List of mayors of Berlin

The following is a chronological list of mayors of Berlin, the capital city and city-state of Germany. The mayors are the head of the city-state, part of the senate of Berlin.

List

Napoleonic Empire (1806–1809)

In 1806 the French occupants gathered 2,000 wealthy Berliners in St. Peter's Church, Berlin, in order to elect the Grand conseil (grand council) of sixty members again electing the Comité administratif (administrative committee). This body of seven elected burghers was the provisional city government competent to carry out the orders of the occupation power, especially to raise the French war contributions by levying them mostly from the 2,000 eligible voters. The président of the committee was the Berlin-based Prussian publisher:^[1]

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party
Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Days	Political party
1		François Théodore de Lagarde (1756–1824)	27 October 1806	6 July 1809	983	Unknown

Lord Mayor of the Royal Capital Berlin (1809–1920)

Political party: Independent SPD

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party
Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Days	Political party
Kingdom of Prussia (until 1867)
Berlin was the capital city of the Kingdom of Prussia
1	Leopold von Gerlach (1757–1813)	6 July 1809	8 June 1813	1433	Non-partisan
2	Johann Gottfried Büsching (1761–1833)	February 1814	March 1832	6603	Non-partisan
3	Friedrich von Bärensprung (1779–1841)	March 1832	6 October 1834	949	Non-partisan
4	Wilhelm Krausnick (1797–1882)	6 October 1834	20 March 1848	4914	Non-partisan
–	Franz Christian Naunyn (1799–1860) Acting	20 March 1848	23 January 1851	1039	Non-partisan
(4)	Wilhelm Krausnick (1797–1882)	23 January 1851	30 December 1862	4359	Non-partisan
5	Karl Theodor Seydel (1812–1873)	12 January 1863	18 January 1871	1492	Non-partisan
German Empire (1867–1918)
Berlin was the capital city of the Kingdom of Prussia, which is since 1871 part of the German Reich
(5)	Karl Theodor Seydel (1812–1873)	18 January 1871	1 April 1872	439	Non-partisan
6	Arthur Hobrecht (1824–1912)	16 May 1872	1 April 1878	2146	National Liberal Party
7	Max von Forckenbeck (1824–1892)	21 November 1878	26 May 1892	4935	National Liberal Party
8	Robert Zelle (1829–1901)	26 September 1892	30 September 1898	2191	Free-minded People's Party
9	Martin Kirschner (1842–1912)	23 December 1899	31 August 1912	4634	Non-partisan
10	Adolf Wermuth (1855–1927)	1 September 1912	9 November 1918	2260	Non-partisan
Weimar Republic (1918–1933)
(10)	Adolf Wermuth (1855–1927)	9 November 1918	1 October 1920	692	Non-partisan

Lord Mayor of (Greater) Berlin (1918–1935)

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party
Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Days	Political party
Weimar Republic (1918–1933)
Berlin was the capital city of the Weimar Republic
(10)	Adolf Wermuth (1855–1927)	1 October 1920	30 November 1920	60	Non-partisan
11	Gustav Böß (1873–1946)	10 February 1921	7 November 1929	3192	German Democratic Party
–	Arthur Scholtz (1871–1935) Acting	7 November 1929	20 April 1931	692	German People's Party
12	Heinrich Sahm (1877–1939)	20 April 1931	30 January 1933	651	Non-partisan
Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
Berlin was the capital city of the Weimar Republic
(12)	Heinrich Sahm (1877–1939)	30 January 1933	30 January 1935	730	Non-partisan (until 1933) Nazi Party (from 1933)

City President of Berlin (1935–1945)

The Nazi government introduced a new unitary municipal ordinance for all German municipalities and cities accounting for the de facto abolition of municipal democracy and autonomy since the Nazi takeover in 1933. According to the new ordinance the administrative head of the city was now titled Stadtpräsident (City President). The Oberbürgermeister remained in a ceremonial role.

Political party: NSDAP

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party
Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Days	Political party
Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
Berlin was the capital city of Nazi Germany
(12)	Heinrich Sahm (1877–1939)	30 January 1935	18 December 1935	322	Nazi Party
–	Oskar Maretzky [de] (1881–1945) Acting	19 December 1935	5 January 1937	383	Nazi Party (Not party-member)
13	Julius Lippert (1895–1956)	5 January 1937	1 July 1940	1273	Nazi Party
14	Ludwig Steeg (1894–1945)	1 July 1940	2 May 1945	1766	Nazi Party

Lord Mayor of Greater Berlin under Allied occupation (1945–1948)

Following Berlin's provisional post-war constitution, enacted under quadripartite Allied rule, the head of city government was titled again Oberbürgermeister (generally "Lord Mayor").

Political party: IND SPD CDU

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party
Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Days	Political party
Berlin under quadripartite Allied control (1945–1948)
15	Arthur Werner (1877–1967)	17 May 1945	10 December 1946	572	Non-partisan
16	Otto Ostrowski (1883–1963)	10 December 1946	11 June 1947	183	Social Democratic Party
–	Louise Schroeder (1887–1957) Acting^[a]	11 June 1947	14 August 1948	430	Social Democratic Party
–	Ferdinand Friedensburg (1886–1972) Acting for Schroeder^[b]	14 August 1948	1 December 1948	109	Christian Democratic Union
–	Louise Schroeder (1887–1957) Acting	1 December 1948	7 December 1948	6	Social Democratic Party
17	Ernst Reuter (1889–1953) (West Berlin only)	7 December 1948	1 February 1951	786	Social Democratic Party

Lord Mayor of Berlin (1948–1990)

Political party: SED PDS SPD

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party
Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Days	Political party
East Berlin (1948–1949)
East Berlin was under Soviet occupation and was fully controlled by them from November 1948 until the founding of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
1	Friedrich Ebert Jr. (1894–1979)	30 November 1948	7 October 1949	311	Socialist Unity Party
East Berlin (1948–1990)
East Berlin was de facto the capital city of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany)
(1)	Friedrich Ebert Jr. (1894–1979)	7 October 1949	5 July 1967	6480	Socialist Unity Party
2	Herbert Fechner (1913–1998)	5 July 1967	11 February 1974	2413	Socialist Unity Party
3	Erhard Krack (1931–2000)	11 February 1974	15 February 1990	5848	Socialist Unity Party
–	Ingrid Pankraz (born 1948) Acting	15 February 1990	23 February 1990	8	Party of Democratic Socialism
4	Christian Hartenhauer [de] (born 1948)	23 February 1990	30 May 1990	96	Party of Democratic Socialism
5	Tino Schwierzina (1927–2003)	30 May 1990	3 October 1990	126	Social Democratic Party in the GDR
East Berlin was reunited with West Berlin on October 3, 1990 and dissolved.

Governing Mayor of Berlin (1951–present)

Political party: SPD CDU

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party
Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Took office	Left office	Days	Political party
West Berlin (1948–1990)
West Berlin was de facto part of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany)
1	Ernst Reuter (1889–1953)	1 February 1951	29 September 1953	971	Social Democratic Party
2	Walther Schreiber (1884–1958)	29 September 1953	11 January 1955	469	Christian Democratic Union
3	Otto Suhr (1955–1957)	11 January 1955	30 August 1957 (died in office)	962	Social Democratic Party
4	Willy Brandt (1913–1992)	3 October 1957	1 December 1966	3346	Social Democratic Party
5	Heinrich Albertz (1915–1993)	1 December 1966	19 October 1967	322	Social Democratic Party
6	Klaus Schütz (1926–2012)	19 October 1967	2 May 1977	3483	Social Democratic Party
7	Dietrich Stobbe (1938–2011)	2 May 1978	23 January 1981	1362	Social Democratic Party
8	Hans-Jochen Vogel (1926–2020)	23 January 1981	11 June 1981	139	Social Democratic Party
9	Richard von Weizsäcker (1920–2015)	11 June 1981	9 February 1984	973	Christian Democratic Union
10	Eberhard Diepgen (born 1941)	9 February 1984	16 March 1989	1862	Christian Democratic Union
11	Walter Momper (born 1945)	16 March 1989	24 January 1991	565	Social Democratic Party
West Berlin was reunited with East Berlin on October 3, 1990 and dissolved.
Reunified Berlin (1990–present)
City-state and capital city of the Federal Republic of Germany
	Walter Momper (born 1945) & Tino Schwierzina^[2] (1927–2003)	3 October 1990	24 January 1991	113	Social Democratic Party
12 (10)	Eberhard Diepgen (born 1941)	24 January 1991	16 June 2001	3796	Christian Democratic Union
13	Klaus Wowereit (born 1953)	16 June 2001	11 December 2014	4926	Social Democratic Party
14	Michael Müller (born 1964)	11 December 2014	21 December 2021	2567	Social Democratic Party
15	Franziska Giffey (born 1978)	21 December 2021^[3]	27 April 2023	492	Social Democratic Party
16	Kai Wegner (born 1972)	27 April 2023	Incumbent	582	Christian Democratic Union

Notes

^ Louise Schroeder replaced the Lord Mayor-elect Ernst Reuter, who was barred by Soviet veto.
^ Ferdinand Friedensburg was acting Lord Mayor of Great Berlin due to the illness of acting Lord Mayor Louise Schroeder during the Berlin Blockade in 1948. Schröder resumed her duties on 1 December 1948 and continued until Ernst Reuter was elected on 7 December 1948.

References

^ Cf. Werner Gahrig, Unterwegs zu den Hugenotten in Berlin. Historische Spaziergänge, extended and corrected ed., Berlin: edition ost/Das Neue Berlin, ²2000, p. 83. ISBN 3-360-01013-2
^ German Reunification Treaty, Artikel 16
^ "Berlin: Franziska Giffey sworn in as first elected female mayor". Deutsche Welle. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.