National level edit

• Kaiser – William I
• Chancellor – Otto von Bismarck

State level edit

Kingdoms edit

• King of Bavaria – Ludwig II
• King of Prussia – William I
• King of Saxony – Albert
• King of Württemberg – Charles

Grand Duchies edit

• Grand Duke of Baden – Frederick I
• Grand Duke of Hesse – Louis IV
• Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin – Frederick Francis II
• Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – Frederick William
• Grand Duke of Oldenburg – Peter II
• Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach – Charles Alexander

Principalities edit

• Schaumburg-Lippe – Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe
• Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt – George Albert, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
• Schwarzburg-Sondershausen – Gonthier Frederick Charles II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen to 17 July, then Charles Gonthier, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
• Principality of Lippe – Woldemar, Prince of Lippe
• Reuss Elder Line – Heinrich XXII, Prince Reuss of Greiz
• Reuss Younger Line – Heinrich XIV, Prince Reuss Younger Line
• Waldeck and Pyrmont – George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

Duchies edit

• Duke of Anhalt – Frederick I, Duke of Anhalt
• Duke of Brunswick – William, Duke of Brunswick
• Duke of Saxe-Altenburg – Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
• Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha – Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
• Duke of Saxe-Meiningen – Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

• 3 April – German company Munich Re is founded.
• 14 August – Construction of the Cologne Cathedral is finally completed after over 600 years.

Undated edit

• German company Bilfinger is founded.

• 8 February – Franz Marc, German painter (died 1916)^[1]
• 21 February – Waldemar Bonsels, German writer (died 1952)
• 10 April – Hans Purrmann, German painter (died 1966)
• 6 May – Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer (died 1938)
• 14 May – Wilhelm List, German field marshal (died 1971)
• 15 May – F. K. Otto Dibelius, German bishop of the Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg (died 1967)
• 29 May – Oswald Spengler, German historian (died 1936)
• 25 June – Erich Emminger, German politician (died 1951)
• 29 June – Ludwig Beck, German general (died 1944)
• 1 July – Herbert Koch, German archaeologist (died 1962)
• 3 July – Carl Schuricht, German conductor (died 1967)
• 11 July
  • Dorothea Köring, German tennis player (died 1945)
  • Friedrich Lahrs, German architect (died 1964)
• 12 July – Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, Prussian nobleman (died 1925)
• 5 August – Hermann Lüdemann, German politician (died 1959)
• 30 August – Konrad von Preysing, German prelate of Roman-Catholic Church (died 1950)
• 14 September – Karl Kimmich, German banker (died 1945)
• 28 September – Otto Sackur, German physical chemist (died 1914)
• 14 October – Bruno Heinemann, German officer (died 1918)
• 1 November – Alfred Wegener, German polar researcher, geophysicist and meteorologist (died 1930)
• 11 November – Alexander Behm, German physicist (died 1952)^[2]
• 20 November – Walter Brack, German swimmer (died 1919)
• 3 December – Fedor von Bock, German field marshal (died 1945)