1904 in Germany

Events in the year 1904 in Germany.

Incumbents

National level

Emperor – Wilhelm II
Chancellor – Bernhard von Bülow

State level

Kingdoms

King of Bavaria – King of Bavaria|Otto]
King of Prussia – Wilhelm II
King of Saxony – George to 15 October then Frederick Augustus III
King of Württemberg – William II

Grand duchies

Principalities

Duchies

Duke of Anhalt – Frederick I, Duke of Anhalt to 24 January, then Frederick II, Duke of Anhalt
Duke of Brunswick – Prince [Albert of Prussia (1837–1906)|Prince Albert of Prussia]
Duke of Saxe–Altenburg – Ernst I, 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 – Jesko von Puttkamer ' to 9 May, then Otto Gleim '
Kiaochow – Oskar von Truppel
German East Africa – Gustav Adolf von Götzen
German New Guinea – Albert Hahl ''
German Samoa – Wilhelm Solf
German South–West Africa – Theodor Leutwein
Togoland – Waldemar Horn

Events

12 January – The Herero of Deutsch–Südwestafrika, under the leadership of Samuel Maharero, rise against German colonial rule. The rising marks the beginning of what has become known as the Herero and Namaqua Genocide.
January 16 – Rosa Luxemburg is sentenced to 3 months in prison for lese majeste.
3 March – Kaiser Wilhelm II becomes the first person to make a political recording of a document, using Thomas Edison's cylinder.
April - The German Imperial Navy introduces SOS as a distress signal.
11 August – The German Imperial Army, under Lothar von Trotha, defeat the Herero tribesmen at the Battle of Waterberg.

Architecture

The Prussian House of Lords is rebuilt.
The Kaiserbrücke in Mainz is completed.
Publisher Pier Verlag established in Munich.

Arts

January – Süddeutsche Monatshefte begins publication.
Max Beckmann, Hans Purrmann, and Alexej von Jawlensky are added to the Berlin Secession group of artists.
Leopold Graf von Kalckreuth paints a series of three portraits depicting socialite Marianne Lichtwark.

Commerce

September – Stationery manufacturer Herlitz established in Berlin.
Accumulatoren–Fabrik AFA establishes its battery making subsidiary VARTA in Hagen.

Diplomacy

8 April – The Convention of Istanbul, signed by a number of powers including Germany in 1888, came into force.

Science

Foundation of the German Journal for Evidence and Quality in Healthcare.

Sport

Association football

16 April – FC Einigkeit Braunschweig established.
4 May – FC Schalke 04 established.
21 May – The International Federation of Association Football, FIFA, is established with Germany as a founder member.
13 June – Westfalia Herne established.
1 July – Bayer 04 Leverkusen established.
4 July – Borussia Fulda established.
25 July – Reinickendorfer FC West established.
29 July – Alemannia Schwäbisch Gmünd established.
4 August – FC Singen 04 established.
Date unknown – Germania Breslau, Sport Club Reuß, Fußball–Club Prussia Königsberg, Oberhausener SV and 1. Würzburger FV 04 amongst the other clubs established.

Other

1 July to 24 November – 1904 Summer Olympics take place in St. Louis, Missouri. Germany finishes second in the overall medal table with four gold medals, four silver and five bronze. The four gold medals all come in the swimming events, with two for Emil Rausch and one each for Walter Brack and Georg Zacharias.
Date unknown – The inaugural Berlin City Chess Championship is won by Horatio Caro.

Transport

November 1 – The Berlin Mexikoplatz station is opened under the name Zehlendorf–Beerenstraße.

Ships launched

Publications

Drama

Erich Mühsam – The Con Men
Frank Wedekind – ''Die Büchse der Pandora''

Non–fiction

Ernst Haeckel – ''Kunstformen der Natur''

Births

2 January – Walter Heitler, physicist
8 January – Karl Brandt, Nazi physician
9 January – Wilhelm Groth, physical chemist
14 January – Ernst Wellmann, army officer
29 January – Arnold Gehlen, German philosopher
18 February – Otto Rahn, medievalist and SS officer
22 February – Ernst Jakob Henne, racing driver
28 February – Alfred Bohrmann, astronomer
5 March – Karl Rahner, theologian
7 March – Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the RSHA
7 March – Kurt Weitzmann, art historian
10 March – Adalbert Schneider, Navy officer
11 March – Albrecht von Hagen, Resistance fighter
12 March – Adolf Arndt, politician
21 March – Karl Leonhard, psychiatrist
24 March – Hans Ertel, natural scientist
26 March – Hermann Schroeder, composer
6 April – Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany
12 April – Paul Dahlke, actor
15 April – Valentin Krempl, bobsledder
17 April – Franz Reuß, Luftwaffe general
27 April – Fritz Weitzel, SS officer
28 April – Elisabeth Schumacher, Resistance fighter
4 May – Josef Pieper, philosopher
8 May – Franz Schreiber, SS officer
23 May – Johannes Flintrop, critic of Nazism
7 June – Werner Gruner, German weapons designer
14 June – Marion Yorck von Wartenburg, jurist and Resistance fighter
20 June – Heinrich von Brentano, politician
9 July – Ernst Küppers, swimmer
14 July – Hans von Herwarth, diplomat
15 July – Rudolf Arnheim, film theorist
2 August – Werner Seelenbinder, wrestler and communist
9 August – Hasso von Boehmer, Army officer
10 August – Karl Helling, chess master
16 August – Klaus von Pape, Nazi 'martyr'
24 August – Ludwig Schmidseder, composer and pianist
29 August – Werner Forssmann, physician and Nobel Prize in Medicine laureate
30 August – Friedrich von Mellenthin, Army general
1 September – Karl Ernst, Sturmabteilung leader
8 September – Karl Hessenberg, mathematician
14 September
* Walter Meyer, rower
* Richard Mohaupt, German composer and kapellmeister
21 October – Basilea Schlink, founder and leader of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary
23 October – Maximilien de Furstenberg, Roman Catholic cardinal
12 November – Edmund Veesenmayer, Nazi politician
13 November – Günter Reimann, communist activist
13 November – Peter Yorck von Wartenburg, jurist and Resistance fighter
26 November – Bernhard Krüger, SS officer
11 December – Felix Nussbaum, surrealist painter
Date unknown – Heinz Kloss, linguist
Date unknown – Wolfgang Stresemann, orchestra leader

Deaths

4 January – Friedrich Jolly, neurologist
5 January – Karl Alfred von Zittel, palaeontologist
6 January – Friedrich von Hefner-Alteneck, electrical engineer
10 January – Christian August Friedrich Garcke, botanist
20 January – Albert von Maybach, railway manager
24 January – Frederick I, Duke of Anhalt, nobleman
24 February – Ernst von Prittwitz und Gaffron, Prussian general
5 March – Alfred von Waldersee, Field Marshal
22 March – Karl Moritz Schumann, botanist
1 April – Otto von Böhtlingk, Indologist
6 May – Franz von Lenbach, painter
21 May – Duke Paul [Frederick of Mecklenburg (1882–1904)|Duke Paul Frederick] of Mecklenburg, nobleman
24 May – Duchess Maria Isabella of Württemberg, noblewoman
30 May – Frederick William, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg–Strelitz, nobleman
5 July – Franz Martin Hilgendorf, zoologist
4 August – Christoph von Sigwart, philosopher
5 August – Karl Weigert, pathologist
9 August – Friedrich Ratzel, geographer
26 August – Franz Riegel, internist
3 September – Heinrich Koebner, dermatologist
18 September – Herbert von Bismarck, politician
26 September – Ernest II, Count of Lippe–Biesterfeld, nobleman, regent of the Principality of Lippe
8 October – Clemens Winkler, chemist who discovered germanium
15 October – George, King of Saxony
29 October – Emil Schlagintweit, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism
10 November – Alphons Stübel, geologist and vulcanologist
19 November – Hans von Hopfen, writer
2 December – Prince Frederick of Hohenzollern–Sigmaringen, nobleman
20 December – Alexandrine of Baden (1820–1904), noblewoman
25 December – Guido Bodländer, chemist
Date unknown
* Gustav Kessler, trade unionist
* Eduard von Martens, zoologist
* Carl August Wilhelm Schwacke, botanist