1890 in Germany

Incumbents

National level

• Kaiser – Wilhelm II
• Chancellor – Otto von Bismarck to March 20, then Leo von Caprivi

  State level

Kingdoms

• King of Bavaria – Otto of Bavaria
• King of Prussia – Kaiser Wilhelm II
• King of Saxony – Albert of Saxony
• King of Württemberg – Charles I of Württemberg

  Grand Duchies

• Grand Duke of Baden – Frederick I
• Grand Duke of Hesse – Louis IV
• Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin – Frederick Francis III
• 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 to 12 March, then Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
• Schwarzburg-Sondershausen – Karl Günther, 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 – Prince Albert of Prussia
• 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

  Colonial Governors

• Cameroon – Eugen von Zimmerer ' ' to, then Markus Graf Pfeil, to 3 August, then... Kurz ' to December 2, then Jesko von Puttkamer ' '
• German East Africa – Hermann Wissmann ' '
• German New Guinea – Fritz Rose '
• German South-West Africa – Heinrich Ernst Göring ' to August, then Louis Nels '
• Togoland – Eugen von Zimmerer '
• Wituland – Gustav Denhardt ' to 1 July

  Events

• 5 February – German company Allianz is founded in Berlin.
• 20 February – German federal election, 1890
• 20 March – Bismarck cabinet ends.
• 1 July — Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty. Germany receives Heligoland and the Caprivi Strip from the United Kingdom and a free hand to control and acquire the coast of Dar es Salam. In return, Germany renounces its protectorate over Wituland and pledges not to interfere in the actions of the UK vis-à-vis the Sultanate of Zanzibar. The U.K. cedes sovereignty of the Heligoland archipelago to Germany.
• 16 July - German company Mannesmann is founded in Düsseldorf.
• August — Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Alexander III of Russia meet at Narva.

  Date unknown

• German phsycian and physiologist Emil von Behring publishes an article with Kitasato Shibasaburo reporting that they have developed "antitoxins" against both diphtheria and tetanus in Berlin.

  Births

• 9 January – Kurt Tucholsky, German journalist, satirist and writer
• 30 January – Albert Zürner, German diver
• 6 February – Karl Schelenz, German sport teacher
• 20 February – Georg Thomas, German general
• 5 March – Wilhelm Boden, German politician
• 22 March – Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin, German politician
• 22 April – Erwin Jaenecke, German general
• 10 May – Alfred Jodl, German general
• 15 June – Wilhelm Leuschner, German politician
• 25 June – Hans Marchwitza, German writer and poet
• 4 July – Otto Feick, German gymnast
• 8 July – Walter Hasenclever, German poet and playwright
• 29 July – Elisabeth von Thadden, German educator and resistance fighter
• 30 July – Ludwig Schwamb, German politician
• 3 August – Eduard Zuckmayer, German writer and playwright
• 4 August – Erich Weinert, German author
• 14 August – Bruno Tesch, German chemist and Nazi war criminal

• 16 September – Traugott Herr, German general
• 23 September – Friedrich Paulus, German field marshall
• 10 October – Emil Schäpe, German fighter pilot
• 2 December – C. Paul Jennewein, German-American sculptor
• 6 December:
• * Hans Bethge, German pilot
• * Carl Jules Weyl, German-American art director and Reichswehr soldier
• 17 December – Prince Joachim of Prussia, German nobleman

  Deaths

• 7 January - Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, German queen
• 20 January – Franz Lachner, German composer and conductor
• 27 January – Carl Friedrich Otto Westphal, German psychiatrist
• 18 March – Johann Georg Halske, German businessman
• 19 March – George Albert, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, German nobleman
• 27 March – Carl Jacob Löwig, German chemist
• 30 April – Hermann von Dechend, German politician who served as the first President of the Reichsbank
• 26 May – Adelbert Delbrück, German banker and businessman
• 27 August - Emil Otto Grundmann, German painter
• 3 September - Johann von Lutz, German politician
• 15 September – Christian Ferdinand Friedrich Krauss, German scientist
• 19 September – Friedrich Gaedcke, German chemist
• 23 September - Lorenz von Stein, German economist and sociologist
• 4 November - Helene Demuth, German housekeeper
• 3 December – Gottfried Ludolf Camphausen, German politician
• 26 December - Heinrich Schliemann, German businessman and a pioneer in the field of archaeology

  Citations