1888 in Germany

Events in the year 1888 in Germany, the 'Year of the Three Emperors'.

National level

 * Kaiser – William I to 9 March, then Frederick III to 15 June, then Wilhelm II
 * Chancellor – Otto von Bismarck

Kingdoms

 * King of Bavaria – Otto
 * King of Prussia – William I to 9 March, then Frederick III to 15 June, then Wilhelm II
 * 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 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
 * 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 (regent)
 * 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 (Kamerun) – Eugen von Zimmerer (1st term) to 17 January, then Julius Freiherr von Soden (2nd term)
 * German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika) – Karl Peters (administrator) to 8 February, then Hermann Wissmann (commissioner) (1st term)
 * German New Guinea (Deutsch-Neuguinea) – Georg Freiherr von Schleinitz to 1 March, then Reinhold Kraetke (both Landeshauptleute of the German New Guinea Company)
 * German South-West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika) – Heinrich Ernst Göring (acting commissioner)
 * Togoland – Jesko von Puttkamer (acting commissioner) (1st term) to 17 October, then Eugen von Zimmerer (commissioner)
 * Wituland (Deutsch-Witu) – Gustav Denhardt (resident)

Events

 * 9 March – Emperor Wilhelm I dies at the age of 90 in Berlin. He is succeeded by his oldest son Friedrich Wilhelm, who becomes Friedrich III.
 * 16 April – The German Empire annexes the island of Nauru
 * 15 June – Wilhelm II becomes German Emperor after the death of his father, Friedrich III.
 * 13 December – Heinrich Hertz presents his report on the discovery of electromagnetic radiation to the Berlin Academy of Sciences

Literature

 * 'Theses on Feuerbach' by Karl Marx is published posthumously

Music

 * Johannes Brahms – Violin Sonata in D Minor (opus 108)
 * Max Reger – String Quartet in D minor (with double bass obbligato; without op.) (1888–89)
 * Joseph Rheinberger — Organ Sonata No. 12 in D-flat, Op. 154
 * Richard Strauss
 * Don Juan, Macbeth (first version)
 * Carl Maria von Weber's opera Die drei Pintos completed posthumously by Theodor Hell

Sport

 * Establishment of association football clubs BFC Germania, TGM SV Jügesheim and KBC Duisburg

Miscellaneous

 * First buildings of the Berufsgenossenschaftliches Universitätsklinikum Bergmannsheil opened