1872 in Germany
Events from the year 1872 in Germany.Incumbents
National level
Kingdoms
- King of Bavaria – Ludwig II of Bavaria
- King of Prussia – Kaiser William I
- King of Saxony – John of Saxony
- King of Württemberg – Charles of Württemberg
Grand Duchies
- Grand Duke of Baden – Frederick I
- Grand Duke of Hesse – Louis III
- 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 – Günther Friedrich Karl II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
- Principality of Lippe – Leopold III, 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 – Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- Duke of Saxe-Meiningen – Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
Events
- 4 July – Jesuits Law is promulgated
- 12 November – Dresdner Bank is founded
Science
- Richard Dedekind publishes Stetigkeit und irrationale Zahlen, a theory of irrational numbers.
- Felix Klein produces the Erlangen program on geometries.
- Ludwig Boltzmann states the Boltzmann equation for the temporal development of distribution functions in phase space, and publishes his H-theorem.
- Polyvinyl chloride is accidentally synthesised by German chemist Eugen Baumann.
Undated
- Radeberger Brewery is opened
Births
- 11 January – Paul Graener, German composer and conductor
- 28 January – Otto Braun, German politician
- 8 February – Theodor Lessing, German philosopher
- 24 March – Walther Reinhardt, Army officer
- 1 April – Conrad Gröber, German bishop of Roman-Catholic Church
- 9 April – Theodor Koch-Grunberg, German ethnologe and explorer
- 22 April – Princess Margaret of Prussia, Prussian princess
- 2 May – Karl Nessler, German inventor of the permanent wave
- 14 June – Heinrich Vogeler, German painter
- 22 July – Karl Helfferich, German politician
- 13 August – Richard Willstätter, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 5 September – Carl Friedrich von Siemens, German entrepreneur
- 3 October – Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, German scientist and inventor
- 9 November – Richard Otto, German physician
- 11 November – Frederick Stock, German composer
Deaths
- 1 April – Hugo von Mohl, German botanist
- 13 May – Moritz Hartmann, German poet and author
- 24 May – Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, German painter
- 21 August – David Kalisch, German playwright and humorist
- 13 September – Ludwig Feuerbach, German philosopher and anthropologist
- 14 October – Prince Albert of Prussia, German nobleman and Prussian general
