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I was checking the political party affiliations of the chancellors of the 2nd Reich, and it appears that until the later years of World War 1, all of them were politically independent. This is in contrast to the other big constitutional monarchy of the time, United Kingdom, the prime ministers of which always had a political affiliation.

So why were Imperial Germany's chancellors consistently independent? Did the Kaisers, who appointed the chancellors, simply wish it that way? Or did the law require it to be so? And if it's simply due to the inclination of the emperors, are there any written words on this "tradition", so to say, by any of the 2nd Reich's emperors?

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    In the Second Reich, the Chancellor was not responsible to the legislature in any way; but rather was elected by, and responsible to, an electorate of 1: the Kaiser.
    – Pieter Geerkens
    Jan 15 at 15:16
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    Also, there was no cabinet of ministers, crown council or any other form of collegium the chancellor had to consult. He had the right to instruct every member of the administration. Even the term "Regierung" - government - was never used, there were only state secretaries in charge of Offices of the Empire. Members of the Reichstag entering the imperial administration lost their seat. The Bundesrat, where the chancellor acted as chair, was composed of state government representatives who had to vote uniformly, not according to party lines. Thus the chancellor never had to deal with parties.
    – ccprog
    Jan 15 at 17:00
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    Documenting preliminary research will improve both the probability of an answer and the quality of the answer(s) Where were you checking? Why do you assume that the chancellor would be a member of a political party? Why would an emperor record inclination in writing?
    – MCW ♦
    Jan 15 at 17:26
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    @ccprog - That would be a nice answer.
    – Pere
    Jan 15 at 21:38

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