Federal Ministry of Finance (Germany)

Federal Ministry of Finance

Bundesministerium der Finanzen (BMF)
The Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus on Wilhelmstraße, headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Finance since August 1999. Formerly the Air Ministry headquarters building and an example of classical-modern architecture.
Agency overview
Formed	14 July 1879 (1879-07-14) (Reichsschatzamt)
Jurisdiction	Federal Republic of Germany
Headquarters	Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus Wilhelmstraße 97, 10117 Berlin 52°30′31″N 13°23′3″E
Employees	1,965 (ministry)
Annual budget	€8.742 billion (2021)
Minister responsible	Christian Lindner, Federal Minister of Finance
Agency executives	Katja Hessel, Parliamentary State Secretary Florian Toncar, Parliamentary State Secretary Steffen Saebisch, State Secretary Werner Gatzer, State Secretary
Parent agency	Cabinet of Germany
Website	http://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de

The Federal Ministry of Finance (German: Bundesministerium der Finanzen), abbreviated BMF, is the cabinet-level finance ministry of Germany, with its seat at the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus in Berlin and a secondary office in Bonn. The current Federal Minister of Finance is Christian Lindner (FDP).

History

In German politics, the Ministry of Finance beside the Interior, Foreign, Justice and Defence ministries is counted as one of the "classical portfolios" (denoted by the definite article der), which were also part of the first German government under Otto von Bismarck following the Unification of 1871.

Pre-war ministry on Wilhelmplatz, Berlin, 1930s

Fiscal policy in the German Empire was predominantly the domain of the various states responsible for all direct taxation according to the 1833 Zollverein treaties. The federal government merely received indirect contributions from the states. Matters of fiscal policy at the federal level initially was the exclusive responsibility of the German Chancellery under Otto von Bismarck. However, in 1877 a special finance department was established, which with effect from 14 July 1879 was separated from the chancellery as the Imperial Treasury (Reichsschatzamt), a federal agency in its own right. With its seat vis-à-vis on Wilhelmplatz in Berlin, it was first headed by a subsecretary, and from 1880 by a Secretary of State only answerable to the chancellor.

After World War I, the newly established Weimar Republic had to face huge reparations and a fiscal emergency. To cope with the implications, the former Reichsschatzamt in 1919 was re-organised as a federal ministry, the Reichsministerium der Finanzen, as supreme financial authority headed by a federal minister. Besides a Reich Treasury Ministry (Reichsschatzministerium) was established for the administration of the federal property, both agencies were merged in 1923.

Already in the German cabinet of Chancellor Franz von Papen, Undersecretary Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk was appointed Finance Minister in 1932, an office he held throughout the Nazi era until 1945. The ministry played a vital role in financing the German re-armament, in the "Aryanization" of Jewish property ("Reich Flight Tax"), German war economy, and the plundering of occupied countries in World War II. The budget deficit had already reached heady heights on the eve of the war, aggrandised by hidden Mefo and Oeffa bill financing. In turn, saving banks and credit institutions were obliged to sign war bonds while price stability was enforced by government intervention and the German public was called up to bank surplus money.

After World War II the ministry was re-established in 1949 and renamed the West German Bundesministerium der Finanzen. Since 1999, the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus (former Air Ministry Building) in Berlin has been the headquarters of the ministry.

The Ministry of Finance in Berlin in the 1930s' and 1940s' was responsible for the plunder of Jewish assets throughout Europe. After Germany illegally annexed Austria on 12 March 1938 every Jewish family in Austria and in Germany received from the Ministry of Finance in Berlin, a form called "Verzeichnis uber das Vermogen von Juden nach dem Stand von 27 April 1938," (Report of Jewish Fortunes as per the law of 27 April 1938). All Jewish households had to list the value of all their assets including silver, gold, real estate, bank accounts, businesses / inventories, artworks and jewelry. This even included silverware such as knives, forks and spoons. In addition all debts owed to Aryan Germans also had to be listed. On the form Jews were warned that they had to complete these documents by 30 June 1938 or risk serious punishment such as imprisonment or expropriation. These forms had to be mailed back to the Finanzamt (tax authority) in Berlin.

In 1994, following German reunification Theo Waigel, the Minister of Finance refused to return nine East Berlin apartment buildings to six Austrian Jewish Nazi victims. On 10 December 2020 the American descendants of Salo Feuerwerk; owner of Lottumstrasse 15 purchased in 1924, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court of Columbia against Germany for Thefticide and Unjust enrichment; Case number: 1:20 – cv- 03587.

Structure and function

Minister Christian Lindner

The Ministry is the supreme federal authority in revenue administration and governs a number of subordinate federal, intermediate, and local authorities such as the Federal Centre for Data Processing and Information Technology (ZIVIT). The Ministry's wider portfolio includes public-law agencies and corporations such as the Federal Finance Regulator (BaFin) and Real Estate regulatory bodies. The finance minister is the only cabinet minister who can veto a decision of the government if it would lead to additional expenditure. The German newspaper FAZ stated, the Ministry of Finance is the most important Ministry in the German government.

The Finance Ministry is responsible for all aspects of tax and revenue policy in Germany and plays a significant role in European Union policy. It has nine directorates-general:

• Directorate-General Z (Central Services): Deals with all ministerial organizational matters, including human resources, IT, occupational training, management, and administration
• Directorate-General L (Leading, Strategy and communication): Coordinates strategy development and policy planning to advance decision-making processes, also manages the ministry's relations with the parliament and federal cabinet
• Directorate-General I (Fiscal and Macroeconomic Affairs): Determines the strategic focus of the Ministry's fiscal policy instruments, forecasts public budget trends and conducts macroeconomic research
• Directorate-General II (Federal Budget): Responsible for drawing up the federal budget by calculating revenue and spending for each government policy area.
• Directorate-General III (Customs and Excise): Responsible for levying customs and excise duties, as well as for monitoring cross-border goods traffic.
• Directorate-General IV (Taxation): Together with the other member states of the EU, the Ministry works to improve coordination among the different systems of taxes.
• Directorate-General V (Financial Relations and Law): Coordinates financial relations between central, regional and local governments. Also responsible for public law, legal affairs, and handling proceedings before Germany's Federal Constitutional Court and the European courts. Furthermore, this directorate-general deals with settlement of war burdens, compensation for National Socialist injustices, and unresolved property issues in eastern Germany
• Directorate-General VII (Financial Market Policy): Manages the federal debt, including issuance of securities for financial markets and private investors which ensure the budgeted volume of credit is obtained when needed and at market rates. Also responsible for the Bundesbank and the European Central Bank. Shapes the legal framework for financial markets through its capital market policy and exercises legal supervision over the German financial watchdog agency BaFin.
• Directorate-General VIII (Privatisation): Sets the policy for managing state holdings which is then undertaken by individual government departments. Operates a real estate institute that markets properties that the German Government no longer needs, and operates standardised facility management for federal properties.
• Directorate-General E (European Policy): Responsible for coordinating the German Government's European economic and financial policy under the EU Treaty.

Subordinate agencies

Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus, Berlin headquarters

entrance to the headquarters in Bonn

The federal ministry directly governs the following agencies:

• Higher federal authorities
  • Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt)
  • Federal Office of Central Services and Unresolved Property Issues (BADV)
  • Federal Equalisation of Burdens Office (BAA)
  • Federal Spirits Monopoly Administration (BfB)
• Intermediate and local authorities
  • Customs Administration
    • Customs Investigation Bureau (ZKA)
    • 5 Federal finance offices
    • 43 local customs offices
    • 8 local customs investigation offices
• Other agencies
  • Centre for Data Processing and Information Technology (ZIVIT)
  • Training and Knowledge Centre (BWZ)

Legally independent entities in the Ministry's wider portfolio include:

• Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)
• Financial Market Stabilisation Fund (SoFFin)
• Federal Agency for Financial Market Stabilisation (FMSA)
• Institute for Federal Real Estate (BImA)
• Federal Institute for Special Tasks Arising from Unification (BvS)
• Federal Posts and Telecommunications Agency (BAnst PT)
  • Federal Pensions Service for Posts and Telecommunications (BPS-PT)
  • Posts and Telecommunications Accident Fund (UKPT)
  • Museum Foundation for Posts and Telecommunications (MusStiftPT)

Federal Ministers of Finance

Main article: List of German finance ministers

Political Party:   CSU   CDU   FDP   SPD

Name (Born-Died)		Portrait	Party	Term of Office		Chancellor (Cabinet)
1	Fritz Schäffer (1888–1967)		CSU	20 September 1949	29 October 1957	Adenauer (I • II)
2	Franz Etzel (1902–1970)		CDU	29 October 1957	14 November 1961	Adenauer (III)
3	Heinz Starke (1911–2001)		FDP	14 November 1961	19 November 1962	Adenauer (IV)
4	Rolf Dahlgrün (1908–1969)		FDP	14 December 1962	28 October 1966	Adenauer (V) Erhard (I • II)
5	Kurt Schmücker (1919–1996)		CDU	8 November 1966	30 November 1966	Erhard (II)
6	Franz Josef Strauß (1915–1988)		CSU	1 December 1966	21 October 1969	Kiesinger (I)
7	Alex Möller (1903–1985)		SPD	22 October 1969	13 May 1971	Brandt (I)
8	Karl Schiller (1911–1994)		SPD	13 May 1971	7 July 1972
9	Helmut Schmidt (1918–2015)		SPD	7 July 1972	1 May 1974	Brandt (I • II)
10	Hans Apel (1932–2011)		SPD	16 May 1974	15 February 1978	Schmidt (I • II)
11	Hans Matthöfer (1925–2009)		SPD	16 February 1978	28 April 1982	Schmidt (II • III)
12	Manfred Lahnstein (b. 1937)		SPD	28 April 1982	1 October 1982	Schmidt (III)
13	Gerhard Stoltenberg (1928–2001)		CDU	4 October 1982	21 April 1989	Kohl (I • II • III)
14	Theodor Waigel (b. 1939)		CSU	21 April 1989	27 October 1998	Kohl (III • IV • V)
15	Oskar Lafontaine (b. 1943)		SPD	27 October 1998	18 March 1999	Schröder (I)
Werner Müller was acting Federal Minister from 18 March to 12 April 1999.
16	Hans Eichel (b. 1941)		SPD	12 April 1999	22 November 2005	Schröder (I • II)
17	Peer Steinbrück (b. 1947)		SPD	22 November 2005	28 October 2009	Merkel (I)
18	Wolfgang Schäuble (b. 1942)		CDU	28 October 2009	24 October 2017	Merkel (II • III)
Peter Altmaier was acting Federal Minister from 24 October 2017 to 14 March 2018.
19	Olaf Scholz (b. 1958)		SPD	14 March 2018	8 December 2021	Merkel (IV)
20	Christian Lindner (b. 1979)		FDP	8 December 2021	Incumbent	Scholz (Scholz)

See also

• German budget process

External links

• Official website (in German)