1972 in Germany
Events in the year 1972 in Germany.
Incumbents
Events
- 19 February – Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1972
- 1 April – German company SAP SE is founded.
- 19 May – Three out of six bombs explode in the Axel Springer AG media company offices in Hamburg, injuring 17; the Red Army Faction claims responsibility.
- 24 May – A Red Army Faction bomb explodes in the Campbell Barracks of the U.S. Army Supreme European Command in Heidelberg, West Germany; three U.S. soldiers are killed.
- 2 June – Andreas Baader, Jan-Carl Raspe, Holger Meins and some other members of the Red Army Faction are arrested in Frankfurt am Main,after a shootout.
- 15 June – Ulrike Meinhof and Gerhard Müller of the Red Army Faction are arrested in a teacher's apartment in Langenhagen, West Germany.
- 23 June - 4 July – 22nd Berlin International Film Festival
- 30 June - 8 October – documenta 5
- 14 August – 1972 Königs Wusterhausen air disaster
- 26 August–10 September – 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
- 5 September – Munich massacre: Members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September kill two members of the Israeli Olympic team and take another nine hostage.
- 29 October – Lufthansa Flight 615 is hijacked and threats are made to be blown up if the three surviving perpetrators of the Munich massacre are not released from prison in West Germany. The demands are accepted, leading to fierce condemnation by Israel.
- 19 November – West German federal election, 1972
- 15 December – The Second Brandt cabinet led by Willy Brandt was sworn in.
- 21 December – The Basic Treaty is signed by Federal Republic of Germany and German Democratic Republic.
- Transit Agreement
- Date unknown
- *German company Fielmann is founded.
- *German company SAP AG is founded.
- *Kadir Nurman introduces a sandwich made with döner kebab meat as a fast-food item in Berlin.
Births
- 2 January – Britt Hagedorn, German television presenter
- 15 February – Michelle, German singer
- 22 February – Claudia Pechstein, German speedskater
- 10 March – Mark Waschke, German actor
- 1 April – Björn Höcke, German politician
- 4 April – Bastian Pastewka, German actor and comedian
- 9 April – Bernard Ackah, German-Ivorian mixed martial artist and comedian
- 16 April – Andreas Dittmer, German canoeist
- 10 May – Katja Seizinger, German alpine ski racer
- 23 May – Nadja Uhl, German actress
- 14 June – Matthias Ettrich, German computer scientist
- 20 June – Simon Verhoeven, German actor and film director
- 22 June – Michael Wendler, German singer
- 1 July – Steffi Nerius, German athlete
- 10 July – Christoph Hochhäusler, German film director
- 3 September – Tim Lobinger, German pole vaulter
- 18 October – Helge Braun, German politician
- 1 November – Mario Barth, German comedian
- 3 November – Hubertus Heil, German politician
- 4 December – Marc Bator, German journalist
- 16 December – Julia Klöckner, German politician
- 28 December – Florian Pronold, German politician
Deaths
- 6 January - Walther von Axthelm, German general
- 25 January - Erhard Milch, German field marshal of Luftwaffe
- 20 February — Maria Goeppert-Mayer, Germann theoretical physicist, and Nobel laureate in Physics
- 27 March — Raimund Schelcher, German actor
- 6 April — Heinrich Lübke, German politician, former President of Germany
- 26 April — Johann Reichhart, German executioner
- 14 May - Theodor Blank, German politician
- 23 June — Werner Klingler, German film director and actor
- 25 June - Günther Simon, German actor
- 2 July — Eduard Zuckmayer, German writer and playwright
- 20 July — Friedrich Flick, German entrepreneur and industrialist
- 1 August - Erwin Madelung, German physicist
- 21 August – Heinz Ziegler, German general
- 29 August — Lale Andersen, German singer
- 29 September - Max Nosseck, German film director
- 4 October — Karl Theodor Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg, German politician
- 25 November - Hans Scharoun, German architect
- 9 December - William Dieterle, German actor and film director
- 20 December - Günter Eich, German author
- 24 December - Ernst Kreuder, German writer