1888 in Germany

← 1887 1886 1885 1888 in Germany → 1889 1890 1891
Decades:	1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s
See also:	Other events of 1888 List of years in Germany

Events in the year 1888 in Germany.

"Year of the Three Emperors"

Incumbents

National level

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

State level

Kingdoms

• King of Bavaria — Otto of Bavaria
• King of Prussia — William I to 9 March, then Frederick III to 15 June, then Wilhelm II (all Kaisers of the German Empire)
• King of Saxony — Albert of Saxony
• King of Württemberg — Charles I of Württemberg

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 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.) (1888-9)
• 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

Births

• 14 January — Karl Badberger, architect
• 17 February — Otto Stern, German Nobel laureate in Physics, expatriate in United States (died 1969, United States)
• 27 February — Lotte Lehmann, German soprano, expatriate in United States (died 1976, United States)
• 14 March — Peretz Naftali, German-born Israeli politician (died 1961, Israel)
• 14 March — Hermann Reinecke, Wehrmacht general (died 1973)
• 19 March — Josef Albers, German-born American artist (died 1976, United States)
• 17 April — Herms Niel, German composer (died 1954, West Germany)
• 24 July — Hermann von Bönninghausen, athlete (died 1919)
• 20 December — Yitzhak Baer, German-born Israeli historian (died 1980, Israel)

Deaths

• 9 March — William I, Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia (born 1797)
• 5 April — Eduard Karl August Riehm, theologian (born 1830)
• 16 April - Friedrich Grillo, industrialist (born 1825)
• 15 June — Frederick III, Emperor of Germany and King of Prussia (born 1831)
• 20 June — Karl Friedrich August Kahnis, theologian (born 1814)
• 20 July - Paul Langerhans German pathologist, physiologist and biologist (born 1847)
• 23 July — Johannes Heinrich August Ebrard, theologian (born 1818)
• 24 August - Rudolf Clausius, physicist and mathematician (born 1822)
• 28 August — Georg Beseler, politician and jurist (born 1809)
• 12 September — August von Werder, general (born 1808)
• 3 December - Carl Zeiss, entrepreneur and scientist (born 1816)

Years in Germany (1870–present)
1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029