1886 in Germany

Incumbents

National level

• Kaiser – William I
• Chancellor – Otto von Bismarck

  State level

Kingdoms

• King of Bavaria – Ludwig II of Bavaria to 13 June, then Otto 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 – Prince Albert of Prussia
• 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 – Julius Freiherr von Soden '
• German East Africa – Karl Peters '
• German New Guinea – Gustav von Oertzen '; also from 10 June Georg Freiherr von Schleinitz '
• German South-West Africa – Heinrich Ernst Göring '
• Togoland – Ernst Falkenthal '
• Wituland – Gustav Denhardt

  Events

• 6 February – German chemist Clemens Winkler discovers chemical element Germanium.
• 14 November – Friedrich Soennecken files his patent for his holepunch Papierlocher für Sammelmappen.
• 15 November – Robert Bosch GmbH is founded.

  Undated

• German Friedrich Soennecken invents the ring binder in Bonn.
• Neuschwanstein Castle is completed.

  Births

• Undated – Otto Wunderlich, German landscape photographer
• 2 January – Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel German general
• 25 January – Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor and composer
• 14 February – Karl Reinhardt, German philologist
• 6 March – Fritz Goerdeler, German jurist
• 10 March – Eugen Klöpfer, German actor
• 18 March – Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, German Imperial Naval submarine captain in World War I and Kriegsmarine Rear admiral
• 27 March – Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, German architect
• 16 April – Ernst Thälmann, German politician
• 1 May – Walter Cramer, German businessman
• 2 May – Gottfried Benn, German poet and essayist
• 3 May – Kurt von Briesen, German general
• 5 June – Kurt Hahn, German educator
• 7 August – Paul Westheim, German art historian and publisher
• 15 August – Karl Korsch, German politician
• 19 August – Robert Heger, German conductor
• 20 August – Paul Tillich, Christian existentialist philosopher and Lutheran Protestant theologian
• 25 August – Johannes Stroux, German philologist and writer
• 14 September – Erich Hoepner, German general
• 20 September – Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, German crown princess
• 4 October – Erich Fellgiebel, German general
• 7 October – Kurt Schmitt, German economic leader and the Reich Economy Minister
• 15 October – Rudolf von Marogna-Redwitz, German colonel
• 26 October – Hanns Braun, German athlete
• 6 November – Gus Kahn, German-American songwriter
• 7 November – Reinhold Schünzel, German actor
• 28 November – Cornelius van Oyen, German sport shooter
• 25 December:
• * Gotthard Heinrici, German general
• * Franz Rosenzweig, German theologian and philosopher

  Deaths

• 9 April – Joseph Victor von Scheffel, German poet and novelist
• 23 May – Leopold von Ranke, German historian
• 13 June – Ludwig II, King of Bavaria
• 31 July – Franz Liszt, Alleged Symphonic Lich)