Timeline / 1810 to 1930 / GERMANY
Date Country Theme
1812 - 1817 Germany Travelling
John Lewis Burckhardt from Switzerland journeyed to the “Orient”, especially to Aleppo in Syria, to study the Near East and Islam. While there, under the pseudonym Sheikh Ibrahim ibn ‘Abd-Allah and living as a Muslim businessman, he not only translated from English to Arabic Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, but also rediscovered the city of Petra (Jordan) in 1812.
1813 - 1815 Germany Political Context
The Liberation Wars (and the decisive Battle of Leipzig in 1913) were between Napoleon Bonaparte’s French troops and Central Europe; Napoleon is overthrown.
1814 - 1815 Germany Political Context
The Wiener Kongress (Congress of Vienna) saw the restoration of the political state (the 1792 Ancien Régime), realignment of the borders, and creation of a loosely arranged German Bund (Federation).
1814 - 1815 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
The Wiener Kongress (Congress of Vienna) decides on territorial realignment and the constitutional restoration of Europe.
1815 - 1866 Germany Political Context
German Confederation.
1815 - 1920s Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
Up until 1815 Hamburg had been a free city, which began to be developed under the German Confederation. A huge fire in 1842 then called for a huge rebuilding programme that continues up until 1897, with development of the customs examination area in 1888, and the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district. In 1892, cholera caused some 8,000 deaths, but by 1900 the population is 1 million. A social housing scheme is implemented in the 1920s.
1815 - 1848 Germany Fine And Applied Arts
The painting by Carl Spitzweg, Der Sonntagsspaziergang (The Sunday Walk, 1841), exemplifies the Biedermeier era (an expression of the popular present reality) in art at this time. Incidentally, Spitzweg’s painting Der arme Poet (The Poor Poet) was the most popular painting in Germany in the 19th century.
1815 - 1848 Germany Migrations
An estimated 60,000 German citizens leave the territory that later becomes the German Bund (Federation).
1815 - 1848 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion Date Country Theme
The Biedermeier era in literature (i.e. works by Mörike and von Droste-Hülshoff) is characterised by melancholia, a desire to escape to an idyll and to recapture religion and the homeland.
1816 - 1830 Germany Fine And Applied Arts
Architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel engraved a certain style on Berlin, starting with the Neue Wache (New Guardhouse, 1816–18) and followed by the Konzerthaus at Berlin’s Gandarmenmarkt (1818–21). Opposite the Lustgarten (Pleasure gardens) on what is now known as Museum Island in Berlin, Schinkel built the first royal museum, the Altes Museum (opened 1830), marking the beginning of the Island’s history.
1817 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
Rise of the Wartburgfest, an assembly of radical students who want to implement the idea of a German National State.
1818 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
Arthur Schopenhauer publishes Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung (The World as Will and Representation is the title of the latest, 2008, English translation; the first was published in 1883).The second, expanded German edition appeared in 1944.
1819 Germany Political Context
The Karlsbader Beschlüsse (Carlsbad Decrees) was intended to suppress liberal and national movements through censorship of the press and political persecution.
1820 - 1825 Germany Rediscovering The Past
The German naturalists and explorers Wilhelm Friedrich Hemprich and Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg embark on a research tour in cooperation with Martin Lichtenstein (who published Reisen im südlichen Afrika (Tourism in Southern Africa) in 1810 and was appointed director of the Berlin Zoological Museum in 1813) from Cairo to Derna in Libya, along the Nile, and through the Sinai Desert and Lebanon, collecting natural and historical specimens.
1820s - 1860s Germany Travelling
The formation of modern tourism grows in stages, first the nobility, then the educated middle classes and finally citizens of much more modest means. Karl Baedeker, who published the first successful travel book in 1827, was one of the innovators of modern mass tourism. The first group- and corporation-travel tours were inaugurated by the English firm Thomas Cook in 1840. In 1863 the first travel agency opened in Breslau, followed in 1869 by the founding of the German Alp Society, which opened up the Alps to tourism.
1822 - 1829 Germany Political Context
The War between Greece and the Ottoman Empire concludes with Greece attaining its independence with the help of Russia and the Western nations. Date Country Theme
1822 - 1930 Germany Travelling
The building of Museumsinsel (Museum Island) in Berlin.
1824 - 1829 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
Rosenstein Palace is built by Giovanni Salucci under Wilhelm I; it has been a public museum since 1954.
1825 - 1848 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
This era, one marked by the politician and statesman Klemens von Metternich, a supporter of restoration politics and conditions prior to the French Revolution, is satirised by the Junges Deutschland, a movement in literature (i.e. the works of Büchner, Heine and Grabbe) that is characterised by a rejection of these beliefs in support of a free press and freedom of expression.
1830 - 1847 Germany Political Context
Stimulated by the French July Revolution, the Vormärz (pre-March) Revolution refers to the formation of political programmes and factional movements.
1830 - 1871 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
Due to the rise of industrialisation in Germany, in 1862, the Hobrecht-Plan aims to modernise Berlin over the following 50 years.
1830 - 1840 Germany Economy And Trade
Industrialisation and the Industrial Revolution.
Since 1830 Germany Migrations
Transatlantic migration from Europe, to America, Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Australia.
1830 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
The French July Revolution strengthens the power of the Besitzbürgertum (the landed gentry). Revolutions in central and north Germany enforce constitutional state reforms.
1832 Germany Political Context
From 27 to 30 May an apparently non-political country fair, the “Hambacher Fest”, was held by a German national democratic assembly, demanding freedom, national entity and popular sovereignty.
1832 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
The “Hambacher Fest” demonstrates the liberal, democratic and national opposition in Germany. Date Country Theme
1833 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century
First communication by telegram.
1834 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
Standardisation of the Abitur (equivalent to the A-Level system used elsewhere) which allows students to enter German universities.
1834 Germany Travelling
The Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam is connected to Berlin by rail, one of the first electrified railway sections in Old Germany. Since 1911, the Palace has been used as a film location (i.e. The Blue Angel, 1930).
1835 - 1838 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
The first section of railway is established between Nürnberg and Fürth (6 km); the building of the long-haul between Leipzig and Dresden is finished in 1838.
1840 - 1880 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
Development of a railway network across the whole of Germany, much of which still exists today. The most important stations are developed during this period, including: Berlin Ostbahnhof (1842), Nürnberg Central Station (1844), Duisburg Central Station (1846) and Munich Central Station (1849).
Around 1850 - Around 1900 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
Development of the urban district known as the “Ruhrpott” from where, by around 1850, many factories operated (known particularly for coal mining). Due to rapid urbanisation and lack of housing several important cities expanded rapidly at this time, including Duisburg and Dortmund. The railway network reached the “Ruhrpott” in 1900.
1841 - 1844 Germany Travelling
The Berlin Zoological Gardens was established in 1841 and opened to the public in 1844. The oldest zoo in Germany, today, it hosts more visitors than any zoo in Europe (around 3 million visitors per year).
1842 - 1846 Germany Rediscovering The Past
The Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius is appointed director of an expedition to Egypt by Friedrich Wilhelm IV.
1843 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century
Friedrich Gottlob commodifies paper production (the mass production of cheap paper).
1843 - 1876 Germany Fine And Applied Arts Date Country Theme
Formation of the Neues Museum (1843–55), built by Friedrich August Stüler, a follower of K. F. Schinkel. Stüler and Carl Busse then design the Alte Nationalgalerie (1867–76).
1844 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
First proletarian uprising: 3000 weavers in Silesia are protesting against the inhumane working conditions and their exploitation. They are all being killed by the Prussian military.
1844 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
The first Proletariat uprising, the Weber Rebellion, witnesses 3,000 weavers in Silesia protesting against inhumane working conditions and exploitation. The uprising is quashed by the Prussian military – which murders them all.
1848 Germany Political Context
Establishment of the first parliament in German history (at the Paulskirche, Frankfurt am Main), and elaboration of the German Imperial Constitution.
1848 - 1849 Germany Political Context
The Pre-March Revolution involves a series of protests, gatherings and disturbances, but by July 1849 the Bundes troops are victorious and the revolution fails.
1848 Germany Political Context
The German National Assembly meets in Frankfurt.
1848 - 1890 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The era of Realism in literature (i.e. the works of Raabe, Fontane and Busch) is characterised by exact descriptions of reality, subjective narration and irony.
1848 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish the Communist Manifesto.
1848 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
Liberal regimes, now with seats in government, herald a series of liberal reforms in all German states. After riots in Berlin, Prussian King Frederick William IV promises liberal and national reforms.
1849 Germany Political Context
The German National Assembly approves the Constitution of the German Empire.
1849 Germany Political Context Date Country Theme
The Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV refuses the German Imperial Crown.
1849 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
Popular movements in Saxony, Baden and the Pfalz attempt to put into effect the Constitution of the Empire, but they are defeated by Prussian troops.
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 London.
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. Date Country Theme
1860 - 1910 Germany Fine And Applied Arts
Realism (a backlash to both Classicism and Romanticism) is exemplified by French artist Gustave Courbet’s Die Steinklopfer (1849), although long before then Albrecht Dürer had painted his highly realistic Junger Feldhase (1502).
1862 Germany Political Context
Otto von Bismarck becomes prime minister of Prussia.
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 Siemens 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 German Empire (1871–1918).
1866 - 1905 Germany Economy And Trade
Henri Nestlé founds the company Nestlé, which becomes the world’s largest corporation for comestible goods.
1867 - 1885 Germany Fine And Applied Arts
King Ludwig II of Bavaria 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 Herrenchiemsee (1878–86, built along the lines of Versailles, but never completed), and Linderhof (1869–85), the only palace the king lived to see completed. Date Country Theme
1870 Germany Economy And Trade
The Deutsche Bank is founded by Georg von Siemens.
1870 - 1913 Germany Economy And Trade
The rail network transforms German industry, and merchant shipping multiplies.
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.
1871 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
Berlin becomes the imperial capital.
1871 - 1914 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
The process of urbanisation begins: in 1907 Berlin had more than 2 million citizens of which around 40% are locals, 20% German immigrants and 40% foreign immigrants.
1871 - 1910 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
The second Industrial Revolution sees massive immigration; the population rises from 41 to 65 million, and from only eight cities with no more than 100,000 inhabitants, more than 48 cities are formed.
From 1871 Germany Economy And Trade
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).
From 1871 - 1914 Germany Economy And Trade
Germany’s industrial production is now six times what it had been.
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 Date Country Theme
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 Germany Economy And Trade
The Krupp Corporation is the largest industrial concern in Europe.
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 - 1878 Germany International Exhibitions
The Moorish Kiosk, built for the World Exhibition in Paris in 1878, was subsequently bought for Linderhof Palace 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 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 Berlin (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.
1878 - 1890 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
The anti-Socialist laws known as Sozialistengesetz prohibit socialist organisations, meetings and publications.
1879 Germany Economy And Trade
The German Empire moves from a free-trade system to protective duty.
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. Date Country Theme
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.
From 1880 Germany Migrations
Germany’s colonisation of Namibia, Tanzania, Cameroon and Togo.
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 - 1914 Germany Migrations
More than 5 million migrants from Russia and the Habsburg Empire journey through Germany on their way to America.
From 1880 Germany Migrations
As the process of Industrialisation in the so-called Ruhrgebiet region develops, Polish miners and farmhands migrate to the Ruhr, which becomes a place known as Ruhrpoland.
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.
1883 - 1927 Germany Travelling
The warehouse district known as Speicherstadt Hamburg develops. Date Country Theme
1884 - 1890 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century
Gottlieb Daimler develops the petrol engine and Rudolf Diesel invents the diesel engine.
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.
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, Neuschwanstein Castle – 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).
1889 - 1917 Germany Travelling
Kaiser Wilhelm II visits the Ottoman Empire three times, in 1889, 1898 and 1917. On his second official tour he visits Constantinople, Haifa, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Beirut and Damascus, largely to show his support for Ottoman sultan ‘Abd al-Hamid II whose Empire was already unstable. The strong connection between the countries is further cemented by a gift from the Kaiser to ‘Abd al Hamid: a “German fountain” that stands in Jerusalem to this day.
1890 - 1910 Germany Fine And Applied Arts
The paintings by Heinrich Vogeler, Das Konzert (Sommerabend) (1893), and Gustav Klimt, Der Kuss (1908), exemplify the period in art known as Jugendstil or Art Nouveau.
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
1890s - Around 1900 Germany Migrations
After the United States, the German Empire was the most popular country of immigration.
1890 - 1910 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The era of Modern literature (i.e. the works of Hesse, Hauptmann, Mann and Zweig) is characterised by pluralism, the merging of Art Nouveau, Symbolism, Impressionism, etc.
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.
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.
1897 - 1904 Germany Fine And Applied Arts
Formation of the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum (now the Bode Museum), proposed by Wilhelm von Bode, and built by Ernst von Ihne and Max Hasak.
1898 - 1917 Germany Rediscovering The Past
Foundation of the Deutsche-Orient Gesellschaft (DOG) in Berlin is to promote research in the field of “Oriental” archaeology and bring it to a wider audience. One of the first archaeological excavations undertaken by the DOG was in Babylon, with the discovery of the Ishtar Gate (now at the Museum of the Ancient Near East in Berlin). DOG was responsible for finds at Tell el-Amarna, the capital of the Pharaonic Empire where the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti was found (now at the Neues Museum). Kaiser Wilhelm II assumed patronage of DOG in 1901. Date Country Theme
1898 - 1900 Germany Political Context
Development and rearmament (Aufrüstung) of the German Navy.
1900 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century
Planck’s Law, which describes electromagnetic radiation.
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
Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin invents the zeppelin, a steerable airship.
1903 Germany Rediscovering The Past
A large part of the richly ornamented south facade of Qasr al-Mushatta – one of the most important works of early Islamic architecture – was presented as a gift from the Ottoman Sultan ‘Abd al-Hamid II to Emperor Wilhelm II and transported from Jordan to Berlin via rail and sea.
Around 1914 - 1918 Germany Economy And Trade
In 1914 Germany becomes the biggest industrial nation within Europe as a result of munitions production before and during World War I.
1904 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
Publication of Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Weber is known as the originator of social science.
1905 - 1916 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century
Physician Albert Einstein formulates his Theory and publishes Relativity: The Special and General Theory.
1905 Germany Migrations
Foundation of the German field-workers central office (Deutsche Feldarbeiter Zentralstelle; later Deutsche Arbeitszentrale), initiated by the Prussian Ministry of Agriculture, in order to control work-based migration to Germany.
1906 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
Alois Alzheimer describes a type of dementia, Alzheimer’s, for the first time.
1908 Germany Political Context
Austria-Hungary annexes the Ottoman provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Following international protests, Germany shows solidarity with Austria. Date Country Theme
Since 1908 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
Women are admitted to study at German universities.
1910 - 1930 Germany Fine And Applied Arts
Foundation of the Pergamon Museum (including the Museum of Islamic Art), conceptualised by Wilhelm von Bode, and built by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann.
1910 Germany International Exhibitions
A groundbreaking exhibition on Islamic art opens in Munich, “Ausstellung von Meisterwerken Muhammedanischer Kunst”.
1910 - 1925 Germany Music, Literature, Dance And Fashion
The era of Expressionism in literature (i.e. the works of Benn, Kafka, Lasker- Schüler, Mann and Döblin) is influenced by the human experience of World War I and other influences such as Darwinism, Friedrich Nietzsche’s “despair of civilisation” and Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory.
1911 - 1913 Germany Rediscovering The Past
The international reputations of the Orientalist, archaeologist and investigator of inscriptions Ernst Herzfeld and art historian Friedrich Sarre were assured when they found 8,000-year old (6th-century) painted pottery known as Samarra-Ware. Some of these finds from Samarra are in the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin.
1911 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century
Foundation of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft (later Max-Planck-Gesellschaft).
1913 - 1917 Germany Cities And Urban Spaces
The last palace (Cicilienhof) of the House of Hohenzollern (a dynasty of former princes, electors, kings and emperors) was built under Wilhelm II. The palace hosted the Conference of Potsdam in 1945.
1914 - 1918 Germany Political Context
World War I is declared and fought.
1914 Germany Political Context
The heir apparent of Austria, Franz Ferdinand, is murdered in Sarajevo by a member of the Serbian intelligence service known as the “Black Hand”. As a consequence, the Austrian government issues an ultimatum to Serbia; Germany declares war on the Russian Empire and on France; and Great Britain declares war on the German Empire.
1914 - 1918 Germany Migrations Date Country Theme
One in every ten members of the workforce in the German Empire is foreign (many of them prisoners of war).
1915 Germany Migrations
Introduction of the Legitimationszwang in Prussia allows police to tag foreign workers and their German employers.
1917 Germany Political Context
The United States declares war on the German Empire.
1918 Germany Political Context
Woodrow Wilson declares his “14 points” program in front of Congress.
1918 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
The so-called November Revolution results in the withdrawal of Emperor Wilhelm II; the Council of People’s Deputies (SPD and USPD members) take over government.
1919 Germany Political Context
On signature of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany must face up to its responsibility to make reparation payments, abandon territory and let go of its colonies. The League of Nations is founded.
1919 Germany Reforms And Social Changes
Rudolf Steiner, originator of the Waldorfpädagogik, opens the first Steiner School in Stuttgart (the basis of which is human anthropology).
1920s - 1930s Germany Rediscovering The Past
The Museum of Islamic Art, the German Oriental Society and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, undertake two excavations during which several iwans and stucco ornaments, as well as numerous other finds from houses, in layers of occupation from the late Sasanian period through to the early Islamic periods, are found. The stucco finds form the foundations for later stylistic developments in Samarra. Many of the stuccos are now found at the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
1920 Germany Political Context
The Conference of San Remo was an international meeting convened to decide which parts of its territories the Ottoman Empire would lose, to become the mandated territory under the League of Nations. For example, France received mandated territory for Syria and Lebanon (and King Faysal of Iraq goes into exile after losing Greater Syria to the French).
1920 Germany Political Context Date Country Theme
Foundation of the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP); the party’s first selection for the German Reichstag is on 6 July.
1925 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century
Oskar Barnack invents the compact camera.
1927 Germany Travelling
The first stage of the racing circuit Nürburgring is constructed comprising the old “North loop” built around the village of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains.