1926 in Germany

Events in the year 1926 in Germany.

Incumbents

National level

• President - Paul von Hindenburg (Non-partisan)

• Chancellor - Hans Luther (German People's Party) (to 12 May), Wilhelm Marx (Centre) (from 17 May)

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.
• 8 February – The Reich government under Chancellor Hans Luther unanimously decides to formally apply for Germany’s admission to the League of Nations.
• 14 February – The Nazi Party holds the Bamberg Conference in an attempt to strengthen Adolf Hitler's control over the party.
• 21 February – A major rally of the republican organization Black, Red, Gold Banner of the Reich takes place in Hamburg, with speeches by Prussian Minister-President Otto Braun and Reichstag President Paul Löbe.
• 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 (1926) is signed with the Soviet Union promising a five-year period of non-involvement if either state is attacked by a third party.
• 12 May – The Luther government falls as a result of its support for a modified imperial flag for use at the Republic's foreign missions.
• 16 May – Wilhelm Marx succeeds Luther as Chancellor although otherwise the make-up of the Cabinet is not altered.
• 20 June – A referendum on expropriating former royal properties without compensation fails due to a low voter turnout.
• 24 June – the liner Padua is launched. Other ships launched this year (all with date of launch unknown) include SS Amrum, SS Ilse L M Russ and SS Siegmund.
• 28 June – German company Daimler-Benz was founded.
• 3 July – The second NSDAP Party Congress is held in Weimar, featuring elaborate staging to promote Adolf Hitler.
• 4 July –
• The architectural collective Der Ring is founded in Berlin, with prominent members including Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
• At the Nazi Party Day held in Weimar, Adolf Hitler proclaims the SS (Schutzstaffel) as his elite organization and entrusts them with the "Blood Flag".
• 3 September – Funkturm Berlin radio tower is opened to the public.
• 10 September – Germany officially joins the League of Nations.
• 17 September – French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand and German Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann reach a mutual agreement on major foreign policy goals, including early return of the Saar Basin and Rhineland evacuation.
• 6 October – Hans von Seeckt resigns as Head of the Heeresleitung after a dispute over an unauthorized Reichswehr maneuver and tensions with Defence Minister Geßler and President Hindenburg.
• 1 November –
• Joseph Goebbels is appointed Nazi Gauleiter of Berlin.
• Franz Pfeffer von Salomon is appointed commander of the SA (Sturmabteilung) across Germany.
• 4 December – The Bauhaus is re-established in Dessau and gains state recognition as a Hochschule für Gestaltung.
• 10 December – Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann and his French counterpart Aristide Briand receive the Nobel Peace Prize for their work on the Locarno Treaties.
• 16 December – Philipp Scheidemann of the Social Democratic Party reveals that the Reichswehr is secretly working with the Soviet Red Army and anti-republican groups in Germany.
• 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.
• 6 October – Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau’s film Faust premieres at the Ufa-Palast in Berlin.
• 22 October – Frank Wedekind’s play Lulu premieres at the Schauspielhaus in Berlin.
• 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

• 2 January – Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of France (died 2020 in France)
• 3 January – W. Michael Blumenthal, German-American economist and politician
• 5 January – Walther Leisler Kiep, German politician (died 2016)
• 6 January – Walter Sedlmayr, actor (died 1990)
• 24 January – Hans-Jürgen Borchers, mathematical physicist (died 2011)
• 26 January – Kurt-Heinz Stolze, pianist (died 1970)
• 28 January – Meier Schwarz, Israeli plant physiologist (died 2022 in Israel)
• 29 January – Ernst Träger, judge (died 2015)
• 31 January:
• Johannes Joachim Degenhardt, Archbishop of Paderborn (died 2002)
• Horst Giese, actor (died 2008)
• Rudi Kopp, cross country skier
• Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen, nobleman (died 2012)
• 2 February – Fritz Stern, German-American historian (died 2016)
• 3 February:
• Franz Islacker, footballer (died 1970)
• Hans-Jochen Vogel, politician (died 2020)
• 6 February – Elisabeth Guttenberger, Holocaust survivor and human rights activist (died 2024)
• 8 February – Sonja Ziemann, actress (died 2020)
• 11 February – Ursula Buckel, opera singer (died 2005)
• 16 February – Margot Frank, sister of Anne Frank (died 1945)
• 20 February – Adolf Bechtold, footballer (died 2012)
• 23 February – Christian Habicht, historian (died 2018)
• 11 March:
• Albrecht Dietz, German entrepreneur and scientist (died 2012)
• Heinz Kiessling, musician (died 2003)
• Peer Schmidt, actor (died 2010)
• 17 March – Siegfried Lenz, writer of novels, short stories and essays (died 2014)
• 25 March – Georg Schäfer (artist), painter and writer (died 1991)
• 26 March – Heinz Staab, German chemist (died 2012)
• 8 April:
• Jürgen Moltmann, German theologian (died 2024)
• Elisabeth Wiedemann, German actress (died 2015)
• 18 April:
• Horst Käsler, handball player (died 1987)
• Günter Meisner, actor (died 1994)
• 22 April – Harald Leipnitz, actor (died 2000)
• 26 April – Michael Mathias Prechtl, artist (died 2003)
• 8 May – David Hurst, actor (died 2019)
• 17 May – Franz Sondheimer, German-born Israeli-British chemist (died 1981)
• 19 May – Peter Zadek, film director (died 2009)
• 24 May – Rudolf Kippenhahn, astrophysicist (died 2020)
• 28 May – Gerhard Beil, politician (died 2010)
• 5 June – Johannes, 11th Prince of Thurn and Taxis, businessman (died 1990)
• 6 June – Klaus Tennstedt, conductor (died 1998)
• 14 June – Hermann Kant, writer (died 2016)
• 20 June – Hans-Dieter Lange, journalist and television presenter (died 2012)
• 21 June – Johanna Quandt, business woman (died 2015)
• 24 June – Walter Hirrlinger, German politician (died 2018)
• 22 June – Elyakim Haetzni, Israeli lawyer and politician (died 2022)
• 1 July:
• Carl Hahn, businessman (died 2023)
• Hans Werner Henze, composer (died 2012)
• 2 July – Berthold Wulf, priest (died 2012)
• 4 July – Wolfgang Seidel, racing driver (died 1987)
• 12 July – Oswald Mathias Ungers, architect (died 2007)
• 15 July – Hans Frankenthal, writer and Holocaust survivor (died 1999)
• 16 July – Stef Wertheimer, German-born Israeli entrepreneur and industrialist (died 2025)
• 24 July – Hans Günter Winkler, showjumper (died 2018)
• 25 July – August Lütke-Westhüs, equestrian (died 2000)
• 1 August – Theo Adam, opera singer (died 2019)
• 6 August – Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse (died 2013)
• 9 August – Gustav Schmidt, sprint canoer (died 2016)
• 21 August – Ben-Zion Orgad, (German-born) Israeli composer (died 2006)
• 27 August – Karl-Heinz Heddergott, football manager
• 30 August – Rudi Gutendorf, footballer and manager (died 2019)
• 3 September:
• Rudi Arnstadt, East German border guard (died 1962)
• Jochen Bleicken, professor of ancient history (died 2005)
• 4 September – Helmut Ringelmann, film producer (died 2011)
• 6 September – Prince Claus of the Netherlands (died 2002)
• 10 September – Gerda Munsinger, prostitute and alleged spy (died 1998)
• 17 September:
• Hermann Bausinger, cultural scientist (died 2021)
• Klaus Schütz, politician (died 2012)
• 1 October:
• Manfred Messerschmidt, historian (died 2022)
• Gerhard Stolze, opera singer (died 1979)
• 4 October – Klaus Koch, theologian (died 2019)
• 5 October – Gottfried Michael Koenig, composer (died 2021)
• 8 October – Günter Mittag, politician (died 1994)
• 14 October – Günther Schwarberg, journalist (died 2008)
• 15 October – Karl Richter, conductor (died 1981)
• 18 October – Klaus Kinski, actor (died 1991)
• 19 October – Udo Schaefer, Baháʼí author (died 2019)
• 20 October – Ursula Happe, swimmer
• 21 October – Leo Kirch, media entrepreneur (died 2011)
• 26 October – Bernhard Klodt, footballer (died 1996)
• 30 October – Dieter Zechlin, pianist (died 2012)
• 1 November – Günter de Bruyn, writer (died 2020)
• 11 November – Werner Schmieder, politician
• 15 November:
• Alfred Biehle, politician (died 2014)
• Manfred Müller, German bishop or Roman Catholic Church (died 2015)
• Helmut Fischer, actor (died 1997)
• 26 November:
• Peter van Pels, German-Dutch boyfriend of Anne Frank (died 1945)
• Ralf Wolter, actor
• 28 November – Eberhard von Brauchitsch, industrialist (died 2010)
• 9 December – Erhard Eppler, politician and businessman (died 2019)
• 10 December – Jacob Birnbaum, Jewish activist (died 2014)
• 16 December – Alfred Koerppen, musician (died 2022)
• 19 December – Hans Henn, bobsledder
• 20 December – Otto Graf Lambsdorff, politician (died 2019)
• 21 December – Herbert Ehrenberg, politician (died 2018)
• 23 December – Heinz Graffunder, architect (died 1994)

Deaths

• 2 February – Karl von Weizsäcker, politician (born 1853)
• 4 January – Franz Stockhausen, conductor (born 1839)
• 7 January – Paul Cassirer, art dealer (born 1871)
• 29 January – Wilhelm Heitmüller, theologian (born 1869)
• 5 February – Gustav Eberlein, sculptor and painter (born 1847)
• 6 February – Wolf Wilhelm Friedrich von Baudissin, theologian (born 1847)
• 11 February – Friedrich Wilhelm Kuhnert, painter (born 1865)
• 13 February – Friedrich Krafft Graf von Crailsheim, German politician (born 1841)
• 20 February – Georg Friedrich Knapp, economist (born 1842)
• 28 February – Gustav Otto, aircraft engineer (born 1883)
• 7 March – Paul Matschie, zoologist (born 1861)
• 24 March – Sizzo, Prince of Schwarzburg, nobleman (born 1860)
• 26 March – Constantin Fehrenbach, politician (born 1852)
• 4 April – August Thyssen, industrialist (born 1842)
• 21 May – Friedrich Kluge, lexicographer (born 1856)
• 23 May – Hans von Koessler, composer (born 1853)
• 3 June – Rudolf Oeser, politician (born 1858)
• 5 June – Richard Wolffenstein, chemist (born 1864)
• 22 July – Otto Wilhelm Madelung, surgeon (born 1846)
• 23 July – Kurt Wüsthoff, fighter pilot (born 1897)
• 5 September – Karl Harrer, journalist and politician (born 1890)
• 15 September – Rudolf Christoph Eucken, philosopher (born 1846)
• 7 October – Emil Kraepelin, psychiatrist (born 1856)
• 9 October – Josias von Heeringen, Army general (born 1850)
• 15 October – Mathilde Bauermeister, opera singer (born 1849)
• 17 October – Otto Heubner, internist and pediatrician (born 1843)
• 26 November – Fritz Cassirer, conductor (born 1871)
• 2 December – Karl Joseph Eberth, pathologist (born 1835)
• 11 December – Carl Magnus von Hell, chemist (born 1849)

References