The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (, ; abbreviated BMWE, formerly BMWi) is a cabinet-level ministry of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. 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.

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 () between 1946 and 1949. After the founding of the

, the Federal Ministry of Economics () 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 Energy (, ; abbreviated BMWE, formerly BMWi) is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was previously known as the "Ministry of Economy". It was recreated in 2005 as "Minis ...

and one part of the

Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs The Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs (, ; abbreviated BMAS) is a federal ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany headed by the Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs as a member of the Cabinet of Germany (). Its first ...

- 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 party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

headed by

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

, 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. * In order of the

the Ministry has published a fact sheet on the unique dual vocational training system.

Structure

BundesministeriumfuerWirtschaftundKlimaschutz1

BundesministeriumfuerWirtschaftundKlimaschutz2

The Ministry is organised into 10 departments and one central department. * Central Administration – Z * European Policy – E * Economic Policy – I * Economic Stabilisation and Energy Security – WE * Climate Action – K * Energy Policy: Heating and Efficiency – II * Energy Policy: Electricity and Grid – III * Industrial Policy – IV * External Economic Policy – V * Digital and Innovation Policy – VI *

SME ''Sme'' (stylized as ''SME'') or ''Denník Sme'' () is one of the widely-read mainstream broadsheets in Slovakia. Its website is one of the most-visited internet portals in Slovakia. Ownership status In June 2016, the Antimonopoly Office appro ...

Policy - VII The ministry is headquartered in Berlin.

Agencies

In addition to its own operations, the Ministry also oversees the following agencies: *

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 ( 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 Action and headquartered in Bo ...

Federal Office of Economics and Export Control The Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle, short BAFA) is a German Federal agency (Germany), federal agency. The BAFA is authorised to make the final decision on whether German goo ...

Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (), or BAM, is a German research institute in the field of materials science. History The institute's origins start in 1871, the year in which Germany was unified, as the ''Mechanisch-Tec ...

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, SPD * 1970–1971: Philip Rosenthal, SPD * 1972: Rainer Offergeld, SPD * 1972–1987: Martin Grüner, FDP/DVP * 1983–1987: Rudolf Sprung, CDU * 1987–1989: Ludolf-Georg von Wartenberg, CDU * 1987–1993: Erich Riedl, CSU * 1989–1992: Klaus Beckmann, FDP * 1992–1998: Heinrich Leonhard Kolb, 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 gymnasium ...

, CDU ;State Secretaries * 1949–1951:

Eduard Schalfejew Eduard Model Accessories is a Czech Republic, Czech manufacturer of plastic models and finescale model accessories. History Formed in 1989 in the city of Most (city), Most, Eduard began in a rented cellar as a manufacturer of photoetching, ...

* 1951–1963:

Ludger Westrick Ludger Westrick (23 October 1894 – 31 July 1990) was a German politician (Christian Democratic Union in Germany, Christian Democratic Union) who served as Heads of the German Chancellery, Head of the German Chancellery from 1963 to 1966 and as ...

, 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 * 1963–1968: Fritz Neef * 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 Karl Anton 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. As of , he is the oldest living former head of a german state government. Ear ...

, 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 of Germany, Social Democratic Party. He was named president of the Treuhandanstalt, the agency responsible f ...

, SPD * 1972: Ernst Wolf Mommsen * 1973–1991: Otto Schlecht * 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. Rarely, it is a German form of the given name Theodore. Given ...

* 1991–1994: Johann Eekhoff * 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 (CER) from 2002 until 2011. References

1945 bi ...

* 1995–1998: Lorenz Schomerus * 1997–1998:

Rudi Geil Rudi may refer to: __NOTOC__ People and fictional characters * Rudi (name), a given name, nickname and surname; includes a list of people and fictional characters with the name * * Places *Rudi (Tanzanian ward) *Rudi, Iran (disambiguation) *Rud ...

, CDU * 1997–1998: Klaus Bünger

Ministry for Economics and Technology (1998–2002)

;Parliamentary State Secretaries * 1998–2002: Siegmar Mosdorf, SPD ;State Secretaries * 1998–2002: Alfred Tacke, SPD * 1999–2002: Axel Gerlach

Ministry for Economics and Labour (2002–2005)

;Parliamentary State Secretaries * 2002–2005: Gerd Andres, SPD * 2002–2005: Rezzo Schlauch, 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: Axel Gerlach * 2002–2004: Alfred Tacke, 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 Cullmann (1939–2025), ...

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 was elected to the German Bundestag six times, serving from 1994 to her retirement in 2017. From 2005 until 200 ...

, CSU * 2005–2009: Hartmut Schauerte, CDU * 2009–2013: Ernst Burgbacher, FDP * 2009–2013: Hans-Joachim Otto, FDP ;State Secretaries * 2005–2006: Georg-Wilhelm Adamowitsch * 2005–2008: Joachim Wuermeling,

CSU CSU may refer to: Universities and university systems United States * Columbia Southern University, in Orange Beach, Alabama * California State University system * Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado * Connecticut State Univers ...

* 2006–2009: Walther Otremba * 2005–2011:

* 2008–2012: Jochen Homann * 2009–2013: Bernhard Heitzer, FDP * 2011–2013: Stefan Kapferer, FDP * 2012–2013: Anne Herkes

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 f ...

, 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 parliament ...

, SPD * 2013–2018:

Iris Gleicke Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (given name), a feminine given name, and a list of people ...

, SPD * 2017–2018: Dirk Wiese, SPD * 2018–2019: Oliver Wittke, CDU * 2018–2020: Christian Hirte, CDU * 2018–2021: Thomas Bareiß, CDU * 2019–2021: Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker, CDU * 2020–2021: Marco Wanderwitz, CDU ;State Secretaries * 2013–2018: Rainer Baake, Greens * 2014–2018: Matthias Machnig, SPD * 2013–2017:

Rainer Sontowski 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 ...

, SPD

Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (since 2021)

;Parliamentary State Secretaries * 2021–2022:

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:

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. Since 2024, she has also been serving as co-leader of Alliance 90/The Greens, along ...

, Greens * Since 2021: Michael Kellner, Greens * Since 2022:

Stefan Wenzel Peer Stefan Wenzel (born 5 May 1962) is a German agricultural economist and politician for the Alliance 90/The Greens who served as a member of the German Bundestag from 2021 to 2025, representing the Cuxhaven – Stade II district. In addition ...

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

Sven Giegold Sven Giegold (born 17 November 1969) is a German politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens who has been serving as the party's deputy chair since 2024, under co-chairs Franziska Brantner and Felix Banaszak. From 2021 to 2024, Giegold served as ...

, Greens * since 2021: Udo Philipp, Greens * 2021–2023: Patrick Graichen,Riham Alkousaa and Christian Kraemer (17 May 2023)
German economy ministry official leaves post amid nepotism scandal
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Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

''. Greens * since 2023:

Philipp Nimmermann Philipp is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: "Philipp" has also been a shortened version of Philippson, a German surname especially prevalent amongst German Jews and Dutch Jews. Surname * Adolf Philipp (1864� ...

, Greens

References

External links

* {{Authority control

Economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

Economy of Germany

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...