The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (german: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz, ), abbreviated BMWK (was BMWi), is a cabinet-level ministry of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south ...

. It was previously known as the "Ministry of Economy". It was recreated in 2005 as "Ministry of Economics and Technology" after it had previously been merged with other ministries to form the Federal Ministry for Economics and Labour between 2002 and 2005. The ministry is advised by the

Council of Advisors on Digital Economy The Council of Advisors on Digital Economy (german: Beirat Junge Digitale Wirtschaft beim Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, abbreviated ''BJDW'') is an advisory board to the German government established within the Federal Ministry for Economic A ...

History

The historical predecessor of the current Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action was the ''Reichswirtschaftsamt'' (Reich Economic Office), founded in 1917. In 1919, this became the ''Reichswirtschaftsministerium'' (Reich Ministry of Economy), which existed until 1945. In postwar occupied Germany, its functions were exercised by the Administrative Office of Economy (german: Verwaltungsamt für Wirtschaft) between 1946 and 1949. After the founding of the

, the Federal Ministry of Economics (german: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft) existed from 1949 to 1998. From May 1971 to December 1972, it was temporarily merged with the Federal Ministry of Finance, in the Federal Ministry of Economics and Finance. In 1998 the technology section of the Ministry of Research was added, making it the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. Between 2002 and 2005, it was merged with the

Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (german: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz, ), abbreviated BMWK (was BMWi), is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was previously known as ...

and one part of the

Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs The Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs (german: Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales, ), abbreviated BMAS) is a federal ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany headed by the Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs a ...

- the other part being merged with the old Federal Ministry for Health, then the Ministry of Health and Social Security. This transformations aimed to consolidate the policy-fields of economics and labour market, on which the second term of chancellor Gerhard Schröder wanted to focus, into one hand. Because the new Ministry was very large and important, it was often referred to as a super-ministry (''Superministerium'') and its minister as a super-minister (''Superminister''). The creation of the new Ministry was widely seen as failed, basically because of the poor performance of the only office-holder

Wolfgang Clement Wolfgang Clement (7 July 194027 September 2020) was a German politician and a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He was the 7th Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 May 1998 to 22 October 2002 and Federal ...

. Under the following

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there ar ...

headed by

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Op ...

, the portfolio reshuffle was reversed, and the old Federal Ministries of Economics and Technology, of Labour and Social Affairs and of Health were created once again as Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. It was renamed to Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in 2013.

Structure

The Ministry is organised into 9 departments and one central department. * Central Administration – Z * Political Staff and Policy Planning - L * European Policy – E * Economic Policy – I * Energy Policy: Heating and Efficiency – II * Energy Policy: Electricity and Grid – III * Industrial Policy – IV * External Economic Policy – V * Digital und Innovation Policy – VI * SME Policy - VII The ministry is headquartered in Berlin.

Agencies

In addition to its own operations, the Ministry also oversees the following agencies: The Ministry's Agencies
/ref> *

Federal Cartel Office The Federal Cartel Office (, ; BKartA) is Germany's national competition regulatory agency. First established in 1958, BKartA comes under the authority of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. The agency is headquartered ...

Federal Network Agency The Federal Network Agency (german: Bundesnetzagentur or ) is the German regulatory office for electricity, gas, telecommunications, post and railway markets. It is a federal agency of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Act ...

* Federal Office of Economics and Export Control *

Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (german: , or BAM) is a German material research institute. History Its historical origins start in 1871, a year in which Germany was unified, as the ''Mechanisch-Technische Versuchsansta ...

Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources The Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe or BGR) is a German agency within the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. It acts as a central geoscience consulting insti ...

* German National Metrology Institute

Ministers and Secretaries of State

Ministers

Political Party:

Secretaries

Ministry for Economy (1949–1998)

;Parliamentary State Secretaries * 1967–1970:

Klaus Dieter Arndt Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus *Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American base ...

, SPD * 1970–1971: Philip Rosenthal, SPD * 1972:

Rainer Offergeld Rainer Offergeld (born 26 December 1937) is a German politician. He was minister of Economic Cooperation from 1978 to 1982. Offergeld was mayor of Lörrach Lörrach () is a town in southwest Germany, in the valley of the Wiese, close to th ...

, SPD * 1972–1987:

Martin Grüner Martin Grüner (19 July 1929 – 4 February 2018) was a German politician and member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). Hailing from Schramberg Schramberg is a town in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated ...

, FDP/DVP * 1983–1987: Rudolf Sprung, CDU * 1987–1989: Ludolf-Georg von Wartenberg, CDU * 1987–1993:

Erich Riedl Erich Riedl (23 June 1933 – 8 September 2018) was a German politician, representing the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). He was the parliamentary state secretary for the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy from 1987 to 1993. ...

, CSU * 1989–1992:

Klaus Beckmann Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus *Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American baseba ...

, FDP * 1992–1998:

Heinrich Leonhard Kolb Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...

, FDP * 1993–1994:

Reinhard Göhner Reinhard Göhner is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and former member of the German Bundestag. Life He was Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Justice from 1991 to 1993 and at the Federal Minis ...

, CDU * 1994–1997:

Norbert Lammert Norbert Lammert (born 16 November 1948) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as the 12th President of the Bundestag from 2005 to 2017. Early life and education The son of a baker, Lammert attended gymnasi ...

, CDU ;State Secretaries * 1949–1951:

Eduard Schalfejew Eduard Model Accessories is a Czech manufacturer of plastic models and finescale model accessories. Formed in 1989 in the city of Most, Eduard began in a rented cellar as a manufacturer of photoetched brass model components. Following the succ ...

* 1951–1963:

Ludger Westrick Ludger Westrick (23 October 1894 – 31 July 1990) was a German politician ( Christian Democratic Union) who served as Head of the German Chancellery from 1963 to 1966 and as Minister for Special Affairs from 1969 to 1972. He previously was a ...

, no party * 1958–1963:

Alfred Müller-Armack Alfred Müller-Armack (28 June 1901 – 16 March 1978) was a German economist and politician. He coined the term "social market economy" in 1946. Müller-Armack was professor of economics at University of Münster and University of Cologne. He ...

, CDU * 1963–1966:

Wolfram Langer Wolfram may refer to: * Wolfram (name) * Wolfram, an alternative name for the chemical element tungsten * Wolfram Research, a software company known for the symbolic computation program Mathematica ** Wolfram Language The Wolfram Language ( ...

* 1963–1968:

Fritz Neef Fritz originated as a German nickname for Friedrich, or Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Frederick II of Prussia and Frederick III, German Emperor) as well as for similar names including Fridolin an ...

* 1967–1972:

Johann Baptist Schöllhorn Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

* 1968–1969:

Klaus von Dohnanyi Klaus von Dohnanyi (born 23 June 1928) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as mayor of Hamburg between 1981 and 1988. Early life and career Dohnanyi was born in Hamburg, the son of Christine von Dohnanyi and ...

, SPD * 1969–1978:

Detlev Karsten Rohwedder Detlev Karsten Rohwedder (16 October 1932 – 1 April 1991) was a German manager and politician, as member of the Social Democratic Party. He was named president of the Treuhandanstalt, responsible for the privatisation of state-owned property i ...

, SPD * 1972:

Ernst Wolf Mommsen The Mommsen family is a German family of influential historians. *Jens Mommsen (1783–1851) ∞ Sophie Elisabeth Krumbhaar (1792–1855) **Theodor Mommsen (1817-1903), 1902 Nobel Laureate in Literature ∞ Marie Reimer (1832–1907) ***Marie Momms ...

* 1973–1991:

Otto Schlecht Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

* 1979–1995:

Dieter von Würzen Dieter or dieter may refer to: * A person committed to dieting People Dieter is a German given name (), a short form of Dietrich, from ''theod+ric'' "people ruler", see Theodoric. Given name *Dieter Althaus (born 1958), German politician ...

* 1991–1994:

Johann Eekhoff Johann Eekhoff (25 July 1941 – 3 March 2013) was a German economist and former state secretary of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. He held a chair for economic policy at the University of Cologne until 2009. A native of Moor ...

* 1994–1997:

Johannes Ludewig Johannes Ludewig (born 6 July 1945, in Hamburg) is a German manager and former secretary of state. He was executive director of Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies The Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Comp ...

* 1995–1998:

Lorenz Schomerus Lorenz is an originally German name derived from the Roman surname Laurentius, which means "from Laurentum". Given name People with the given name Lorenz include: * Prince Lorenz of Belgium (born 1955), member of the Belgian royal family by h ...

* 1997–1998:

Rudi Geil Rudi, born Albert Rudolph (January 24, 1928 – February 21, 1973), also known as Swami Rudrananda, was born in Brooklyn, New York. Rudi was a spiritual teacher and an antiquities entrepreneur in New York City.Swami Rudrananda udi ''Spir ...

, CDU * 1997–1998:

Klaus Bünger Klaus is a German, Dutch and Scandinavian given name and surname. It originated as a short form of Nikolaus, a German form of the Greek given name Nicholas. Notable persons whose family name is Klaus *Billy Klaus (1928–2006), American baseba ...

Ministry for Economics and Technology (1998–2002)

;Parliamentary State Secretaries * 1998–2002: Siegmar Mosdorf, SPD ;State Secretaries * 1998–2002:

Alfred Tacke Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

, SPD * 1999–2002:

Axel Gerlach Axel may refer to: People * Axel (name), all persons with the name Places * Axel, Netherlands, a town ** Capture of Axel, a battle at Axel in 1586 Arts, entertainment, media * ''Axel'', a 1988 short film by Nigel Wingrove * ''Axel'', a Cirqu ...

Ministry for Economics and Labour (2002–2005)

;Parliamentary State Secretaries * 2002–2005:

Gerd Andres Gerd Andres (born 8 April 1951 in Wirges, Rhineland-Palatinate) is a German politician and member of the SPD. From 1987 to 2009 he was a member of the Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the German Federalism, fede ...

, SPD * 2002–2005:

Rezzo Schlauch Rezzo ( lij, Ressu) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Imperia in the Italian region Liguria, located about southwest of Genoa and about northwest of Imperia. Geography As of 31 December 2004, Rezzo had a population of 390 and ...

, Greens * 2002–2005:

Ditmar Staffelt Ditmar may refer to: People with the surname * Art Ditmar (1929–2021), American Major League Baseball pitcher * Karl von Ditmar (1822–1892), Baltic German geologist and explorer * Nikolay Fyodorovitch von Ditmar (1865–1919), Russian politici ...

, SPD ;State Secretaries * 1999–2003:

* 2002–2004:

, SPD * 2002–2005: Rudolf Anzinger * 2002–2005: Georg-Wilhelm Adamowitsch * 2004–2005:

Bernd Pfaffenbach Bernd is a Low German short form of the given name Bernhard (English Bernard). List of persons with given name Bernd The following people share the name Bernd. *Bernd Brückler (born 1981), Austrian hockey player *Bernd Eichinger (1949–2011), G ...

Ministry of Economics and Technology (2005–2013)

;Parliamentary State Secretaries * 2005–2013:

Peter Hintze Peter Hintze (25 April 1950 – 26 November 2016) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as a member of the German Bundestag from 1990 until his death in 2016. From 2013 until 2016, Hintze was one of the six ...

, CDU * 2005–2009:

Dagmar Wöhrl Dagmar Gabriele Wöhrl (''née'' Winkler; born 5 May 1954) is a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU). She has served as Chairwoman of the Committee for Economic Cooperation and Development of the German Bundestag. Sh ...

, CSU * 2005–2009:

Hartmut Schauerte Hartmut is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Hartmut of Saint Gall (died 905), Benedictine abbot *Hartmut Bagger (born 1938), retired German general of the Bundeswehr * Hartmut Becker (born 1938), German actor *Hartmut Boockmann ...

, CDU * 2009–2013:

Ernst Burgbacher Ernst Burgbacher (born 28 May 1949 in Trossingen) is a German politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws ...

, FDP * 2009–2013: Hans-Joachim Otto, FDP ;State Secretaries * 2005–2006: Georg-Wilhelm Adamowitsch * 2005–2008:

Joachim Wuermeling Joachim Wuermeling (born 19 July 1960 in Münster) a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria. Between 2005 and 2008, he served as State Secretary for the European Union in the German Federal Ministry for Economics and Technolo ...

CSU CSU may refer to: * Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card * Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code * Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation * Christian Social ...

* 2006–2009:

Walther Otremba Walther is a masculine given name and a surname. It is a German form of Walter, which is derived from the Old High German ''Walthari'', containing the elements ''wald'' -"power", "brightness" or "forest" and ''hari'' -"warrior". The name was firs ...

* 2005–2011:

* 2008–2012:

Jochen Homann Jochen is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Jochen Asche, East German luger, competed during the 1960s *Jochen Böhler (born 1969), German historian, specializing in the history of World War II *Jochen Babock (born 1953), East G ...

* 2009–2013:

Bernhard Heitzer Bernhard is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (1604–1639), Duke of Saxe-Weimar * Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1901–1984), head of the House of Saxe-Meiningen 194 ...

, FDP * 2011–2013:

Stefan Kapferer Stefan may refer to: * Stefan (given name) * Stefan (surname) * Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname * Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname * Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...

, FDP * 2012–2013:

Anne Herkes Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the N ...

Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (2013–2021)

;Parliamentary State Secretaries * 2013–2017:

Brigitte Zypries Brigitte Zypries (born 16 November 1953) is a German lawyer and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Between 2017 and 2018, she served as Minister for Economics and Energy in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel; she was the fir ...

, SPD * 2013–2018:

Uwe Beckmeyer Uwe Karl Beckmeyer (born 26 March 1949 in Bremerhaven) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) who served as a member of the German Bundestag from 2002 until 2017. From October 2004, he served as the SPD parliamen ...

, SPD * 2013–2018:

Iris Gleicke Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants *Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional enti ...

, SPD * 2017–2018: Dirk Wiese, SPD * 2018–2019:

Oliver Wittke Oliver Wittke (born 24 September 1966) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Early life and education Born in Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia, Wittke studied geosciences and economics at the Ruhr University Bochum. Care ...

, CDU * 2018–2020:

Christian Hirte Christian Hirte (born 23 May 1976) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as member of the German Bundestag since 2008. Since 2020, he has been the chai ...

, CDU * 2018-2021:

Thomas Bareiß Thomas Bareiß (born 15 February 1975) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since 2005. From 2018 to 2021, he held the position of Parliamentary State Secretary a ...

, CDU * 2019–2021:

Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker ( Winkelmeier, born 15 September 1962) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from Rhein-Sieg-Kreis I in the state of North Rhine- ...

, CDU * 2020-2021:

Marco Wanderwitz Marco Wanderwitz (born 10 October 1975) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). From 2018 until 2021, he served as Parliamentary State Secretary in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Education and ear ...

, CDU ;State Secretaries * since 2013:

Rainer Baake Rainer may refer to: People * Rainer (surname) * Rainer (given name) Other * Rainer Island, an island in Franz Josef Land, Russia * 16802 Rainer, an asteroid * Rainer Foundation, British charitable organisation See also * Rainier (disambiguation ...

, Greens * since 2014:

Matthias Machnig Matthias is a name derived from the Greek Ματθαίος, in origin similar to Matthew. People Notable people named Matthias include the following: In religion: * Saint Matthias, chosen as an apostle in Acts 1:21–26 to replace Judas Iscariot * ...

, SPD * since 2013:

Dr. Rainer Sontowski Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...

, SPD

Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (since 2021)

;Parliamentary State Secretaries * Since 2021:

Franziska Brantner Franziska Katharina Brantner (born 24 August 1979) is a German politician of the Green Party who has been serving as a member of the German Parliament since 2013. In addition to her parliamentary mandate, Brantner has been a Parliamentary St ...

, Greens * Since 2021:

Oliver Krischer Oliver Krischer (born 26 July 1969) is a German politician of the Alliance '90/The Greens who has been serving as State Minister for Environment, Nature Protection, and Transport in the government of Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia ...

, Greens * Since 2021:

Michael Kellner Michael Kellner (born 8 May 1977) is a German politician (Alliance 90/The Greens) who has been serving as a Member of the Bundestag representing electoral constituency Uckermark – Barnim I since 2021. In addition to his parliamentary work, Ke ...

, Greens ;State Secretaries * since 2021: Anja Hajduk, Greens * since 2021:

Sven Giegold Sven (in Danish and Norwegian, also Svend and also in Norwegian most commonly Svein) is a Scandinavian first name which is also used in the Low Countries and German-speaking countries. The name itself is Old Norse for "young man" or "young war ...

, Greens * since 2021:

Udo Philipp Udo is a masculine given name. It may refer to: People Medieval era *Udo of Neustria, 9th century nobleman *Udo (Obotrite prince) (died 1028) *Udo (archbishop of Trier) (c. 1030 – 1078) *Lothair Udo II, Margrave of the Nordmark (c. 1025 – 1 ...

* since 2021:

Patrick Graichen Patrick may refer to: *Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name *Patrick (surname), list of people with this name People *Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint *Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control

Economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with t ...

Economy of Germany

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...