German Chancellery

The Federal Chancellery is an agency serving the executive office of the Chancellor of Germany, the head of the federal government, currently Angela Merkel. The Chancellery's primary function is to assist the Chancellor in coordinating the activities of the federal government. The chief of the Chancellery holds the rank of either a Secretary of State or a Federal Minister , currently held by Peter Altmaier.Bundeskanzleramt is also the name of the building in Berlin that houses the personal offices of the Chancellor and the Chancellery staff. Palais Schaumburg in Bonn is the secondary official seat of the German Federal Chancellery. The Berlin Chancellery is one of the largest government headquarters buildings in the world. By comparison, the new Chancellery building is ten times the size of the White House.HistoryWhen the North German Confederation was created as a federally organised country, in 1867, the constitution mentioned only the Bundeskanzler as the responsible executive organ. There was no collegial government with ministers. Federal Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in the beginning only established a Bundeskanzleramt as his office. It was the only 'ministry' of the country until in early 1870 the Prussian foreign office became the North German foreign office. At that occasion, the Bundeskanzleramt lost some tasks to the foreign office.