in German). Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  3. ↑ "Die AfD als Oppositionsführerin – das kommt auf den Bundestag zu". stern.de (in German). 2018-01-16. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
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