1879 in Germany

← 1878 1877 1876 1879 in Germany → 1880 1881 1882
Decades:	1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s
See also:	Other events of 1879 List of years in Germany

Events in the year 1879 in Germany.

Incumbents

National level

• Kaiser — William I
• Chancellor — Otto von Bismarck

State level

Kingdoms

• King of Bavaria — Ludwig II of Bavaria
• King of Prussia — Kaiser William I
• 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 II
• 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 — Gonthier Frederick Charles II, 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 — William, Duke of Brunswick
• 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

Events

• 7 October - A defensive alliance between Germany and Austria-Hungary is created by treaty.

Births

• 8 March - Otto Hahn, chemist and pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry (died 1968)
• 10 March - Hans Luther, politician, briefly Chancellor of Germany (died 1962)
• 14 March – Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist who developed the general theory of relativity (died 1955)
• 6 September
  • Max Schreck, actor (died 1936)
  • Joseph Wirth, politician, Chancellor of Germany (died 1956)
• 9 October - Max von Laue, physicist (died 1960)
• 28 October - Martin Kirschner, surgeon (died 1942)
• 29 October - Franz von Papen, politician, Chancellor of Germany (died 1969)

Deaths

• 24 January - Heinrich Geißler, German physicist (born 1814)
• 13 March - Adolf Anderssen, chess master (born 1818)
• 4 April - Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, (born 1803)
• 15 May - Gottfried Semper, German architect (born 1803)
• 5 June - August Krönig, chemist and physicist (born 1822)
• 1 December - Franz Ittenbach, painter (born 1813)