1909 in Germany

Incumbents

National level

• Kaiser – Wilhelm II
• Chancellor – Bernhard von Bülow until 14 July, then Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg

  State level

Kingdoms

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

  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 V
• Grand Duke of Oldenburg – Frederick Augustus II
• Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach – William Ernest

  Principalities

• Schaumburg-Lippe – George, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe
• Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt – Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
• Schwarzburg-Sondershausen – Charles Gonthier, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen to 28 March, then Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg
• Principality of Lippe – Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe
• Reuss Elder Line – Heinrich XXIV, Prince Reuss of Greiz
• Reuss Younger Line – Heinrich XIV, 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 – Duke John Albert of Mecklenburg
• 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 – Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

  Colonial Governors

• Cameroon – Theodor Seitz ' to 10 February, then Wilhelm Peter Hansen ' to October, the again Theodor Seitz '
• Kiaochow – Oskar von Truppel
• German East Africa – Georg Albrecht Freiherr von Rechenberg
• German New Guinea – Albert Hahl '
• German Samoa – Wilhelm Solf
• German South-West Africa – Bruno von Schuckmann
• Togoland – Johann Nepomuk Graf Zech auf Neuhofen

  Events

• 19 December: German football club Borussia Dortmund was founded.
• Summer – German Chemists Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch first demonstrate the Haber process, the catalytic formation of ammonia from hydrogen and atmospheric nitrogen under conditions of high temperature and pressure.

  Undated

• A team under German chemist Fritz Hofmann first synthesizes synthetic rubber.
• Linde–Frank–Caro process was invented by Adolf Frank and developed with Carl von Linde and Heinrich Caro.

Births

• 4 January – Cilly Aussem, German tennis player
• 8 January – Willy Millowitsch, German actor
• 15 January – Jean Bugatti, German automobile designer
• 31 January – Yosef Burg German-born Israeli politician and rabbi
• 3 February – Kurt Petter, physician, youth leader and educational administrator
• 20 February – Heinz Erhardt, German comedian
• 19 March – Otto John, German lawyer
• 27 March – Golo Mann, German historian, essayist and writer
• 2 April – Otto Haxel, German nuclear physicist
• 23 April – Karl Klasen, German banker
• 24 April: Bernhard Grzimek German zoo director, zoologist, book author, editor, and animal conservationist in postwar West-Germany.
• Konrad Frey, German gymnast
• Werner Jacobs, German film director
• 25 April – Ludwig Martin, German lawyer
• 26 April – Marianne Hoppe, German actress
• 8 May – Paul May, German film director
• 11 May – Georg von Holtzbrinck, German publisher
• 22 May – Willi Geiger, German judge
• 25 May – Alfred Kubel, German politician
• 21 June — Helmut Möckel, youth leader and politician
• 22 June – Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort, German officer
• 4 July – Alex Seidel, German weapons manufacturer
• 7 July – Gottfried von Cramm, tennis player
• 22 July – Franz-Josef Röder, politician
• 9 August – Adam von Trott zu Solz, German diplomat
• 13 August – Werner Otto, German businessman
• 5 September – Hans Carste, German composer and conductor
• 7 September – Kurt A. Körber, German entrepreneur
• 14 October – Bernd Rosemeyer, German racing driver
• 25 October – Dieter Borsche, German actor
• 30 October – Carl Lange, German actor
• 7 November – Ezriel Carlebach, German-born Israeli journalist and publicist
• 2 December – Marion Dönhoff, German journalist
• 23 December – Joachim Werner, German archaeologist

  Deaths

• 22 January – Emil Erlenmeyer, chemist
• 2 February – Adolf Stoecker, German pastor and politician
• 26 February – Hermann Ebbinghaus, psychologist
• 24 March – Alfred Messel, German architect
• 28 March – Charles Gonthier, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, nobleman
• 30 April – Albert Langen, German publisher
• 9 May – Margarete Steiff, German seamstress and company founder
• 13 May – Heinrich Limpricht, German chemist
• 19 May - Gustav zu Bentheim-Tecklenburg, German politician
• 24 May – Georg von Neumayer, German polar explorer
• 3 June - Theodor Barth, German politician and publicis
• 8 June – Fritz Overbeck, German painter
• 3 July – Hermann Johannes Pfannenstiel, German gynecologist
• 13 October – Julius Ruthardt, German violinist and composer
• 30 October – Leopold Sonnemann, German newspaper publisher
• 16 December – Ludwig Friedländer, German philologist