Fourth Adenauer cabinet

The Fourth Adenauer cabinet (German: Kabinett Adenauer IV) was formed by incumbent Chancellor Konrad Adenauer after the 1961 federal election. The cabinet was sworn in on 14 November 1961.

Fourth Cabinet of Konrad Adenauer Cabinet Adenauer IV
4th Cabinet of West Germany
14 November 1961 – 15 October 1963 (until 17 October 1963 as caretaker government)
Date formed	14 November 1961 (1961-11-14)
Date dissolved	15 October 1963 (1963-10-15) (1 year, 11 months and 1 day)
People and organisations
President	Heinrich Lübke
Chancellor	Konrad Adenauer
Vice-Chancellor	Ludwig Erhard
Member parties	Christian Democratic Union Christian Social Union FDP
Status in legislature	Coalition majority 309/499 (62%)
Opposition party	Social Democratic Party
Opposition leader	Erich Ollenhauer (SPD)
History
Election	1961 West German federal election
Legislature term	4th Bundestag
Predecessor	Adenauer III
Successor	Erhard I

The Spiegel affair in 1962 caused the coalition to fall apart over Defence Minister Franz Josef Strauss' actions which violated press freedom, leading to all FDP ministers resigning in protest. As a result, the cabinet was a minority government of the CDU/CSU for just under a month in the fall of 1962 before Adenauer was able to convince the FDP to return to the coalition by assuring Strauß' resignation.

Composition

Shortly after the Spiegel affair, the resignation of Defence Minister Franz Josef Strauss was required to gain back the FDP's support for the cabinet, leading to a reshuffle. The heavily reshuffled cabinet is sometimes referred to as cabinet Adenauer V; however, this is not constitutionally correct, since no new election of the chancellor took place. The government still drew its constitutional legitimacy from Adenauer's election on 14 November 1961. Adenauer decided to retire just a few months later, following which Ludwig Erhard was elected as Chancellor and formed the first Erhard cabinet on 17 October 1963.

Portfolio	Minister	Took office	Left office	Party
Chancellor	Konrad Adenauer	14 November 1961	15 October 1963		CDU
Vice-Chancellor & Federal Minister for Economy	Ludwig Erhard	14 November 1961	15 October 1963		CDU
Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs	Gerhard Schröder	14 November 1961	15 October 1963		CDU
Federal Minister of the Interior	Hermann Höcherl	14 November 1961	15 October 1963		CSU
Federal Minister of Justice	Wolfgang Stammberger	14 November 1961	19 November 1962		FDP
	Ewald Bucher	14 December 1962	15 October 1963		FDP
Federal Minister of Finance	Heinz Starke	14 November 1961	19 November 1962		FDP
	Rolf Dahlgrün	14 December 1962	15 October 1963		FDP
Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Forests	Werner Schwarz	14 November 1961	15 October 1963		CDU
Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs	Theodor Blank	14 November 1961	15 October 1963		CDU
Federal Minister of Defence	Franz Josef Strauss	14 November 1961	16 December 1962 (de facto) 9 January 1963 (de jure)		CSU
	Kai-Uwe von Hassel	9 January 1963	15 October 1963		CDU
Federal Minister of Transport	Hans-Christoph Seebohm	14 November 1961	15 October 1963		CDU
Federal Minister of Post and Telecommunications	Richard Stücklen	14 November 1961	15 October 1963		CSU
Federal Minister of Housing Construction	Paul Lücke	14 November 1961	15 October 1963		CDU
Federal Minister of Displaced Persons, Refugees and War Victims	Wolfgang Mischnick	14 November 1961	19 November 1962		FDP
	Wolfgang Mischnick	14 December 1962	15 October 1963		FDP
Federal Minister of All-German Affairs	Ernst Lemmer	14 November 1961	11 December 1962		CDU
	Rainer Barzel	14 December 1962	15 October 1963		CDU
Federal Ministry of Nuclear Energy	Siegfried Balke	14 November 1961	13 December 1962		CSU
Federal Ministry of Scientific Research	Hans Lenz	14 December 1962	15 October 1963		FDP
Federal Minister of Family and Youth Affairs	Franz-Josef Wuermeling	14 November 1961	11 December 1962		CDU
	Bruno Heck	14 December 1962	15 October 1963		CDU
Federal Minister of Bundesrat and State Affairs	Hans-Joachim von Merkatz	14 November 1961	13 December 1962		CDU
	Alois Niederalt	14 December 1962	15 October 1963		CSU
Federal Minister of the Treasury	Hans Lenz	14 November 1961	19 November 1962		FDP
	Werner Dollinger	14 December 1962	15 October 1963		CSU
Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation	Walter Scheel	14 November 1961	19 November 1962		FDP
	Walter Scheel	14 December 1962	15 October 1963		FDP
Federal Minister of Health	Elisabeth Schwarzhaupt	14 November 1961	15 October 1963		CDU
Federal Minister for Special Affairs	Heinrich Krone	14 November 1961	15 October 1963		CDU

Further reading

• "Kabinette Adenauer". election.de (in German). Retrieved 18 November 2019.