1909 in Germany
Events in the year 1909 in Germany.
Incumbents
National level
- Emperor – Wilhelm II
- Chancellor – Bernhard von Bülow until 14 July, then Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg
State level
Kingdoms
- King of Bavaria – Otto
- King of Prussia – Wilhelm II
- King of Saxony – Frederick Augustus III
- King of Württemberg – William II
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 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
- Bavaria 09 Berlin, German association football club founded.
- 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, German tennis player
- 12 July – Fritz Leonhardt, German structural engineer
- 22 July – Franz-Josef Röder, politician
- 9 August – Adam von Trott zu Solz, German diplomat
- 13 August – Otto (entrepreneur)|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
- 1 December – Hans-Heinrich Sievert, German decathlete
- 2 December – Marion Dönhoff, German journalist
- 3 December – Charlotte Kretschmann, German supercentenarian
- 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