Events from the year 1868 in Germany.

Incumbents

Ludwig II Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...

* King of Prussia – William I * King of Saxony – John * King of Württemberg –

Charles of Württemberg Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

* Grand Duke of Baden – Frederick I

Events

28 January Events Pre-1600 * 98 – On the death of Nerva, Trajan is declared Roman emperor in Cologne, the seat of his government in lower Germany. * 814 – The death of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, brings about the accession of ...

– The Leipzig Opera House is inaugurated. It was destroyed during the 1943 Bombing of Leipzig. *

8 March Events Pre-1600 *1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem ''Shahnameh''. * 1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León. *1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bourg ...

–

1868 Zollparlament election Elections to the Zollparlament of the German Zollverein were held in February and March 1868. The Zollparlament consisted of the members of the Reichstag of the North German Confederation and members from the South German states. Those South Ger ...

Undated

* The

Herrenhäuser Brewery The Herrenhäuser Brewery (Herrenhäuser Brauerei) was founded in 1868 in the Herrenhausen district of Hannover, Germany. There are number of breweries in Hannover, e.g. Gilde brewery was founded about 300 years earlier. History Herrenhäuser in ...

is founded in Hanover * The liberal German People's Party is founded

Births

* January 3 -

Heinrich Brauns Heinrich Brauns (3 January 1868 – 19 October 1939) was a German politician and Roman Catholic theologian, who for the German Center Party was a long-serving Minister of Labour of the Weimar Republic from 1920 to 1928. Serving in a total of 13 ...

, German politician (died

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

) * January 15 – Otto von Lossow, German general (died

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

) * January 21 –

Felix Hoffmann Felix Hoffmann (21 January 1868 – 8 February 1946) was a German chemist notable for re-synthesising diamorphine (independently from C.R. Alder Wright who synthesized it 23 years earlier), which was popularized under the Bayer trade name ...

, German chemist (died

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

) * March 1 -

Alfred Henke Alfred Henke (1 March 1868 – 24 February 1946) was a German politician, serving as a member of a number of national and regional parliaments during the early 20th century who played a major role in the establishment of the Bremen Soviet Rep ...

, German politician (died

) * March 4 - Friedrich Wilhelm Kopsch, German anatomist (died

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

) * April 19 -

Max von Schillings Max von Schillings (April 19, 1868 – July 24, 1933 in Berlin) was a German conductor, composer and theatre director. He was chief conductor at the Berlin State Opera from 1919 to 1925. Schillings' opera ''Mona Lisa'' (1915) was internationally ...

, German conductor (died

) * May 13 -

Otto Ritter von Dandl Otto Ritter von Dandl (13 May 1868 in Straubing – 20 May 1942) was a Bavarian politician and lawyer who was the last Minister-President of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Life Otto Ritter von Dandl was born in Straubing, Lower Bavaria, in 1868, hi ...

, German politician (died

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

) * July 7 - Karl Bauer, German artist (died

) * July 9 -

Gustav Noske Gustav Noske (9 July 1868 – 30 November 1946) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as the first Minister of Defence (''Reichswehrminister'') of the Weimar Republic between 1919 and 1920. Noske has been a cont ...

, German politician (died

) * July 12 - Stefan George, German poet (died

) * August 2 - Theodor Wolff, German writer and journalist (died

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

) * August 10 - Paul Warburg, German/American banker (died

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

) * September 23 -

Johannes Bell Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Yeh ...

, German politician (died

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

) * October 8 - Max Slevogt, German painter (died

) * November 2 - Wilhelm Kolle, German bacteriologist (died

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

) * November 8 - Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician (died

) * November 17 - Korbinian Brodmann, German neurologist and psychiatrist (died

1918 This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide. Events Below, the events ...

) * November 17 - Paul Hirsch, German politician (died

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

) * November 25 - Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, German nobleman (died

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

) * November 25 -

Ernst Däumig Ernst Friedrich Däumig (25 November 1868, Merseburg – 4 July 1922, Berlin) was a German politician and newspaper editor who became co-chairman of both the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) and Communist Party of Germany (KP ...

, German politician (died

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

) * December 5 -

Arnold Sommerfeld Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld, (; 5 December 1868 – 26 April 1951) was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and mentored many students for the new era of theoretica ...

, German physicist (died

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

) * December 9 - Fritz Haber, German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (died

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

) * December 24 - Richard Teichmann, German chess master (died

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

) * December 24 - Emanuel Lasker, German mathematician (died

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

)

Deaths

* 8 January -

Adolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg Adolf Heinrich Graf von Arnim-Boitzenburg (10 April 1803 – 8 January 1868) was a German statesman. He served as the first Minister-President of Prussia for ten days during the Revolution of 1848. Biography Arnim was born in the Prussian cap ...

, German statesman and politician (born

1803 Events * January 1 – The first edition of Alexandre Balthazar Laurent Grimod de La Reynière's ''Almanach des gourmands'', the first guide to restaurant cooking, is published in Paris. * January 5 – William Symington demonstrates his ...

) * 16 January -

Theodor Schönemann Theodor Schönemann, also written Schoenemann (4 April 181216 January 1868), was a German mathematician who obtained several important results in number theory concerning the theory of congruences, which can be found in several publications in Crel ...

, German mathematician (born

1812 Events January–March * January 1 – The ''Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire. * January 19 – Peninsular War: The French-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo Siege of ...

) * 23 January - Heinrich von Brandt, German general (born

1789 Events January–March * January – Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès publishes the pamphlet ''What Is the Third Estate?'' ('), influential on the French Revolution. * January 7 – The 1788-89 United States presidential election a ...

) * 3 February -

Karl Mathy Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Mathy (March 17, 1807 – February 3, 1868), was a Badensian statesman. He was born at Mannheim. He studied law and politics at Heidelberg, and entered the Baden government department of finance in 1829. His sympathy w ...

, German politician (born

1807 Events January–March * January 7 – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland issues an Order in Council prohibiting British ships from trading with France or its allies. * January 20 – The Sierra Leone Company, faced with b ...

) * 29 February - Ludwig I of Bavaria, German king of Bavaria from 1825-1848 (born

1786 Events January–March * January 3 – The third Treaty of Hopewell is signed, between the United States and the Choctaw. * January 6 – The outward bound East Indiaman '' Halsewell'' is wrecked on the south coast of Englan ...

) * 2 March - Carl Eberwein, German composer (born

) * 22 May - Julius Plücker, German mathematician and physicist (born

1801 Events January–March * January 1 ** The legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland is completed under the Act of Union 1800, bringing about the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the abolition of the Parliament of I ...

) * 29 May -

Julius Friedrich Heinrich Abegg Julius Friedrich Heinrich Abegg (23 March 1796 – 29 May 1868) was a German criminalist. Life Abegg was born in Erlangen as the son of the Reformed preacher Dr. Johannes Wilhelm Abegg (1768–1806), who later moved to Königsberg in Pruss ...

, German criminalist (born

1796 Events January–March * January 16 – The first Dutch (and general) elections are held for the National Assembly of the Batavian Republic. (The next Dutch general elections are held in 1888.) * February 1 – The capital ...

) * 18 July - Emanuel Leutze, German painter (born

1816 This year was known as the ''Year Without a Summer'', because of low temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere, possibly the result of the Mount Tambora volcanic eruption in Indonesia in 1815, causing severe global cooling, catastrophic in s ...

), died in the United States * 21 July -

Friedrich Wilhelm Schubert Friedrich Wilhelm Schubert (20 May 1799 in Königsberg – 21 July 1868 in Königsberg) was a German historian. He studied at the universities of Königsberg and Berlin, becoming an associate professor at Königsberg in 1823. In 1826 he was named ...

, German historian (born

1799 Events January–June * January 9 – British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger introduces an income tax of two shillings to the pound, to raise funds for Great Britain's war effort in the French Revolutionary Wars. * January ...

) * 25 August – Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer, German actress (born

) * 29 August -

Christian Friedrich Schönbein Christian Friedrich Schönbein H FRSE(18 October 1799 – 29 August 1868) was a German-Swiss chemist who is best known for inventing the fuel cell (1838) at the same time as William Robert Grove and his discoveries of guncotton and ozone. Lif ...

, German chemist (born

) * 26 September - August Ferdinand Möbius, German mathematician (born

1790 Events January–March * January 8 – United States President George Washington gives the first State of the Union address, in New York City. * January 11 – The 11 minor states of the Austrian Netherlands, which took p ...

) * 6 December - August Schleicher, German linguist (born

1821 Events January–March * January 21 – Peter I Island in the Antarctic is first sighted, by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. * January 28 – Alexander Island, the largest in Antarctica, is first discovered by Fabian Gottlieb von Be ...

) * 13 December - Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, German botanist and explorer (born

1794 Events January–March * January 1 – The Stibo Group is founded by Niels Lund as a printing company in Aarhus (Denmark). * January 13 – The U.S. Congress enacts a law providing for, effective May 1, 1795, a United States ...

) {{Year in Europe, 1868 Years of the 19th century in Germany Germany Germany