1981 in Germany

Events in the year 1981 in Germany.

Incumbents

 * President — Karl Carstens
 * Chancellor — Helmut Schmidt

Events

 * 13 - 24 February - 31st Berlin International Film Festival
 * 28 February - Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981
 * 14 June - East German general election, 1981
 * 1 August — Launch of the MK2 Volkswagen Polo, which makes use of a larger estate-like bodyshell, although it is still marketed as a hatchback.
 * 23 September — Launch of the new Opel Ascona, which for the first time is available with a hatchback and front-wheel drive, as well as a new range of engines.
 * 29 October — Raiders of the Lost Ark in movie theaters in Germany.
 * December — The Volkswagen Polo and Opel Ascona miss out on the European Car of the Year award, which instead goes to the Renault 9 from France.
 * Date unknown - Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt was founded, although it was not opened to the public until 1991.

Science

 * Date unknown - German research team led by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung) in Darmstadt bombarded a target of bismuth-209 with accelerated nuclei of chromium-54 to produce 5 atoms of the isotope bohrium-262

Births

 * January 21 — Dany Heatley, hockey player
 * February 23 — Jan Böhmermann, television presenter
 * March 8 - Timo Boll, table tennis player
 * March 11 - Matthias Schweighöfer, actor
 * March 12 - Friedrich Mücke, German actor
 * April 26 - Teresa Weißbach, German actress
 * April 27 — Sandy Mölling, pop singer
 * May 15 - Ben, German singer
 * May 21 - Maximilian Mutzke, drummer and singer
 * June 3 - Timur Tekkal, rugby player
 * June 12 - Nora Tschirner, German actress
 * July 21 — Stefan Schumacher, cyclist
 * August 4 - Florian Silbereisen, singer
 * August 18 - Jan Frodeno, triathlete
 * August 22 - Christina Obergföll, athlete
 * August 30 - André Niklaus, athlete
 * September 7 - Hannah Herzsprung, actress
 * October 2 - Ronald Rauhe, canoeist

Deaths

 * 8 January — Mortimer von Kessel, Wehrmacht general (born 1893)
 * February 22 - Curtis Bernhardt, film director (born 1899)
 * March 5 – Gertraud Winkelvoss, German neo-Nazi politician (born 1917)
 * March 7 - Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling, German tennis player (born 1908)
 * April 4 — Carl Ludwig Siegel, mathematician (born 1896)
 * April 20 — Hans Söhnker, actor (born 1903)
 * May 9 — Fritz Umgelter, television director, writer and film director (born 1922)
 * May 13 - Joseph-Ernst Graf Fugger von Glött, German politician (born 1895)
 * May 18 - Eleonore Baur, German Nazi, only woman to participate in Munich Beer Hall Putsch (born 1885)
 * June 4 - Fritz Steuben, German author (born 1898)
 * June 16 - Julius Ebbinghaus, German philosopher (born 1885)
 * July 5 — Helmut Gröttrup, electrical engineer (born 1916)
 * July 19 - Karl Steinhoff, German politician (born 1892)
 * August 23 - Rolf Herricht, German actor and comedian (born 1927)
 * October 29 - Carl Joseph Leiprecht, German bishop of Roman Catholic Church (born 1903)
 * November 22 - Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochem (born 1900)
 * December 31 — Gunther Krappe, Wehrmacht officer (born 1893)