1915 in Germany

Events in the year 1915 in Germany.

Incumbents

National level

• Emperor – Wilhelm II
• Chancellor – Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg

State level

Kingdoms

• King of Bavaria – Ludwig III
• King of Prussia – Wilhelm II
• King of Saxony – Frederick Augustus III
• King of Württemberg – William II

Grand Duchies

• Grand Duke of Baden – Frederick II
• Grand Duke of Hesse – Ernest Louis
• Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin – Frederick Francis IV
• Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz – Adolphus Frederick VI
• Grand Duke of Oldenburg – Frederick Augustus II
• Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach – William Ernest

Principalities

• Schaumburg-Lippe – Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe
• Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt – Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg
• Schwarzburg-Sondershausen – Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg
• Principality of Lippe – Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe
• Reuss Elder Line – Heinrich XXIV, Prince Reuss of Greiz (with Heinrich XXVII, Prince Reuss Younger Line, as regent)
• Reuss Younger Line – Heinrich XXVII, Prince Reuss Younger Line
• Waldeck and Pyrmont – Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont

Duchies

• Duke of Anhalt – Frederick II, Duke of Anhalt
• Duke of Brunswick – Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick
• Duke of Saxe-Altenburg – Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
• Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha – Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
• Duke of Saxe-Meiningen – Bernhard III, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

Colonial Governors

• Cameroon (Kamerun) – Karl Ebermaier (2nd and final term)
• German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika) – Albert Heinrich Schnee
• German South-West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika) – Theodor Seitz to 15 July

Events

• 9 July – German forces in German South-West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika) capitulate and the territory is occupied by South Africa.
• 20 August – An auto parts, electronics and other manufacturing brand, ZF Friedrichshafen was founded, as predecessor name was Zepernicker Zahnradfabrik.

Undated

• German geophysicist Alfred Wegener publishes his theory of Pangea, which he calls Urkontinent.
• German palaeontologist Ernst Stromer publishes an article assigning the specimen to a new genus and species Spinosaurus aegyptiacus.

Births

• 22 January – Heinrich Albertz, German politician (died 1993)
• 27 January – Ernst Schröder, German actor (died 1994)
• 14 February – Georg Thomalla, German actor (died 1999)
• 21 February – Roland von Hößlin, German officer (died 1944)
• 6 March – Hans-Ulrich von Oertzen, German officer (died 1944)
• 7 March – Johannes Wiese, German pilot during World War II, a fighter ace (died 1991)
• 11 March – Karl Krolow, German poet (died 1991)
• 12 March – Reimar Horten, German aircraft pilots (died 1994)
• 13 April:
• Max Jammer, German-born Israeli physicist (died 2010)
• Stephan Hermlin, German poet (died 1997)
• 16 June – Marga Faulstich, German chemist (died 1998)
• 25 August – Georg von Boeselager, German nobleman and an officer in the Wehrmacht (died 1944)
• 26 August – Rolf Friedemann Pauls, German diplomat (died 2002)
• 28 August – Paul Schneider-Esleben, German architect (died 2005)
• 5 September – Horst Sindermann, German politician (died 1990)
• 6 September – Franz Josef Strauss, German politician (died 1988)
• 15 September – Helmut Schön, German football player and manager (died 1996)
• 9 October – Henner Henkel, German tennis champion (died 1942)
• 9 December - Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, German-British operatic soprano (died 2006)
• 13 December – Curd Jürgens, German actor (died 1982)

Deaths

• 4 January – Anton von Werner, German painter (born 1843)
• 9 April – Friedrich Loeffler, German bacteriologist (born 1852)
• 2 May – Clara Immerwahr, German chemist (born 1870)
• 10 May – Karl Gotthard Lamprecht, German historian (born 1856)
• 15 May – Oskar Frenzel, German painter (born 1855)
• 20 June – Emil Rathenau, German entrepreneur and industrialist (born 1838)
• 9 July – Carl Walther, German gunsmith (born 1858)
• 15 July – Joseph Thyssen, German industrialist (born 1844)
• 4 August – Richard Kiepert, German cartographer (born 1846)
• 20 August – Paul Ehrlich, German physician and scientist (born 1854)
• 19 September – David Friedrich Weinland, German zoologist and novelist (born 1829)
• 27 September – Kaspar von Zumbusch, German sculptor (born 1830)
• 15 October – Theodor Boveri, German biologist (born 1862)
• 4 December – Gustav Hollaender, German violinist, composer and conductor (born 1855)
• 19 December – Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist and neuropathologist (born 1864)

References