Events from the year 1856 in Germany.

Incumbents

King of Bavaria King of Bavaria was a title held by the hereditary Wittelsbach rulers of Bavaria in the state known as the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1805 until 1918, when the kingdom was abolished. It was the second time Bavaria was a kingdom, almost a thousand ...

– Maximilian II *

King of Hanover The King of Hanover (German: ''König von Hannover'') was the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the Kingdom of Hanover, beginning with the proclamation of King George III of the United Kingdom, as "King of Hanover" dur ...

–

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

King of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

–

Frederick William IV Frederick William IV (german: Friedrich Wilhelm IV.; 15 October 17952 January 1861), the eldest son and successor of Frederick William III of Prussia, reigned as King of Prussia from 7 June 1840 to his death on 2 January 1861. Also referred to ...

King of Saxony This article lists dukes, electors, and kings ruling over different territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 6th century to the end of the German monarchies in 1918. The electors of Saxony from John the Steadfast on ...

– John of Saxony

Events

* August – Pre-human remains are found in the

Neander Valley The Neandertal (, also , ; sometimes called "the Neander Valley" in English) is a small valley of the river Düssel in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located about east of Düsseldorf, the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

Births

* January 6 –

Martin von Feuerstein Martin Feuerstein (after 1914, Martin Ritter von Feuerstein; 6 January 1856, Barr - 13 February 1931, Munich) was a German painter and art teacher. He was a late adherent of the Nazarene movement, but was also heavily influenced by impressionism ...

, German painter (d. 1931) * January 31 –

Hermann von François Hermann Karl Bruno von François (31 January 1856 – 15 May 1933) was a German ''General der Infanterie'' during World War I, and is best known for his key role in several German victories on the Eastern Front in 1914. Early life and military ...

, German general (d. 1933) * February 12 –

Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli Eduard Freiherr von Böhm-Ermolli (12 February 1856 – 9 December 1941) was an Austrian general during World War I who rose to the rank of field marshal in the Austro-Hungarian Army. He was the head of the Second Army and fought mainly on the fr ...

, Austrian general, German field marshal (d. 1941) * February 15 –

Emil Kraepelin Emil Wilhelm Georg Magnus Kraepelin (; ; 15 February 1856 – 7 October 1926) was a German psychiatrist. H. J. Eysenck's ''Encyclopedia of Psychology'' identifies him as the founder of modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology and psych ...

, German psychiatrist (d. 1926) * February 17 –

Arnold von Winckler Arnold von Winckler (Neisse, 17 February 1856 – Bad Freienwalde, 24 July 1945) was a Prussian military officer, and a general in World War I. He was the son of Lieutenant General Ewald Fedor von Winckler (1813–1895) and joined the Prussian a ...

, German general (d. 1945) Alfred Deakin crop

* July 7 –

Georg von der Marwitz Georg Cornelius Adalbert von der Marwitz (7 July 1856 – 27 October 1929) was a Prussian cavalry general, who commanded several German armies during the First World War on both the Eastern and Western fronts. Early military career Marwitz was ...

, German general (d. 1929) * September 18 –

Wilhelm von Gloeden Wilhelm Iwan Friederich August von Gloeden (September 16, 1856 – February 16, 1931), commonly known as Baron von Gloeden, was a German photographer who worked mainly in Italy. He is mostly known for his pastoral nude studies of Sicilian bo ...

, German photographer (d. 1931) * November 16 –

Jürgen Kröger Jürgen Kröger (16 November 1856 in Haale, Germany – 27 February 1928 in Aukrug) was a German architect, active from 1880 to 1920. He bore the title "(kaiserlicher) Baurat" in 1908, and was an architectural advisor to German Emperor Wilhelm I ...

, German architect (d. 1928) * November 29 –

Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg Theobald Theodor Friedrich Alfred von Bethmann Hollweg (29 November 1856 – 1 January 1921) was a German politician who was the chancellor of the German Empire from 1909 to 1917. He oversaw the German entry into World War I. According to biog ...

, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1921) * * December 25 –

Hans von Bartels Hans von Bartels (25 December 1856 – 5 October 1913) was a German painter. Life He was born in Hamburg, the son of Dr N. F. F. von Bartels, a Russian government official. He studied first under the marine painter R. Hardorff in Hamburg, then ...

, German painter (d. 1913)

Deaths

* February 17 – Heinrich Heine, German writer (b. 1797) * June 26 –

Max Stirner Johann Kaspar Schmidt (25 October 1806 – 26 June 1856), known professionally as Max Stirner, was a German post-Hegelian philosopher, dealing mainly with the Hegelian notion of social alienation and self-consciousness. Stirner is often seen a ...

, German philosopher (b. 1806) Schumann-photo1850

* July 29 - Robert Schumann , German composer, pianist (b. 1810 ) {{Year in Europe, 1856 Years of the 19th century in Germany

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...