Hans Katzer (31 January 1919 – 18 July 1996) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

He served as Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs of West Germany from 1965 to 1969 under Ludwig Erhard and Kurt Georg Kiesinger.

[16] Katzer won a seat in the Bundestag the 1957 West German federal election by direct mandate for Cologne III with 55.1% of the vote.

[6] In 1965 he was promoted to being Minister for Labour and Social Affairs by Ludwig Erhard, a position he would hold during the grand coalition years of Kurt Georg Kiesinger until 1969.

[28] Prior to his term, miners were referred to the Ruhr for work, but they would later not move and layoff figures rose.

[35][36] In April 1957, Kaiser suffered a massive stroke and so Katzer became the chief strategist for the Social Committees of the CDA in addition to his responsibilities as CEO.

[37] His long-term goals for that position at the time were to persuade Catholic bishops to switch their support from the Christian trade unions so that the more powerful DGB would consider an alliance with the CDA, create a relationship with the Catholic workers’ clubs, and unify the workers' wing of the CDU.

[38] His plans for his social committees largely corresponded with the ideas of the SPD, which included higher child benefit subsidies, an investment wage for employees, and more codetermination.

[39] He helped pass the Savings Premium Act and the issuance of shares to the general public at a discounted rate.

[41] That same year he received a major defeat when his push for parity co-determination, or 50% of a board being workers, was rejected soundly by the CDU.

[46] Starting in 1980 he also helped lead the German chapter of the European Union of Christian Democratic Workers alongside Alfred Bertrand.

[48] He was on the Bureau of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1982, the Committee for Transport in 1979, and finally on the Delegation for relations with the People's Republic of China from 1983 to 1984.

[58] On 19 January 1973, he was awarded the Grand Cross with Star and Sash on behalf of then President of West Germany, Gustav Heinemann.