Timeline / 1870 to After 1930 / GERMANY Date Country Theme 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. 1870 Germany Economy And Trade The Deutsche Bank is founded by Georg von Siemens. From 1871 - 1914 Germany Economy And Trade Germany’s industrial production is now six times what it had been. 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). 1872 - 1879 Germany Reforms And Social Changes As a consequence of the Kulturkampf the influence of the Catholic Church is limited in Germany. 1873 - 1880 Germany Economy And Trade Date Country Theme The economic crash known as the Gründerkrise sees companies and banks shut down and a rise in unemployment and social dissatisfaction. 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 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. 1873 Germany Economy And Trade The Krupp Corporation is the largest industrial concern in Europe. 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 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. Date Country Theme 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). 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 - 1914 Germany Migrations More than 5 million migrants from Russia and the Habsburg Empire journey through Germany on their way to America. 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. 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. 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 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, 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. 1890s Germany Migrations The Prussian policy of Abwehrpolitik sees Polish seasonal workers in agriculture forced to leave the German Empire during winter. 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. 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. 1890s Germany Reforms And Social Changes Sigmund Freud formulates his theory of psychoanalysis in Vienna. 1890 Germany Reforms And Social Changes Emperor Wilhelm II dismisses Bismarck; and so begins the era of the emperor’s personal regiment. 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 - 1940 Germany Great Inventions Of The 19th Century The Bagdadbahn (the so-called Bagdad Railway project) was built through a section of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey, Syria and Iran) and stretched for around 3,200 km. Together with the Hijaz Railway (opened 1908–closed 1920) it was constructed under the auspices of ‘Abd al-Hamid II, primarily to facilitate pilgrims wanting to travel directly from Damascus to Medina and Mecca. The German Empire was the main sponsor of this huge infrastructure