Events in the year 1953 in Germany.

Incumbents

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

– Konrad Adenauer

Events

* 12 March -

1953 Avro Lincoln shootdown incident The 1953 Avro Lincoln shootdown incident was the shooting down of a British Avro Lincoln four-engined bomber which had intruded into East German airspace during a training mission on 12 March 1953. While the aircraft was flying on the Hamburg-Berl ...

* 12 April - Football team Dynamo Dresden was founded. * 10 May - The town of

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...

, East Germany becomes ''Karl Marx Stadt''. * 16/17 June - Uprising of 1953 in East Germany * 18 to 20 June -

3rd Berlin International Film Festival The 3rd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 18 to 28 June 1953. Description This year's festival did not give any official jury prizes; instead awards were given by audience voting. This continued until the FIAPF granted Be ...

* 7 July -

1953 Menzengraben mining accident The Menzengraben mining accident was the explosion of a large pocket of carbon dioxide in a salt mine in Menzengraben, East Germany, on 7 July 1953. During a planned, nightly explosives detonation in the mine, an unusually large pocket of pressur ...

* 6 September -

West German federal election, 1953 Federal elections were held in West Germany on 6 September 1953 to elect the members of the second Bundestag. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) emerged as the largest party. This elections were the last before Saarland joined West Germany ...

* 20 October - The Second Adenauer cabinet led by Konrad Adenauer was sworn in. * Date unknown - Ziegler–Natta catalyst invented by Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta.

Births

* January 10 -

Guido Kratschmer Guido Kratschmer (; born 10 January 1953 in Klotzenhof, West Germany) is a retired West German decathlete. His sports club was the USC Mainz. Kratschmer competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, where he won the silver medal in the me ...

, German decathlete * January 16 -

Reinhard Jirgl Reinhard Jirgl (born 16 January 1953 in East-Berlin) is a German writer. Biography Jirgl was born in Berlin-Friedrichshain. He became a skilled worker for electromechanics. Then he completed a degree in electronics at Humboldt University, Berli ...

, German writer * January 22 -

Jürgen Pommerenke Jürgen Pommerenke (born 22 January 1953 in Wegeleben) is a former German football midfielder and manager. Pommerenke played his entire professional career for 1. FC Magdeburg, though he began his career as an youngster with BSG Traktor Wege ...

, German football player * January 24 -

Ulrich Holbein Ulrich Holbein (born January 24, 1953, in Erfurt) is a German writer. Holbein was the winner of the 2003 Hugo Ball Prize and winner of the 2012 Kassel Literary Prize The Kassel Literary Prize for Grotesque Humor (''Kasseler Literaturpreis fü ...

, German writer * January 31 -

Gertrude Lübbe-Wolff Gertrude Lübbe-Wolff (born 31 January 1953) is a German academic and senior judge. She sits on the second senate of the ''Bundesverfassungsgericht'' (Federal Constitutional Court of Germany), having succeeded Jutta Limbach in this position in A ...

, German judge * March 1 -

Rolf Danneberg Rolf Danneberg (born 1 March 1953 in Hamburg) is a former German athlete who, representing West Germany, won the gold medal in discus throw at the 1984 Summer Olympics with 66.60 metres. He won the Olympic bronze medal in 1988 in Seoul. Biography ...

, German discus thrower * March 14 - Christian von Ditfurth, German historian * March 24 -

Mathias Richling Mathias Richling (born 24 March 1953 in Waiblingen) is a German actor, author, comedian and Kabarett artist. Richling studied literature, music and theatre. From 1989 to 1996 he had a program called ''Jetzt schlägt's Richling'' on the German TV ...

, German comedian * February 25 -

Martin Kippenberger Martin Kippenberger (25 February 1953 – 7 March 1997) was a German artist known for his extremely prolific output in a wide range of styles and media, superfiction as well as his provocative, jocular and hard-drinking public persona. Kippenbe ...

, German artist (died

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

) * April 10 -

Heiner Lauterbach Heiner Lauterbach (; born 10 April 1953) is a German actor. Life and work Heiner Lauterbach was married to German actress Katja Flint who is the mother of his son Oscar (*1988). Later he had a relationship with Jenny Elvers. Since 7 Septemb ...

, German actor * May 11 -

Thomas Middelhoff Thomas Middelhoff (born 11 May 1953) is a German retired corporate manager. He was on the board of directors of Bertelsmann from 1990–2002, being CEO from 1998. From 2004 to March 2009, Middelhoff was chairman of the supervisory board of Arcand ...

, German manager * May 18 - Ute Kircheis-Wessel, German fencer * June 20 -

Ulrich Mühe Friedrich Hans Ulrich Mühe (; 20 June 1953 – 22 July 2007) was a German film, television and theatre actor. He played the role of Hauptmann (Captain) Gerd Wiesler in the Oscar-winning film ''Das Leben der Anderen'' (''The Lives of Others'', 200 ...

, German actor (died

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

) * June 23 - Michael Eichberger, German judge * July 23 -

Karl-Heinz Radschinsky Karl-Heinz Radschinsky (born 23 July 1953) is a retired German weightlifter. He won the gold medal in the middleweight class at the 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as L ...

, German weightlifter * July 26 - Felix Magath, German footballer and football trainer * July 30 - Heribert Prantl, German journalist * August 17 - Andreas Kirchner, German Winter sportsman (died

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

) * August 17 - Herta Müller, German writer * August 27 -

Gabriele Haefs Gabriele Haefs (born 27 August 1953) is a German writer and translator. She was born in Wachtendonk to Johann Heinrich Haefs and Annie Pasch, and is married to Norwegian writer Ingvar Ambjørnsen. She is credited for having discovered Jostein Ga ...

, translator. * August 29 -

Rainer Pottel 300px, Rainer Pottel on 24 May 1981 in Halle Rainer Pottel (born 29 August 1953 in Berlin) is a retired decathlete, who represented East Germany in the 1970s and 1980s. He had the best performance in the world in 1981, collecting 8,334 points at ...

, German decathlete * September 2 - Gerhard Thiele, German astronaut * September 21 -

Reinhard Marx Reinhard Marx (born 21 September 1953) is a German cardinal of the Catholic Church. He serves as the Archbishop of Munich and Freising. Pope Benedict XVI elevated Marx to the cardinalate in a consistory in 2010. Biography Born in Geseke, Nort ...

, German cardinal of the Catholic Church * November 7 - Ottfried Fischer, German actor * November 16 - Brigitte Zypries, German politician * October 1 - Klaus Wowereit, German politician * October 10 -

Martin Viessmann Martin Viessmann (born 1953/54) is a German billionaire businessman, CEO of Viessmann Group, a heating systems manufacturer headquartered in Allendorf, Germany. Early life Martin Viessmann is the son of Hans Viessmann and the grandson of Joha ...

, German businessman * October 15 - Günther Oettinger, German politician * December 11 - Klaus Schmidt, German archaeologist (died

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

) * December 23 -

Rüdiger, Margrave of Meissen Prince Rüdiger Charles Ernest Timo Aldi of Saxony, Duke of Saxony, Margrave of Meissen (german: Rüdiger Ernst Karl Timo Aldi; pl, Rydygier książę Saski; 23 December 1953 – 29 March 2022) was a disputed head of the House of Wettin, Royal Ho ...

, German nobleman * December 26 -

Henning Schmitz Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...

, German musician * December 29 ** Thomas Bach, 9th president of the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

Matthias Platzeck Matthias Platzeck (born 29 December 1953) is a German politician. He was Minister President of Brandenburg from 2002 to 2013 and party chairman of the SPD from November 2005 to April 2006. On 29 July 2013 Platzeck announced his resignation fro ...

, German politician

Deaths

*28 January -

Theophil Wurm Theophil Heinrich Wurm (7 December 1868, Basel – 28 January 1953, Stuttgart) was the son of a pastor and was a leader in the German Protestant Church in the early twentieth century. Wurm was active in politics. He was a member of the Christia ...

, German leader in the German Protestant Church in the early twentieth century (born

1868 Events January–March * January 2 – British Expedition to Abyssinia: Robert Napier leads an expedition to free captive British officials and missionaries. * January 3 – The 15-year-old Mutsuhito, Emperor Meiji of Jap ...

) *20 January - Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick (born

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

) *24 February - Gerd von Rundstedt, German field marshal (born

1875 Events January–March * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the ...

) *28 March -

Alfred Philippson Alfred Philippson (1 January 1864 – 28 March 1953) was a German geologist and geographer. He was born at Bonn, son of Ludwig Philippson. He received his education at the gymnasium and university of his native town and at the University of Leipz ...

, German geographer (born

1864 Events January–March * January 13 – American songwriter Stephen Foster ("Oh! Susanna", "Old Folks at Home") dies aged 37 in New York City, leaving a scrap of paper reading "Dear friends and gentle hearts". His parlor song " ...

) * 2 April -

Hugo Sperrle Wilhelm Hugo Sperrle (7 February 1885 – 2 April 1953), also known as Hugo Sperrle, was a German military aviator in World War I and a Generalfeldmarschall in the Luftwaffe during World War II. Sperrle joined the Imperial German Army in 1903. ...

, German field marshal of Luftwaffe (born

1885 Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 – ...

) *20 April -

Erich Weinert Erich Bernhard Gustav Weinert (4 August 1890 in Magdeburg – 20 April 1953 in East Berlin) was a German Communist writer and a member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). Early life Weinert was born in 1890 in Magdeburg to a family supp ...

, German writer (born

1890 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony, in the Horn of Africa. ** In Michigan, the wooden steamer ''Mackinaw'' burns in a fire on the Black River. * January 2 ** The steamship ...

) *12 May - Fritz Mackensen, German painter (born

1866 Events January–March * January 1 ** Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee. ** The last issue of the abolitionist magazine '' The Liberator'' is published. * January 6 – Ottoman tr ...

) *18 May -

Rudolf Nadolny Rudolf Nadolny (12 July 1873 – 18 May 1953) was a military intelligence officer under German Foreign Office cover. During the First World War, he worked in a branch of the German General Staff that experimented in biological warfare. He was the ...

, German diplomat (born

1873 Events January–March * January 1 ** Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar. ** The California Penal Code goes into effect. * January 17 – American Indian Wars: Modoc War: First Battle of the Stronghold – Modoc Indians defeat ...

) *21 May -

Ernst Zermelo Ernst Friedrich Ferdinand Zermelo (, ; 27 July 187121 May 1953) was a German logician and mathematician, whose work has major implications for the foundations of mathematics. He is known for his role in developing Zermelo–Fraenkel axiomatic se ...

, German mathematician (born

1871 Events January–March * January 3 – Franco-Prussian War – Battle of Bapaume: Prussians win a strategic victory. * January 18 – Proclamation of the German Empire: The member states of the North German Confederation and the sout ...

) *31 July -

Georg Zacharias Georg Zacharias (14 June 1884 – 31 July 1953) was a German backstroke and breaststroke swimmer who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics. He was born and died in Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany ...

, German swimmer (born

1884 Events January–March * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Princess Ida'' premières at the Savoy Theatre, London. * January 18 – Dr. William Price atte ...

) *13 August - Paul Kemp, German actor (born

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

) *15 August - Ludwig Prandtl, German engineer (born

) *24 September — Hugo Schmeisser, German weapons designer (born

) *29 September-

Ernst Reuter Ernst Rudolf Johannes Reuter (29 July 1889 – 29 September 1953) was the mayor of West Berlin from 1948 to 1953, during the time of the Cold War. Biography Early years Reuter was born in Apenrade (Aabenraa), Province of Schleswig-Holstein ...

, German politician (born

1889 Events January–March * January 1 ** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada. ** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the ...

) *27 October —

Eduard Künneke Eduard Künneke (also seen as Edward and spelled Künnecke) (27 January 1885 – 27 October 1953 in Berlin) was a German composer notable for his operettas, operas, theatre music and some orchestral works. Kuenneke was born in Emmerich am Rhein, ...

, German composer (born

)

References

1950s in Germany Years of the 20th century in Germany Germany Germany {{Europe-year-stub