1886 in Germany
overview of Germany-related events during the year of 1886
Events in the year 1886 in Germany.
Incumbents
National level
Emperor – William I
Chancellor – Otto von Bismarck
State level
Kingdoms
King of Bavaria – Ludwig II to 13 June, then Otto
King of Prussia – William I
King of Saxony – Albert
King of Württemberg – Charles
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 (regent)
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 (Kamerun) – Julius Freiherr von Soden (1st term)
German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika) – Karl Peters (administrator)
German New Guinea (Deutsch-Neuguinea) – Gustav von Oertzen (commissioner); also from 10 June Georg Freiherr von Schleinitz (Landeshauptleute of the German New Guinea Company)
German South-West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika) – Heinrich Ernst Göring (acting commissioner)
Togoland – Ernst Falkenthal (commissioner)
Wituland (Deutsch-Witu) – Gustav Denhardt (resident)
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.
The public source identifies “1886 in Germany” as overview of Germany-related events during the year of 1886. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Germany, overview and Germany-related.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16149856. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1886.
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This entry incorporates text from “1886 in Germany” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.