1884 in Germany

Incumbents

National level

• Kaiser – William I
• Chancellor – Otto von Bismarck

  State level

Kingdoms

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

  Grand Duchies

• 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

• Schaumburg-Lippe – Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe
• Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt – George Albert, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
• Schwarzburg-Sondershausen – 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

• Duke of Anhalt – Frederick I, Duke of Anhalt
• Duke of Brunswick – William, Duke of Brunswick to 18 October, then Duchy claimed by Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, who was excluded and a temporary council of regency was established.
• 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

  Colonial Governors

• Cameroon from 14 July – Gustav Nachtigal ' to 19 July, then Maximilian Buchner '
• German South-West Africa from 24 April – Adolf Lüderitz ' to 7 October, then Gustav Nachtigal '
• Togoland from 5 July – Gustav Nachtigal ' to 6 July October, then Heinrich Randad '

  Events

• 24 April – Territory in South West Africa is placed under German protection, becoming the first German colonial possession.
• 9 June – The construction of the Reichstag building in Berlin started.
• 5 July – German protectorate is first declared over part of Togoland.
• 14 July – Commencement of German administration in Cameroon.
• 28 October – German federal election, 1884
• 15 November – The Berlin Conference which regulates European colonisation and trade in Africa begins.

  Date unknown

• German company Glastechnisches Laboratorium Schott & Genossen was founded, later becoming Schott AG

  Science

• Germany got the second part of world's oldest national social health insurance system by legislation of Otto von Bismarck's social legislation, which included the Accicential Insurance Bill of 1884.
• Koch's postulatesare four criteria designed to establish a causative relationship between a microbe and a disease. The postulates were formulated by Robert Koch and Friedrich Loeffler in 1884.
• Paal-Knorr Synthesis was initially reported independently by German chemists Carl Paal and Ludwig Knorr as a method for the preparation of furans
• Robert Koch resided and researched at Grant Medical College in Bombay, India, where he was able to determine the causative agent of cholera, isolating Vibrio cholerae.

  Births

Deaths