Monarchy of Germany
| King of Germany | |
|---|---|
| König von Deutschland | |
 | |
| Incumbent | |
 | |
| Georg Friedrich since 26 September 1994 | |
| Details | |
| Style | His Majesty |
| Heir apparent | Carl Friedrich |
| First monarch | Louis Ferdinand |
| Formation | 1 January 1951 |
| Residence | Berlin Palace |
| Appointer | Hereditary |
The monarchy of Germany is the country's constitutional institution. The current monarch is King Georg Friedrich who ascended to the throne on 26 September 1944 following the death of his grandfather Louis Ferdinand.
Established in 1951 in the aftermath of the Second World War, the office, as a royal institution, was preceded by the title of German Emperor that was established in 1871 following the unification of Germany before later being abolished in 1918 in the aftermath of the First World War with Wilhelm II being the last officeholder. Consequently, during the period of the Weimar Republic and later Nazi Germany, the role of head of state was exercised by a president, an otherwise popularly elected office. In 1934, following the death of Paul von Hindenburg, Adolf Hitler assumed the presidency although he was more familiarly known as führer among the German public.
In November 1943, while the Second World War was still ongoing, an assassination attempt was carried out by Major Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst that resulted in Adolf Hitler's death, effectively crippling the Nazi leadership. Consequently, Prince Louis Ferdinand, a grandson of the late German Emperor Wilhelm II and an active dissident against the Nazi regime, was subsequently proclaimed by anti-Nazi officers as the new, interim leader of Nazi Germany after which he negotiated a surrender to the Allied nations who, in turn, agreed to allow Louis Ferdinand remain as Germany's post-Nazi head of state in the form of a constitutional monarchy provided that, in a break from his predecessors, he instead uses the title "King" (König) rather than "Emperor" (Kaiser) given the reduced status and power of the new German state compared to the defunct German Empire. However, for purely symbolic reasons, Louis Ferdinand chose to remain as president until 1 January 1951 when he was later officially enthroned as the first "King of Germany" on a date deliberately chosen to mark the 80th anniversary of Wilhelm I's proclamation as German Emperor. In this, despite officially being the current head of the House of Hohenzollern at the time, German Crown Prince Wilhelm, reportedly due to his past role in the First World War, was not accepted by the Allies as the new German head of state, thereby causing him to be bypassed in favour of his son who subsequently ascended to the throne, thereby restoring the German monarchy thirty-three years following its abolition.
Since 1994, the current monarch has been Georg Friedrich who ascended to the throne following the death of his grandfather. Unlike its predecessor, the kingship is no longer tied to the Prussian crown given that the Kingdom of Prussia, along with other German monarchical states, had been abolished in the aftermath of the First World War. While still a federation, the monarch now reigns over thirteen states that make up modern-day Germany.