1926 in Germany

Incumbents

National level

• Paul von Hindenburg

• Hans Luther to 12 May, then from 17 May Wilhelm Marx

  Events

• 1 January - the city of Cologne is badly hit by flooding in the river Rhine.
• 6 January - Deutsche Luft Hansa is formed by the merger of Deutsche Aero Lloyd and Junkers Luftverkehr
• 7 January - Deutschlandsender, a radio transmitter, is opened for the first time.
• 20 January - Chancellor Hans Luther is forced to reconstitute his cabinet as a minority government, having lost the support of some of his partners the previous December.
• 14 February - the Nazi Party hold the Bamberg Conference in an attempt to strengthen Adolf Hitler's control over the party.
• 19 March - Max Wolf of the University of Heidelberg discovers the asteroid 2732 Witt.
• 11 April - Hermannplatz railway station opens in Berlin.
• 24 April - Treaty of Berlin is signed with the Soviet Union promising a five-year period of non-involvement if either state is attacked by a third party.
• 16 May - Wilhelm Marx succeeds Luther as Chancellor although otherwise the make-up of the Cabinet is not altered.
• 24 June - the liner Padua is launched. Other ships launched this year include SS Amrum, SS Ilse L M Russ and SS Siegmund.
• 28 June - German company Daimler-Benz was founded.
• 3 September - Funkturm Berlin radio tower is opened to the public.
• 8 September - Germany officially joins the League of Nations.
• 1 November - Joseph Goebbels is appointed Nazi Gauleiter of Berlin.
• 17 December - The Marx administration loses a vote of confidence and, although Marx continues as Chancellor, he does so without the involvement of previous coalition partners the German Democratic Party.

  Date unknown

• The National Socialist German Students' League is established.
• The Old Social Democratic Party of Germany and the Reich Party for Civil Rights and Deflation are both established.
• Gustav Stresemann is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with fellow architect of the Locarno Treaties Aristide Briand.
• German company Südzucker was founded.

  Popular culture

Arts

• 27 March - Der Protagonist, an opera by Kurt Weill, is performed for the first time at Semperoper in Dresden.
• 9 November Paul Hindemith's opera Cardillac is premiered at the Staatsoper, Dresden.
• 14 November - Der Golem, an opera by Eugen d'Albert receives its premiere at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt.
• 27 November - Ernst Krenek's opera Orpheus und Eurydike premieres at the Staatstheater in Kassel.
• The Adventures of Prince Achmed by Lotte Reiniger is released. It is the oldest surviving animated feature film.

  Sport

• 11 July - The German Grand Prix makes its first appearance on the sporting calendar. The event is won by Rudolf Caracciola.
• 1. FC Nürnberg are crowned German football champions.
• SV Wehen Wiesbaden and FSV 1926 Fernwald are amongst the new association football clubs set up.
• Berliner RC, a Rugby Union club, are established.

  Births

• 5 January - Walther Leisler Kiep, German politician
• 6 January - Walter Sedlmayr, actor
• 24 January - Hans-Jürgen Borchers, mathematical physicist
• 26 January - Kurt-Heinz Stolze, pianist
• 29 January - Ernst Träger, judge
• 31 January - Johannes Joachim Degenhardt, Archbishop of Paderborn
• 31 January - Horst Giese, actor
• 31 January - Rudi Kopp, cross country skier
• 31 January - Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen, noblewoman
• 2 February - Fritz Stern, German-American historian
• 3 February - Franz Islacker, footballer
• 3 February - Hans-Jochen Vogel, politician
• 8 February - Sonja Ziemann, actress
• 11 February - Ursula Buckel, opera singer
• 20 February - Adolf Bechtold, footballer
• 23 February - Christian Habicht, historian
• 11 March - Albrecht Dietz, German entrepreneur and scientist
• 11 March - Heinz Kiessling, musician
• 11 March - Peer Schmidt, actor
• 17 March - Siegfried Lenz, writer of novels, short stories and essays
• 25 March - Georg Schafer, painter and writer
• 26 March - Heinz Staab, German chemist
• 8 April - Elisabeth Wiedemann, German actress
• 18 April - Horst Käsler, handball player
• 18 April - Günter Meisner, actor
• 22 April - Harald Leipnitz, actor
• 26 April - Michael Mathias Prechtl, artist
• 8 May - David Hurst, actor
• 17 May - Franz Sondheimer, German-born Israeli-British chemist
• 19 May - Peter Zadek, film director
• 24 May - Rudolf Kippenhahn, astrophysicist
• 24 May - Prince Rasso of Bavaria, nobleman
• 28 May - Gerhard Beil, politician
• 5 June - Johannes, 11th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, businessman
• 14 June - Hermann Kant, writer
• 20 June - Hans-Dieter Lange, journalist and television presenter
• 21 June - Johanna Quandt, business woman
• 24 June - Walter Hirrlinger, German politician
• 1 July - Hans Werner Henze, composer
• 2 July - Berthold Wulf, priest
• 4 July - Wolfgang Seidel, racing driver
• 12 July - Oswald Mathias Ungers, architect
• 15 July - Hans Frankenthal, writer and Holocaust survivor
• 16 July - Stef Wertheimer, German-born Israeli entrepreneur and industrialist
• 24 July - Hans Günter Winkler, showjumper
• 25 July - August Lütke-Westhues, equestrian
• 1 August - Theo Adam, opera singer
• 6 August - Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse
• 9 August - Gustav Schmidt, sprint canoer
• 21 August - Ben-Zion Orgad, Israeli composer
• 27 August - Karl-Heinz Heddergott, football manager
• 30 August - Rudi Gutendorf, footballer and manager
• 3 September - Rudi Arnstadt, East German border guard
• 3 September - Jochen Bleicken, professor of ancient history
• 4 September - Helmut Ringelmann, film producer
• 6 September - Prince Claus of the Netherlands
• 10 September - Gerda Munsinger, prostitute and alleged spy
• 17 September - Klaus Schütz, politician
• 1 October - Gerhard Stolze, opera singer
• 4 October - Klaus Koch, theologian
• 5 October - Gottfried Michael Koenig, composer
• 8 October - Günter Mittag, politician
• 14 October - Günther Schwarberg, journalist
• 15 October - Karl Richter, conductor
• 18 October - Klaus Kinski, actor
• 19 October - Udo Schaefer, Bahá'í author
• 20 October - Ursula Happe, swimmer
• 21 October - Leo Kirch, media entrepreneur
• 26 October - Bernhard Klodt, footballer
• 30 October - Dieter Zechlin, pianist
• 1 November - Günter de Bruyn, writer
• 15 November - Alfred Biehle, politician
• 15 November - Manfred Müller, German bishop or Roman Catholic Church
• 15 November - Helmut Fischer, actor
• 26 November - Ralf Wolter, actor
• 28 November - Eberhard von Brauchitsch, industrialist
• 9 December - Erhard Eppler, politician and businessman
• 10 December - Yaakov Birnbaum, Jewish activist
• 19 December - Hans Henn, bobsledder
• 21 December - Herbert Ehrenberg, politician
• 23 December - Heinz Graffunder, architect

  Deaths

• 2 February - Karl von Weizsäcker, politician
• 4 January - Franz Stockhausen, conductor
• 7 January - Paul Cassirer, art dealer
• 29 January - Wilhelm Heitmüller, theologian
• 5 February - Gustav Eberlein, sculptor and painter
• 6 February - Wolf Wilhelm Friedrich von Baudissin, theologian
• 11 February - Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert, painter
• 13 February - Friedrich Krafft Graf von Crailsheim, German politician
• 20 February - Georg Friedrich Knapp, economist
• 28 February - Gustav Otto, aircraft engineer
• 7 March - Paul Matschie, zoologist
• 24 March - Sizzo, Prince of Schwarzburg, nobleman
• 26 March - Constantin Fehrenbach, politician
• 4 April - August Thyssen, industrialist
• 18 May - Hans-Dieter Lange, journalist
• 21 May - Friedrich Kluge, lexicographer
• 23 May - Hans von Koessler, composer
• 3 June - Rudolf Oeser, politician
• 5 June - Richard Wolffenstein, chemist
• 22 July - Otto Wilhelm Madelung, surgeon
• 23 July - Kurt Wüsthoff, fighter pilot
• 5 September - Karl Harrer, journalist and politician
• 15 September - Rudolf Christoph Eucken, philosopher
• 7 October - Emil Kraepelin, psychiatrist
• 9 October - Josias von Heeringen, Army general
• 15 October - Mathilde Bauermeister, opera singer
• 17 October - Otto Heubner, internist and pediatrician
• 26 November - Fritz Cassirer, conductor
• 2 December - Karl Joseph Eberth, pathologist
• 11 December - Carl Magnus von Hell, chemist