Timeline / 1850 to 1900 /

Date Country Theme

1850 - 1900 Germany Fine And Applied Arts

The painting by Max Liebermann, Die Gänserupferinnen (1872), exemplifies Impressionism in art at this time.

1850 - 1870 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion

Surveillance, spying and so on, creates fear and leads to political persecution of musicians (e.g. both Richard Wagner and Gottfried Semper are forced into exile). Music of this era falls under the label “late Romanticism” (i.e. when emotional expression and freedom of style are enhanced), and new genres are born; i.e. symphonic poetry (Franz List) and musical drama (Richard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, 1865).

1851 Germany International Exhibitions

The First World Fair is opened by Prince Albert in .

1853 Germany Economy And Trade

Levi Strauss & Co founds the first company to manufacture blue jeans.

1854 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

Heinrich Göbel invents the light bulb.

1856 Germany Rediscovering The Past

A Neanderthal is discovered and examined by Johann Carl Fuhlrott and Hermann Schaaffhausen. Rudolf Virchow, friends with the famous archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann, claims that the Neanderthal is not prehistoric man. He is wrong.

1857 - 1859 Germany Economy And Trade

The Great Depression, which starts in the United states with the panic of 1857, represents the first global economic crisis.

1858 Germany Political Context

King Wilhelm I – later Kaiser (Emperor) of the Second Empire – assumes his regency.

1859 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

Johann Phillipp Reis invents the telephone.

1862 Germany Political Context

Otto von Bismarck becomes prime minister of . Date Country Theme

1864 Germany Political Context

As a consequence of the Prussian–Danish war, Denmark retracts its demand for Schleswig and Holstein.

1864 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

The chemist Julius Lothar Meyer (1830–95) develops the first periodic table of chemical elements.

1866 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

Werner von invents the dynamo.

1866 - 1871 Germany Economy And Trade

Formation of the North German Confederation in 1866/7 sees a federation of the 22 independent states of northern Germany, with nearly 30 million inhabitants. It was the first modern German nation-state and the basis for the later (1871–1918).

1867 - 1885 Germany Fine And Applied Arts

King Ludwig II of sets in motion the building of his second palace, Linderhof (1869–85), the smallest of the large palaces he had built, and the only one he lived to see completed. The king’s penchant for the so called Moorish style can be seen in several elements, such as the Moorish Kiosk (1867) and the Moroccan House (1878). The King’s House on the Schachen (1869–72), built with a Turkish Hall by Georg von Dollmann, further attests to Ludwig’s admiration for the “Oriental” style.

1868 - 1886 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces

Ludwig II (r. 1864–86) had several palaces built during his reign. The most famous among these are Neuschwanenstein (1868–92, still in construction when Ludwig died), Neues Schloss (1878–86, built along the lines of Versailles, but never completed), and Linderhof (1869–85), the only palace the king lived to see completed.

1870 Germany Economy And Trade

The is founded by Georg von Siemens.

Since 1870 Germany Migrations

The so-called Ruhrpolen migrate to the Ruhr, where many work in coal mining.

1871 Germany Political Context

The German Empire, a union of sovereign states and free cities, is established under Prussian leadership.

From 1871 Germany Economy And Trade Date Country Theme

The capital market is enlivened by France’s payment of 5 million French francs, paid to Germany as compensation following the war between the two countries (1870–1).

1871 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces

Berlin becomes the imperial capital.

1872 - 1879 Germany Reforms And Social Changes

As a consequence of the Kulturkampf the influence of the Catholic Church is limited in Germany.

1873 Germany Rediscovering The Past

The development of Classical Archaeology is strongly influenced by Heinrich Schliemann in the second half of the 18th century when for example he finds the “Gold of Troy”.

1873 - 1878 Germany International Exhibitions

The Moorish Kiosk, built for the World Exhibition in in 1878, was subsequently bought for Park by Ludwig II. The Moroccan House, which was actually built in Morocco for the International Exhibition in Vienna in 1873 and acquired by a private individual after the king’s death, was bought by the German state in 1980 and reconstructed in the Palace Park in 1998.

1873 - 1880 Germany Economy And Trade

The economic crash known as the Gründerkrise sees companies and banks shut down and a rise in unemployment and social dissatisfaction.

1873 Germany Economy And Trade

The Krupp Corporation is the largest industrial concern in Europe.

1873 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion

Levi Strauss, a German citizen in exile in America, requests the patent for blue Jeans.

1874 - 1890 Germany Reforms And Social Changes

“Medicine is a social science, and politics is nothing more than medicine on a large scale”, Rudolf Virchow stated in defence of public health and the building of hospitals in (i.e. Friedrichshain (1874), Moabit (1875, now closed) and Am Urban (1890); even parks and playgrounds were important to improve city life for the proletariat, Virchow continued.

1876 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

Robert Koch discovers bacteriology. Date Country Theme

1878 - 1890 Germany Reforms And Social Changes

The anti-Socialist laws known as Sozialistengesetz prohibit socialist organisations, meetings and publications.

1879 Germany International Exhibitions

The Great Industrial Exposition is held at the Lehrter Bahnhof in Berlin, where one of main attractions is the first electric locomotive from Siemens & Halske.

1879 Germany Economy And Trade

The German Empire moves from a free-trade system to protective duty.

From 1880 Germany Migrations

Germany’s colonisation of Namibia, Tanzania, Cameroon and Togo.

1880 - 1900 Germany Fine And Applied Arts

The painting by Franz von Stuck, Die Sünde (1893), exemplifies the period in art known as Post-Imperialism and Symbolism.

Since 1880 Germany Migrations

Foreign workers (especially from Austria-Hungary, Russia and Poland) arrive in the German Empire in increasing numbers to work in seasonal agriculture.

1880 - 1900 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion

The era of “Naturalism” in literature (i.e. the works of Hauptmann, Holz and Schlaf) is characterised by a reality without embellishment or subjective insight (the radicalisation of realism).

1880 Germany Travelling

The dome of Cologne is completed (construction began in 1248). It is the tallest church building in the world at the time.

1881 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

Werner von Siemens develops the tram.

1882 Germany Reforms And Social Changes

Robert Koch discovers the cause of tuberculosis.

1883 - 1889 Germany Reforms And Social Changes

Imperial Chancellor Otto von Bismarck initiates German social laws and the basic system for a modern social state. Date Country Theme

1884 Germany Reforms And Social Changes

The goal in founding the Society for German Colonization was to acquire colonial territories overseas.

1884 - 1885 Germany Reforms And Social Changes

Germany establishes protectorates in south-west Africa, Cameroon, Togo, East Africa and New Guinea.

1884 - 1890 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

Gottlieb Daimler develops the petrol engine and Rudolf Diesel invents the diesel engine.

1886 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler invent the modern automobile.

Since 1886 Germany Travelling

Seven weeks after the death of King Ludwig II in 1886, – built in order that the king could withdraw from public life – opened to the public.

1887 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

Emil Berliner invents the phonograph.

1888 Germany Rediscovering The Past

Julius Stinde writes Frau Buchholz im Orient. He has already documented the cities of Cairo, Jerusalem, Athens, and Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey).

1890s - Around 1900 Germany Migrations

After the United States, the German Empire was the most popular country of immigration.

1890 Germany Reforms And Social Changes

Emperor Wilhelm II dismisses Bismarck; and so begins the era of the emperor’s personal regiment.

1890s Germany Reforms And Social Changes

Sigmund Freud formulates his theory of psychoanalysis in Vienna.

1890s Germany Migrations

The Prussian policy of Abwehrpolitik sees Polish seasonal workers in agriculture forced to leave the German Empire during winter. Date Country Theme

1891 Germany Reforms And Social Changes

Founding of the Pan-German League (Allgemeine Deutsche Verband; since 1894 the General German Association or Alldeutscher Verband) to advance an active, nationalistic German foreign policy in Europe and overseas.

1894 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

Otto Lilienthal invents the glider.

1895 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

The Roentgen ray (X-Ray) is discovered by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen.

1896 Germany International Exhibitions

The Great Industrial Exposition opens at Treptower Park, south of central Berlin.

1898 - 1900 Germany Political Context

Development and rearmament (Aufrüstung) of the German Navy.

1900 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin invents the zeppelin, a steerable airship.

1900 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

The establishment of the beneficence “Nobel Prize” by Alfred Nobel.

1900 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century

Planck’s Law, which describes electromagnetic radiation.