List of minister-presidents of Mecklenburg

This is a list of the men who have served in the capacity of Minister-President or equivalent office in the states within the region of Mecklenburg from the 18th century to 1952. The states in question were Duchy and Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Duchy and Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Free States of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz and unified state of Mecklenburg.

In 1990, with German reunification, the state was re-established as Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Duchy

Prime Ministers

• 1783–1784: Carl Friedrich Graf von Bassewitz
• 1784–1800: Stephan Werner von Dewitz auf Cölpin
• 1800–1808: Bernhard Friedrich Graf von Bassewitz
• 1808–1815: August Georg Freiherr von Brandenstein

Grand Duchy

Prime Ministers

• 1815–1836: August Georg Freiherr von Brandenstein
• 1836–1837: Leopold Engelke von Plessen
• 1837–1840: Christian Friedrich Krüger
• 1840–1850: Ludwig von Lützow

Presidents of the State Ministry

• 1850–1858: Hans Adolf Karl Graf von Bülow
• 1858–1869: Jasper Joachim Bernhard Wilhelm von Oertzen
• 1869–1885: Henning Carl Friedrich Graf von Bassewitz
• 1886–1901: Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm von Bülow
• 1901–1914: Karl Heinrich Ludwig Graf von Bassewitz-Levetzow
• 1914–1918: Adolf Ferdinand Helmut August Wilhelm Langfeld

Free State

Political party:   DDP   DVP   SPD   DNVP   NSDAP

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party
			Took office	Left office	Days
President of the State Ministry
		Hugo Wendorff (1864–1945)	9 November 1918	22 February 1919	105	German Democratic Party
Ministers-President
		Hugo Wendorff (1864–1945)	22 February 1919	28 July 1920	522	German Democratic Party
		Hermann Reincke-Bloch (1867–1928)	28 July 1920	14 January 1921	170	German People's Party
		Johannes Stelling (1877–1933)	14 January 1921	18 March 1924	1159	Social Democratic Party of Germany
		Joachim Freiherr von Brandenstein (1864–1941)	18 March 1924	8 July 1926	842	German National People's Party
		Paul Schröder (1875–1932)	8 July 1926	10 July 1929	1098	Social Democratic Party of Germany
		Karl Eschenburg (1877–1943)	10 July 1929	13 July 1932	1099	German National People's Party
		Walter Granzow (1887–1952)	13 July 1932	10 August 1933	393	National Socialist German Workers' Party
		Hans Egon Engell (1897–1974)	10 August 1933	31 December 1933	143	National Socialist German Workers' Party
		Friedrich Hildebrandt (1898–1948)	Reichsstatthalter		219	National Socialist German Workers' Party
			26 May 1933	31 December 1933

Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Duchy (1769–1815)

Ministers of State (Staatsminister)

• 1769–1784: Stephan Werner von Dewitz auf Cöpin
• 1784–1795: Christoph Otto von Gamm
• 1795–1800: Otto Ulrich von Dewitz
• 1800–1815: Karl Wilhelm Friedrich David von Pentz

Grand Duchy (1815–1918)

• 1815–1827: Karl Wilhelm Friedrich David von Pentz
• 1827–1836: August Otto Ernst Freiherr von Örtzen auf Klokow
• 1837–1848: Otto Ludwig Christian von Dewitz auf Sallnow
• 1848–1850: Vacant
• 1850–1861: August Ludwig Wilhelm von Bernstorff
• 1862–1868: Bernhard Ernst von Bülow
• 1868–1872: Wilhelm Karl Konrad Freiherr von Hammerstein-Loxten
• 1872–1885: Anton von Piper (acting)
• 1885–1907: Friedrich Wilhelm Otto Ulrich Karl Helmut von Dewitz
• 1907–1918: Heinrich Bossart

Free State (1918-1933)

Political party:   DDP   SPD   DNVP   NSDAP

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party
			Took office	Left office	Days
Chairmen of the State Ministry
		Peter Franz Stubmann (1876–1962)	11 November 1918	7 January 1919	67	German Democratic Party
		Hans Krüger (1884–1933)	7 January 1919	13 October 1919	279	Social Democratic Party of Germany
Ministers of State
		Kurt Gustav Hans Otto Freiherr von Reibnitz (1877–1937) 1st term	13 October 1919	2 August 1923	1389	Social Democratic Party of Germany
		Karl Schwabe (1877–1938)	2 August 1923	13 March 1928	1685	German National People's Party
		Kurt Gustav Hans Otto Freiherr von Reibnitz (1877–1937) 2nd term	13 March 1928	12 April 1929	395	Social Democratic Party of Germany
		Kurt Häntzschel (1889–1941)	Reichskommissar		4	German Democratic Party
			12 April 1929	16 April 1929
		Kurt Gustav Hans Otto Freiherr von Reibnitz (1877–1937) 3rd term	16 April 1929	4 December 1931	962	Social Democratic Party of Germany
		Heinrich Wilhelm Ferdinand von Michael (1888–1942)	4 December 1931	27 May 1933	540	German National People's Party
		Fritz Stichtenoth (1895–1935)	27 May 1933	31 December 1933	218	National Socialist German Workers' Party
		Friedrich Hildebrandt (1898–1948)	Reichsstatthalter		219	National Socialist German Workers' Party
			26 May 1933	31 December 1933

Mecklenburg (1933–1952)

Nazi Germany (1933–1945)

Reichsstatthalter of the State of Mecklenburg

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party
			Took office	Left office	Days
		Friedrich Hildebrandt (1898–1948) as Reichsstatthalter	1 January 1934	1 May 1945	4138	National Socialist German Workers' Party

Minister-President of the State of Mecklenburg

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party
			Took office	Left office	Days
Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
		Hans Egon Engell (1897–1974)	1 January 1934	25 October 1934	297	National Socialist German Workers' Party
		Friedrich Scharf (1897–1974)	25 October 1934	1 May 1945	3841	National Socialist German Workers' Party

Soviet control / GDR (1945–1952)

Minister-President of the State of Mecklenburg

Political party:   SED

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Political party
			Took office	Left office	Days
Mecklenburg (1945–1949)
Soviet occupation zone in Allied-occupied Germany
1		Wilhelm Höcker (1886–1955)	9 December 1946	7 October 1949	1035	Socialist Unity Party
Mecklenburg (1949–1952)
State of the German Democratic Republic
(1)		Wilhelm Höcker (1886–1955)	9 December 1946	20 July 1951	588	Socialist Unity Party
2		Kurt Bürger (1894–1951)	20 July 1951	30 July 1951	10	Socialist Unity Party
3		Bernhard Quandt (1903–1999)	30 July 1951	23 July 1952	359	Socialist Unity Party
On 23 July 1952, Mecklenburg was abolished.

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (1990–present)

The Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (German: Ministerpräsidentin des Landes Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), is the head of government of the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The position was created in 1990 after German reunification. The former districts Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg and the northern part of Potsdam were merged into the new federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the borders was redrawn.

The current and first female Minister-President is Manuela Schwesig, since 2021 heading a coalition government between the Social Democrats and The Left. Schwesig succeeded Erwin Sellering in July 2017.

The office of the Minister-President is known as the State Chancellery (German: Staatskanzlei), and is located in the capital of Schwerin, along with the rest of the cabinet departments.

Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Political party:   CDU   SPD

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term			Party
			Took office	Left office	Days
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (1990–present)
State of the Federal Republic of Germany
–		Martin Brick (born 1939) as State Commissioner	3 October 1990	27 October 1990	24	Christian Democratic Union
1		Alfred Gomolka (1942–2020)	27 October 1990	19 March 1992 (resigned)	509	Christian Democratic Union
2		Berndt Seite (born 1940)	19 March 1992	3 November 1998	2420	Christian Democratic Union
3		Harald Ringstorff (1939–2020)	3 November 1998	6 October 2008 (resigned)	3625	Social Democratic Party
4		Erwin Sellering (born 1949)	6 October 2008	4 July 2017 (resigned)	3193	Social Democratic Party
5		Manuela Schwesig (born 1974)	4 July 2017	Incumbent	2705	Social Democratic Party

External links

• Worldstatesmen.org – Duchy and Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Duchy and Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Mecklenburg