# 1961 in Germany

Events in the year 1961 in Germany.

## Incumbents

* President – Heinrich Lübke
* Chancellor – Konrad Adenauer

## Events

* 25 February - Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1961
* 23 June - 4 July - 11th Berlin International Film Festival
* 12 August - The construction of the Berlin Wall took place at the heart of the city. In just two weeks, the most important symbol of the Cold War divided the most turbulent city of the 20th Century into two occupation zones: West and East Germany.
* 17 September - West German federal election, 1961
* 14 November - The Fourth Adenauer cabinet, led by Konrad Adenauer, is sworn in.
* Date unknown - The Bark scale is devised by German acoustics scientist Eberhard Zwicker and named after Heinrich Barkhausen who proposes the first subjective measurements of loudness.

## Births

* 24 January — Guido Buchwald, German football player
* 9 January — Petra Thümer, German swimmer
* 5 February — Dietmar Bär, German actor
* 6 February — Malu Dreyer, German politician
* 18 February — Armin Laschet, German politician
* 25 February — Hermann Gröhe, German politician
* 20 March — Maja Maranow, German actress (died 2016)
* 21 March — Lothar Matthäus, German football player and manager
* 19 April — Bernd Stelter, German comedian
* 23 April — Dirk Bach, German actor (died 2012)
* 29 April — Prince Heinrich of Hanover, German historian and publisher
* 6 May — Patty Ryan, German singer
* 7 May — Hans-Peter Bartels, German politician
* 8 May — Andrea Pollack, German swimmer
* 14 May
** Ulrike Folkerts, German actress
** Urban Priol, German comedian
* 6 June — Anke Behmer, German athlete
* 12 June — Hannelore Kraft, German politician
* 29 June — Jörg Meuthen, German politician
* 15 August — Dietmar Mögenburg, German high jumper
* 7 September — Jochen Horst, German actor
* 10 September — Uwe Freimuth, German decathlete
* 12 September — Kirsten Fehrs, German Lutheran bishop
* 14 September — Martina Gedeck, German actress
* 15 September
** Hendrikje Fitz, German actress (died 2016)
** Frank Emmelmann, German sprinter
* 23 September — Manfred Schiller, German politician
* 22 October — Dietmar Woidke, German politician
* 17 November — Wolfram Wuttke, German footballer (died 2015)
* 2 December — Gaby Köster, German comedian
* 12 December — Jan Stressenreuter, German author (died 2018)
* 26 December — Jörg Schüttauf, German actor
* 27 December — Guido Westerwelle, politician (died 2016)

## Deaths

* 2 January — Walter Hörnlein, Wehrmacht general and Knight's Cross recipient (born 1893)
* 4 February — Heinz Lord, German-American surgeon (born 1917)
* 26 February — Karl Albiker, German sculptor, lithographer and arts professor (born 1878)
* 12 March — Hedwig Wangel, German actress (born 1875)
* 24 April — Hans-Friedrich Blunck, German jurist and writer (born 1888)
* 7 May — Jakob Kaiser, German politician and resistance leader (born 1888)
* 30 May - Werner Richard Heymann, German film composer (born 1896)
* 7 June — Karl Henry von Wiegand, German born American journalist and war correspondent (born 1874)
* 22 July — Georg Rosen, German diplomat (born 1895)
* 23 July — Rudolf Katz, German politician and judge (born 1895)
* 5 August — Hanns Seidel, German politician (born 1901)
* 23 August — Gotthard Sachsenberg, German World War I naval aviator and fighter ace (b. 1891)
* 10 September — Wolfgang von Trips, German racing driver (born 1928)
* 18 October - Wilhelm Boden, German politician (born 1890)
* 21 October - Karl Korsch, German politician (born 1886)
* 25 October — Werner Willikens, German Imperial officer and Nazi public servant (born 1893)
* 26 October — Fritz Lang, German painter (born 1877)
* 7 November — Augustin Rösch, German Catholic priest (born 1893)
* 30 November — Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, German scientist (born 1899)
* 21 December — Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf, German politician (born 1893)
* 23 December — Kurt Meyer, German Generalmajor der Waffen-SS and war criminal (born 1910)
* 25 December — Otto Loewi, pharmacologist and psychobiologist (born 1873)