Events from the year 1879 in Germany.
Incumbents
National level Emperor – William I Chancellor – Otto von Bismarck
State level
Kingdoms King of Bavaria – Ludwig II King of Prussia – William I King of Saxony – Albert King of Württemberg – Charles
Grand Duchies Grand Duke of Baden – Frederick I Grand Duke of Hesse – Louis IV Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin – Frederick Francis II Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – Frederick William Grand Duke of Oldenburg – Peter II Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach – Charles Alexander
Principalities Schaumburg-Lippe – Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt – George Albert, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Sondershausen – Gonthier Frederick Charles II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Principality of Lippe – Woldemar, Prince of Lippe Reuss Elder Line – Heinrich XXII, Prince Reuss of Greiz Reuss Younger Line – Heinrich XIV, Prince Reuss Younger Line Waldeck and Pyrmont – George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont
Duchies Duke of Anhalt – Frederick I, Duke of Anhalt Duke of Brunswick – William, Duke of Brunswick Duke of Saxe-Altenburg – Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha – Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Duke of Saxe-Meiningen – Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
Events 12 July – The German tariff of 1879 is voted for by a majority of 100 in the Reichstag. 21 June – German chemical company Linde is founded. 31 May – German inventor Werner von Siemens demonstrates the first electric locomotive using an external power source at Berlin. 26 September – Wilhelm Marr founds the Antisemitenliga (League of Antisemites), the first German organization committed specifically to combating the alleged threat to German culture posed by Jews. 7 October – A defensive alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary is created by treaty. 31 December – Karl Benz produces a two-stroke gas engine.
Births
4 February – Wilhelm von Gayl, German politician (died 1945) 25 February – Julius Falkenstein, German actor (died 1933) 2 March – Johann Viktor Bredt, German jurist and politician (died 1940) 8 March – Otto Hahn, German chemist and pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry (died 1968) 9 March – Agnes Miegel, German poet (died 1964) 10 March – Hans Luther, German politician, briefly Chancellor of Germany (died 1962) 12 March – Alfred Abel, German actor (died 1837) 14 March – Albert Einstein, German-Swiss theoretical physicist who developed the general theory of relativity (died 1955) 27 April – Alfred Roth, German politician and writer (died 1948) 31 May – F.W. Schröder-Schrom, German actor (died 1956) 28 May – Albert Grzesinski, German politician (died 1948) 5 June – Robert Mayer, German-born British philanthropist (died 1985) 6 September Max Schreck, German actor (died 1936) Joseph Wirth, German politician, former Chancellor of Germany (died 1956) 9 October – Max von Laue, German physicist (died 1960) 28 October – Martin Kirschner, German surgeon (died 1942) 29 October – Franz von Papen, German politician, Chancellor of Germany (died 1969) 1 November – Oskar Barnack, German inventor and German photographer (died 1936) 14 December – Hermann Dietrich, German politician (died 1954) 16 December – Otto Ludwig Haas-Heye, German fashion designer (died 1959)
Deaths
24 January – Heinrich Geißler, German physicist (born 1814 23 February – Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and statesman, minister of War from 1859 to 1873, (born 1803) 25 February – Karl Wilhelm von Willisen, Prussian general (born 1790) 13 March – Adolf Anderssen, German chess master (born 1818) 4 April – Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, German physicist and meteorologist (born 1803) 11 May – Bernhard Wolff, German newspaper publisher (born 1811) 15 May – Gottfried Semper, German architect (born 1803) 5 June – August Krönig, German chemist and physicist (born 1822) 7 September – George Westermann, German publisher (born 1810) 23 August – Alexander Duncker, German publisher (born 1813) 20 October – Bernhard Ernst von Bülow, German diplomat and politician (born 1815) 1 December – Franz Ittenbach, German painter (born 1813)
References