In 2002, the head of Deutsche Bank’s management board was called the Sprecher des Vorstands, the spokesman of the board. That year, the Tagesspiegel explained what the title stood for. Nach dem so genannten Kollegialprinzip sollten Entscheidungen im Vorstand einvernehmlich getroffen werden. Under the collegial principle, decisions in the board were to be made by mutual agreement. Until then, the spokesman had mostly been seen as the first among equals.
The same article noted that the spokesman’s role was becoming more like that of a chief executive officer. Josef Ackermann was spokesman from 2002 to 2006. From 2006 to 2012, he was Vorsitzender des Vorstands, the chairman of the management board.