member_of_political_party peter hartz
Lower Saxony is a German state (" Bundesland ") situated in northwestern Germany and is second in area , with , and fourth in population ( 8 million ) among the sixteen " Länder " of Germany . In rural areas Northern Low Saxon , a dialect of Low German , and Saterland Frisian , a variety of Frisian , are still spoken , but the number of speakers is declining . Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder ( born 7 April 1944 ) is a German politician , and served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005 . As a member of the ___MASK52___ ( SPD ), he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens . Before becoming a full - time politician , he was a lawyer , and before becoming Chancellor he served as Prime Minister of Lower Saxony ( 1990  1998 ). Following the 2005 federal election , which his party lost , after three weeks of negotiations he stood down as Chancellor in favour of Angela Merkel of the rival Christian Democratic Union . He is currently the chairman of the board of Nord Stream AG , after having been hired as a global manager by investment bank Rothschild , and also the chairman of the board of football club Hannover 96 . Germany , officially the Federal ___MASK34___ of Germany , is a federal parliamentary ___MASK34___ in central - western Europe . It includes 16 constituent states , covers an area of , and has a largely temperate seasonal climate . With about 82 million inhabitants , Germany is the most populous member state of the European ___MASK8___ . After the United States , it is the second most popular immigration destination in the world . Germany ' s capital and largest metropolis is Berlin . Other major cities include Hamburg , Munich , Cologne , Frankfurt , Stuttgart and Düsseldorf . The ___MASK52___ ( SPD ) is a social - democratic political party in Germany . The party , led by Chairman Sigmar Gabriel since 2009 , has become one of the two major contemporary political parties in Germany , along with the Christian Democratic Union ( CDU ). Peter Hartz ( born 9 August 1941 in Sankt Ingbert ) , was the human resources executive at the German public company Volkswagen AG ( VW ) . Twenty percent of Volkswagen ' s shares are owned by the state of Lower Saxony . Hartz became notable as adviser to German chancellor and former head of the state of Lower Saxony , Gerhard Schröder , with whom Hartz developed the so - called Hartz - reforms of the German labour market and job agencies - the German welfare benefit , ' Hartz IV ' , is named after the fourth stage of his reforms . A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate , reducing the dominance of any one party within that coalition . The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament . A coalition government might also be created in a time of national difficulty or crisis ( for example , during wartime or economic crisis ) to give a government the high degree of perceived political legitimacy or collective identity it desires while also playing a role in diminishing internal political strife . In such times , parties have formed all - party coalitions ( national ___MASK36___ governments , grand coalitions ). If a coalition collapses , a confidence vote is held or a motion of no confidence is taken . Angela Dorothea Merkel ( née Kasner ; born 17 July 1954 ) is a German politician who is currently Chancellor of Germany . She is also the leader of the ___MASK13___ ( CDU ).