1880 in Germany

Events from the year 1880 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 – 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 to 17 July, then Charles Gonthier, 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

 * 3 April – German company Munich Re is founded.
 * 14 August – Construction of the Cologne Cathedral is finally completed after over 600 years.

Undated

 * German company Bilfinger is founded.

Births

 * 8 February – Franz Marc, German painter (died 1916)
 * 21 February – Waldemar Bonsels, German writer (died 1952)
 * 10 April – Hans Purrmann, German painter (died 1966)
 * 6 May – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer (died 1938)
 * 14 May – Wilhelm List, German field marshal (died 1971)
 * 15 May – F. K. Otto Dibelius, German bishop of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg (died 1967)
 * 29 May – Oswald Spengler, German historian (died 1936)
 * 25 June – Erich Emminger, German politician (died 1951)
 * 29 June – Ludwig Beck, German general (died 1944)
 * 1 July – Herbert Koch, German archaeologist (died 1962)
 * 3 July – Carl Schuricht, German conductor (died 1967)
 * 11 July
 * Dorothea Köring, German tennis player (died 1945)
 * Friedrich Lahrs, German architect (died 1964)
 * 12 July – Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, Prussian nobleman (died 1925)
 * 5 August – Hermann Lüdemann, German politician (died 1959)
 * 30 August – Konrad von Preysing, German prelate of Roman-Catholic Church (died 1950)
 * 14 September – Karl Kimmich, German banker (died 1945)
 * 28 September – Otto Sackur, German physical chemist (died 1914)
 * 14 October – Bruno Heinemann, German officer (died 1918)
 * 1 November – Alfred Wegener, German polar researcher, geophysicist and meteorologist (died 1930)
 * 11 November – Alexander Behm, German physicist (died 1952)
 * 20 November – Walter Brack, German swimmer (died 1919)
 * 3 December – Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (died 1945)

Deaths

 * 4 January – Anselm Feuerbach, German painter (born 1829)
 * 4 January – Karl Friedrich Lessing, German painter (born 1808)
 * 12 January – Ida, Countess von Hahn-Hahn, German author and novelist (born 1805)
 * 12 February – Karl von Holtei, German poet and actor (born 1798)
 * 15 February – Ernst August Hagen, German writer and novelist (born 1797)
 * 17 February – Paul Mendelssohn Bartholdy, German chemist (born 1841)
 * 29 March – Heinrich Bernhard Oppenheim, German publicist and philosopher (born 1819)
 * 6 May – Friedrich Bayer, German entrepreneur (born 1825)
 * 22 May – Heinrich von Gagern, German politician (born 1799)
 * 13 June – Heinrich Strack, German architect (born 1805)
 * 18 August - Baron Karl Ludwig von der Pfordten, German attorney and politician (born 1811)
 * 30 August – Hermann Anschütz, German painter (born 1802)
 * 13 December – Martin Gropius, German architect (born 1824)