Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia

Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia
Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia
Ministerpräsident des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen
	Coat of arms
	Incumbent; Hendrik Wüst; since 27 October 2021
Status	Head of state; Head of government;
Member of	Cabinet; Landtag
Residence	State Chancellery
Nominator	President of the Landtag
Appointer	Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia
Inaugural holder	Rudolf Amelunxen
Formation	24 July 1946
Deputy	Mona Neubaur
Salary	€210,000 per annum
Website	Official website

The Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Ministerpräsident des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen), also referred to as Premier or Prime Minister, is the head of government of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). The position was created in 1946, when the British administration merged the Prussian province of Westphalia and the northern part of the Prussian province of the Rhine (North Rhine) to form the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1947 the state was expanded with including of the state of Lippe.

The current Minister-President is Hendrik Wüst, heading a coalition government between the Christian Democratic Union and Alliance 90/The Greens. Wüst succeeded Armin Laschet following his resignation in 2021.^[1]

The office of the Minister President is known as the State Chancellery (German: Staatskanzlei), and is located in the capital of Düsseldorf, along with the rest of the cabinet departments.

Title[edit]

The German title Ministerpräsident may be translated literally as Minister-President, although the state government sometimes uses the title Prime Minister in English.^[2]

Origin of the office[edit]

After the Second World War, the Prussian province of Westphalia and the northern part of the Prussian province of the Rhine (North Rhine) were administered as part of the zone allocated to the British military administration and were merged to form the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1947 the state was expanded with including of the state of Lippe. The British government began to back the advocates of a merger of the states.

List[edit]

Political party: CDU SPD Green

Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			Political party
Portrait	Name (Born–Died)	Took office	Left office	Days	Political party
North Rhine-Westphalia (1946–present)
British occupation zone in Allied-occupied Germany (1946–1949)
State of the Federal Republic of Germany (as of 23 May 1949)
1	Rudolf Amelunxen (1888–1969)	23 August 1946	16 June 1947	297	Non-partisan (until 1947) Centre Party (from 1947)
2	Karl Arnold (1901–1958)	17 June 1947	20 February 1956 (replaced by a Constructive vote of no confidence)	3170	Christian Democratic Union
3	Fritz Steinhoff (1897–1969)	20 February 1956	21 July 1958	882	Social Democratic Party
4	Franz Meyers (1908–2002)	21 July 1958	8 December 1966 (replaced by a Constructive vote of no confidence)	3062	Christian Democratic Union
5	Heinz Kühn (1912–1992)	8 December 1966	20 September 1978	4304	Social Democratic Party
6	Johannes Rau (1931–2006)	20 September 1978	27 May 1998	7189	Social Democratic Party
7	Wolfgang Clement (1940–2020)	27 May 1998	22 October 2002 (resigned)	1609	Social Democratic Party
8	Peer Steinbrück (born 1947)	6 November 2002	22 June 2005	959	Social Democratic Party
9	Jürgen Rüttgers (born 1951)	22 June 2005	14 July 2010	1848	Christian Democratic Union
10	Hannelore Kraft (born 1961)	14 July 2010	27 June 2017	2540	Social Democratic Party
11	Armin Laschet (born 1961)	27 June 2017	26 October 2021 (resigned)	1582	Christian Democratic Union
12	Hendrik Wüst (born 1975)	27 October 2021	Incumbent	905	Christian Democratic Union