Leader of the Free Democratic Party (Germany)

Leader of the Free Democratic Party
Vorsitzender der Freien Demokratischen Partei
Incumbent Christian Lindner since 7 December 2013
Member of	Federal Executive Presidium
Formation	12 December 1948
First holder	Theodor Heuss
Website	Christian Lindner's official website

The Leader of the Free Democratic Party (German: Vorsitzender der Freien Demokratischen Partei) is the most senior and leading political figure within the Free Democratic Party (FDP), a centre-right and liberal political party in Germany with parliamentary representation. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) is, historically, also one of the most significant political parties in Germany. Since 6 December 2013, the office has been held by Christian Lindner, who succeeded Philipp Rösler.^[1]

The Leader of the Free Democratic Party is supported by a General Secretary who, since December 2024, has been Marco Buschmann.

Leaders of the Free Democratic Party

Portrait		Name (Born–Died)	Term of office			State	Chancellor
			Took office	Left office	Days
1		Theodor Heuss (1884–1963)	12 December 1948	12 September 1949	274 days	Baden-Württemberg	None Konrad Adenauer
2		Franz Blücher (1896–1959)	12 September 1949	6 March 1954	4 years, 175 days	North Rhine-Westphalia	Konrad Adenauer
3		Thomas Dehler (1897–1967)	6 March 1954	26 January 1957	2 years, 326 days	Bavaria	Konrad Adenauer
4		Reinhold Maier (1889–1971)	26 January 1957	28 January 1960	3 years, 2 days	Baden-Württemberg	Konrad Adenauer
5		Erich Mende (1916–1998)	28 January 1960	30 January 1968	8 years, 2 days	North Rhine-Westphalia	Konrad Adenauer Ludwig Erhard Kurt Georg Kiesinger
6		Walter Scheel (1919–2016)	30 January 1968	1 October 1974	6 years, 244 days	North Rhine-Westphalia	Kurt Georg Kiesinger Willy Brandt Helmut Schmidt
7		Hans-Dietrich Genscher (1927–2016)	1 October 1974	23 February 1985	10 years, 145 days	North Rhine-Westphalia	Helmut Schmidt Helmut Kohl
8		Martin Bangemann (1934–2022)	23 February 1985	8 October 1988	3 years, 228 days	Baden-Württemberg	Helmut Kohl
9		Otto Graf Lambsdorff (1926–2009)	8 October 1988	11 June 1993	4 years, 246 days	North Rhine-Westphalia	Helmut Kohl
10		Klaus Kinkel (1936–2019)	11 June 1993	10 June 1995	1 year, 364 days	Baden-Württemberg	Helmut Kohl
11		Wolfgang Gerhardt (1943–2024)	10 June 1995	4 May 2001	5 years, 328 days	Hesse	Helmut Kohl Gerhard Schröder
12		Guido Westerwelle (1961–2016)	4 May 2001	13 May 2011	10 years, 9 days	North Rhine-Westphalia	Gerhard Schröder Angela Merkel
13		Philipp Rösler (born 1973)	13 May 2011	7 December 2013	2 years, 208 days	Lower Saxony	Angela Merkel
14		Christian Lindner (born 1979)	7 December 2013	Incumbent	11 years, 64 days	North Rhine-Westphalia	Angela Merkel Olaf Scholz