The first officeholder was Christoph von Katsch [de] (1723–1729) and the last caretaker of the office was Franz Gürtner (1934–1935).
The empire itself was a monarchy until its abolition in 1918, before it became the Weimar Republic and finally was transformed into Nazi Germany in 1933.
The German Empire had a separate federal State Secretary of Justice since 1876, who headed the Reichsjustizamt.
Modern ministerial administration began in Prussia under King Frederick William I.
The main tasks were nominating judges, training of lawyers, administration of the judicial apparatus (buildings and personnel), registries (especially the land registers) and advising the king.
From 1762 until the 19th century, "spiritual matters" (churches and education) were also part of the remit of the Justice Ministers (Zedlitz, Wöllner, Massow).
[7] After the death of Frederick William I, Frederick the Great did not use the title "Ministre Chef de Justice" but left Cocceji in place and elevated his position to become the inaugural Prussian Grand Chancellor in 1747.
The modern Prussian Ministry of Justice was formally founded as an independent entity by cabinet decree on 25 November 1808 during the time of the Stein–Hardenberg Reforms.
On 9 February 1832 the former idea of two separate entities was revived and by cabinet decree of the same date[29] the Department for the Revision of Laws (Department für Gesetzesrevision) was formed, which also dealt with judicial business of the Rhine Province until 17 December 1838.