Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales
Map
Agency overview
Formed 1919 (Weimar Republic),
1949 (West Germany)
Jurisdiction Government of Germany
Headquarters Wilhelmstraße 49
10117 Berlin
52°30′45″N 13°23′01″E / 52.51250°N 13.38361°E / 52.51250; 13.38361
Annual budget €164.920 billion (2021)[1]
Minister responsible
  • Bärbel Bas, Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs
Website www.bmas.de
Main Entrance on Wilhelmstrasse

The Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs (German: Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales,[a] pronounced [ˈbʊndəsminɪsˌteːʁiʊm fyːɐ̯ ˈʔaʁbaɪt ʔʊnt zoˈtsi̯aːləs] ⓘ; 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 (Bundesregierung). Its first location is on Wilhelmstrasse in Berlin, the second in Bonn.

History

The Reich Ministry of Labour of the Weimar Republic was established on 13 February 1919 as the successor of the Labour Office (Reichsarbeitsamt) of the German Empire. The Social Democratic politician Gustav Bauer became the first Minister for Labour under Chancellor Philipp Scheidemann, whom he succeeded on 21 June that year. On the day of the Machtergreifung in January 1933, the German National politician and Der Stahlhelm leader Franz Seldte was appointed Minister for Labour in the Cabinet Hitler, a position he officially held until 1945, though the day-to-day affairs of the Ministry were managed largely by the State Secretaries Johannes Krohn (1933–1939) and Friedrich Syrup (1939–1945).

The West German Ministry for Labour was re-established in Bonn on 20 September 1949 with the Cabinet Adenauer I. According to the 1991 Berlin/Bonn Act it moved to its present seat in Berlin-Mitte in 2000, on premises formerly used by Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry and the East German National Front organisation.

During the Cabinet Schröder II from 2002 to 2005, the ministry had been dissolved and its responsibilities allocated to the Federal Ministry for Economics and Labour[2] and the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Security. Responsibilities were re-allocated once again when a new government was formed under Chancellor Angela Merkel following the Bundestag elections of 2005. The German name was changed from Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Sozialordnung to Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales.

Ministers

German Reich (until 1945)

Hubertus Heil
Reich Ministers

Political Party:   Centre   SPD   NSDAP   Independent

No. Portrait Minister of Labour Took office Left office Time in office Party Cabinet
Weimar Republic (1919–1933)
1
Gustav Bauer
Bauer, GustavGustav Bauer
(1870–1944)		 13 February 1919 20 June 1919 127 days SPD Scheidemann
2
Alexander Schlicke
Schlicke, AlexanderAlexander Schlicke
(1863–1940)		 21 June 1919 21 June 1920 1 year, 0 days SPD Bauer
Müller
3
Heinrich Brauns
Brauns, HeinrichHeinrich Brauns
(1868–1939)		 25 June 1920 12 June 1928 7 years, 353 days Centre Fehrenbach
Wirth I–II
Cuno
Stresemann I–II
Marx I–II
Luther I–II
Marx III–IV
4
Rudolf Wissell
Wissell, RudolfRudolf Wissell
(1869–1962)		 28 June 1928 27 March 1930 1 year, 272 days SPD Müller II
5
Adam Stegerwald
Stegerwald, AdamAdam Stegerwald
(1874–1945)		 30 March 1930 30 May 1932 2 years, 61 days Centre Brüning I–II
–
Hermann Warmbold
Warmbold, HermannHermann Warmbold
(1876–1976)
Acting		 1 June 1932 6 June 1932 5 days Independent Papen
6
Hugo Schäffer
Schäffer, HugoHugo Schäffer
(1875–1945)		 7 June 1932 17 November 1932 163 days Independent Papen
7
Friedrich Syrup
Syrup, FriedrichFriedrich Syrup
(1881–1945)		 3 December 1932 28 January 1933 56 days Independent Schleicher
Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
8
Franz Seldte
Seldte, FranzFranz Seldte
(1882–1947)		 30 January 1933 30 April 1945 12 years, 90 days NSDAP Hitler
9
Theo Hupfauer
Hupfauer, TheoTheo Hupfauer
(1906–1993)		 30 April 1945 5 May 1945 5 days NSDAP Goebbels
(8)
Franz Seldte
Seldte, FranzFranz Seldte
(1882–1947)		 5 May 1945 23 May 1945 18 days NSDAP Flensburg

Federal Republic of Germany (1949–present)

Federal Ministers

Political Party:   CDU   SPD

Name
(Born-Died)		 Portrait Party Term of Office Chancellor
(Cabinet)
Federal Minister for Labour (1949–1957)
Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs (1957–2002)
1 Anton Storch
(1892–1975)		 CDU 20 September 1949 29 October 1957 Adenauer
(I • II)
2 Theodor Blank
(1905–1972)		 CDU 29 October 1957 26 October 1965 Adenauer (III • IV • V)
Erhard (I)
3 Hans Katzer
(1919–1996)		 CDU 26 October 1965 21 October 1969 Erhard (II)
Kiesinger (I)
4 Walter Arendt
(1925–2005)		 SPD 22 October 1969 16 December 1976 Brandt (I • II)
Schmidt (I)
5 Herbert Ehrenberg
(1926–2018)		 SPD 16 December 1976 28 April 1982 Schmidt
(II • III)
6 Heinz Westphal
(1924–1998)		 SPD 28 April 1982 1 October 1982 Schmidt
(III)
7 Norbert Blüm
(1935–2020)		 CDU 1 October 1982 27 October 1998 Kohl
(I • II • III • IV • V)
8 Walter Riester
(b. 1943)		 SPD 27 October 1998 22 October 2002 Schröder
(I)
Federal Minister for Economics and Labour 22 October 2002 22 November 2005 Schröder
(II)
9a Wolfgang Clement
(1940–2020)		 SPD
Federal Minister for Health and Social Security
9b Ulla Schmidt
(b. 1949)		 SPD
Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs
10 Franz Müntefering
(b. 1940)		 SPD 22 November 2005 21 November 2007 Merkel
(I)
11 Olaf Scholz
(b. 1958)		 SPD 21 November 2007 28 October 2009
12 Franz Josef Jung
(b. 1949)		 CDU 28 October 2009 27 November 2009 Merkel
(II)
13 Ursula von der Leyen
(b. 1958)		 CDU 30 November 2009 17 December 2013
14 Andrea Nahles
(b. 1970)		 SPD 17 December 2013 28 September 2017 Merkel
(III)
Katarina Barley was acting Federal Minister from 28 September 2017 to 14 March 2018.
15 Hubertus Heil
(b. 1972)		 SPD 14 March 2018 6 May 2025 Merkel (IV)
Scholz (I)
16 Bärbel Bas
(b. 1972)		 SPD 6 May 2025 Incumbent Merz (I)


Parliamentary State Sectretaries

  • 1969–1974: Helmut Rohde (SPD)
  • 1972–1976: Herbert Ehrenberg (SPD)
  • 1974–1982: Hermann Buschfort (SPD)
  • 1980–1982: Anke Fuchs (SPD)
  • 1982: Rudolf Dreßler (SPD)
  • 1982: Jürgen Egert (SPD)
  • 1982–1991: Wolfgang Vogt (CDU)
  • 1982–1984: Heinrich Franke (CDU)
  • 1984–1989: Stefan Höpfinger (CSU)
  • 1989–1992: Horst Seehofer (CSU)
  • 1991–1998: Horst Günther (CDU)
  • 1992–1998: Rudolf Kraus (CSU)
  • 1998–2008: Gerd Andres (SPD)
  • 1998–2002: Ulrike Mascher (SPD)
  • 2002–2005: Ditmar Staffelt (SPD)
  • 2002–2005: Rezzo Schlauch (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
  • 2002–2009: Franz Thönnes (SPD)
  • 2005–2009: Klaus Brandner (SPD)
  • 2009–2013: Ralf Brauksiepe (CDU)
  • 2009–2013: Hans-Joachim Fuchtel (CDU)
  • 2013–2018: Gabriele Lösekrug-Möller (SPD)
  • 2013-2025: Anette Kramme (SPD)
  • since 2018: Kerstin Griese (SPD)
  • since 2025: Natalie Pawlik (SPD)
  • since 2025: Katja Mast (SPD)

[3]

State secretaries

As of May 2025, The Secretaries of State are Leonie Gebers, Lilian Tschan and Michael Schäfer.

Building

The ministry is located within the former Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. For the building's interior courtyard, artist Daniel Buren was commissioned with his large-scale installation La Grande Fenêtre (2001).[4]

Notes

  1. ^ Former German name: Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Sozialordnung. The English translation used by the ministry is the same.

References

  1. ^ "Bundeshaushalt". www.bundeshaushalt.de. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  2. ^ German name: Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Arbeit
  3. ^ "BMAS - Ministerin und Hausleitung". Webseite des Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales (in German). Retrieved 2025-11-16.
  4. ^ Michael Z. Wise (7 June 1998), Where the Past Haunts, Berlin Embraces the New New York Times.