Governing Mayor of Berlin

The Governing Mayor of Berlin (German: Regierender Bürgermeister von Berlin) is the mayor, head of state, and head of government of Berlin, presiding over the Berlin Senate. As Berlin is an independent city as well as one of the constituent states of Germany (Bundesländer), the office is the equivalent of the ministers-president of the other German states (except those of the other two city-states, Hamburg and Bremen, where the heads of government are called "First Mayor" and "President of the Senate and Mayor", respectively). The official title Governing Mayor was introduced in Berlin's 1948 constitution to distinguish the governing mayor from their two deputies, who are simply called "Mayor" (Bürgermeister) in German, as well as the borough mayors.

According to the Berlin Constitution, the governing mayor is member and head of the executive branch, the Senate. The governing mayor names two senators as deputy governing mayors. The twelve boroughs of Berlin are also headed by borough mayors, although they do not actually preside over self-governmental municipalities.

The governing mayor of Berlin is elected by the city-state's legislature, the Berlin House of Representatives, which also controls policy guidelines and is able to force the governing mayor's resignation by a motion of no confidence. The governing mayor is empowered to appoint and dismiss the senators.

The seat of the Senate is the city hall, Rotes Rathaus, in the borough Mitte.