The Prime Minister (Ministerpräsident) of Prussia existed in one form or another from 1792 until the dissolution of Prussia in 1947. When Prussia was an independent kingdom (until 1871) the Prime Minister functioned as the King's Chief Minister and presided over the Prussian Landtag (parliament). After the unification of Germany in 1871 until the collapse in 1918 the office of the Prussian Prime Minister was usually held jointly by the Imperial Chancellor. Under the Weimar Republic the Prime Minister was head of the state government (a more traditional parliamentary role). The office ceased to have any real meaning after the Nazi takeover in 1933, and disappeared along with Prussia herself after World War II.