Fourth Adenauer cabinet

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) ()
People and organisations
Head of government	Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor
Deputy head of government	Ludwig Erhard
Head of state	Heinrich Lübke, President
Member parties	Christian Democratic Union Christian Social Union FDP
Opposition party	Social Democratic Party
Opposition leader	Erich Ollenhauer (SPD)
History
Election(s)	1961 West German federal election
Legislature term(s)	4th Bundestag
Predecessor	Adenauer III
Successor	Erhard I

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.

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