1872 in Germany

← 1871 1870 1869 1872 in Germany → 1873 1874 1875
Decades:	1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s
See also:	Other events of 1872 History of Germany  • Timeline  • Years

Events from the year 1872 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 – John
• King of Württemberg – Charles

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 (died 1944)
• 28 January – Otto Braun, German politician (died 1955)
• 8 February – Theodor Lessing, German philosopher (died 1933)
• 24 March – Walther Reinhardt, Army officer (died 1930)
• 1 April – Conrad Gröber, German bishop of Roman-Catholic Church (died 1948)
• 9 April – Theodor Koch-Grunberg, German ethnologue and explorer (died 1924)
• 19 April – Alice Salomon, German social reformer (died 1948)
• 22 April – Princess Margaret of Prussia, Prussian princess (died 1954)
• 2 May – Karl Nessler, German inventor of the permanent wave (died 1951)
• 14 June – Heinrich Vogeler, German painter (died 1942)
• 22 July – Karl Helfferich, German politician (died 1924)
• 13 August – Richard Willstätter, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1942)
• 5 September – Carl Friedrich von Siemens, German entrepreneur (died 1941)
• 3 October – Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, German scientist and inventor (died 1931)
• 9 November – Richard Otto, German physician (died 1952)
• 11 November – Frederick Stock, German composer (died 1942)

Deaths

• 1 April – Hugo von Mohl, German botanist (born 1805)
• 13 May – Moritz Hartmann, German poet and author (born 1821)
• 24 May – Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, German painter (born 1794)
• 21 August – David Kalisch, German playwright and humorist (born 1820)
• 13 September – Ludwig Feuerbach, German philosopher and anthropologist (born 1804)
• 14 October – Prince Albert of Prussia, German nobleman and Prussian general (born 1809)