# 1872 in Germany

Events from the year 1872 in Germany.

## Incumbents
### National level

* Emperor – William I
* Chancellor – Otto von Bismarck

### State level
#### Kingdoms

* King of Bavaria – Ludwig II
* King of Prussia – William I
* King of Saxony – John
* King of Württemberg – Charles

#### Grand Duchies

* Grand Duke of Baden – Frederick I
* Grand Duke of Hesse – Louis III
* 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 – Günther Friedrich Karl II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
* Principality of Lippe – Leopold III, 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 – Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
* Duke of Saxe-Meiningen – Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

## Events

* 4 July – Jesuits Law is promulgated
* 12 November – Dresdner Bank is founded

### Science

* Richard Dedekind publishes Stetigkeit und irrationale Zahlen, a theory of irrational numbers.
* Felix Klein produces the Erlangen program on geometries.
* Ludwig Boltzmann states the Boltzmann equation for the temporal development of distribution functions in phase space, and publishes his H-theorem.
* Polyvinyl chloride is accidentally synthesised by German chemist Eugen Baumann.

### Undated

* Radeberger Brewery is opened

## Births

* 11 January – Paul Graener, German composer and conductor (died 1944)
* 28 January – Otto Braun, German politician (died 1955)
* 8 February – Theodor Lessing, German philosopher (died 1933)
* 3 March – Frida Felser, opera singer and actress (died 1941).
* 24 March – Walther Reinhardt, Army officer (died 1930)
* 1 April – Conrad Gröber, German bishop of Roman-Catholic Church (died 1948)
* 9 April – Theodor Koch-Grunberg, German ethnologue and explorer (died 1924)
* 19 April – Alice Salomon, German social reformer (died 1948)
* 22 April – Princess Margaret of Prussia, Prussian princess (died 1954)
* 2 May – Karl Nessler, German inventor of the permanent wave (died 1951)
* 14 June – Heinrich Vogeler, German painter (died 1942)
* 22 July – Karl Helfferich, German politician (died 1924)
* 13 August – Richard Willstätter, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1942)
* 5 September – Carl Friedrich von Siemens, German entrepreneur (died 1941)
* 3 October – Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, German scientist and inventor (died 1931)
* 9 November – Richard Otto, German physician (died 1952)
* 11 November – Frederick Stock, German composer (died 1942)

## Deaths

* 1 April – Hugo von Mohl, German botanist (born 1805)
* 13 May – Moritz Hartmann, German poet and author (born 1821)
* 24 May – Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, German painter (born 1794)
* 21 August – David Kalisch, German playwright and humorist (born 1820)
* 13 September – Ludwig Feuerbach, German philosopher and anthropologist (born 1804)
* 14 October – Prince Albert of Prussia, German nobleman and Prussian general (born 1809)