Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has now been moved to defence, with Hans-Peter Friedrich taking up the interior post.

Mr Guttenberg stepped down on March 1 after he was found to have copied parts of his university doctorate thesis.

The scandal had become an embarrassment to Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Mr de Maiziere is a member of her centre-right CDU party, while Mr Friedrich heads the parliamentary group of the CSU, the CDU's Bavarian sister party.

The new defence minister, 57, is one of Mrs Merkel's most trusted lieutenants, having served as her chief of staff in her first term from 2005 to 2009.

He became interior minister after the party returned to power in September 2009 as part of a coalition with the CSU and Free Democrats.