1872 in Germany

Events from the year 1872 in Germany.

National level

 * Kaiser – William I
 * Chancellor – Otto von Bismarck

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

Deaths

 * 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)

Births

 * 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)