August 5, 1889 Death of Fanny Lewald in Dresden, Germany. Lewald was a writer of popular novels. Among her novels are Die Familie Darner (1888), Geschlecht zu Geschlecht (8 vols. 1863-1865), and Diogena (1847). August 5, 1895 Death of Friedrich Engels in London (born in Barmen, Germany). Engels was the son of a wealthy industrialist who … [Read more...]

August 4, 1905 Death of Walther Flemming in Sachenberg, Germany. An anatomist, Flemming founded the science of cytogenetics. He taught at the University of Kiel. He discovered mitosis which he explained in Zell-substanz, Kern und Zelltheilung (1882). August 4, 1914 Britain declares war on Germany (WWI). Britain had made a pledge to honor … [Read more...]

August 3, 1872 Death of Karl August Devrient in Hannover, Germany. Devrient was a heroic actor who achieved fame on the stage of Hannover. Some of his noted roles include Faust, King Lear and Wallenstein. August 3, 1902 Birth of Martin Noth in Dresden, Germany. A biblical scholar, Noth was an expert in the early history of the Jews. Noth … [Read more...]

August 2, 1934 Paul von Hindenburg dies in Neudeck, Germany (now in Poland). Von Hindenburg had been a general and became the President of the Weimar Republic (Germany from the end of WWI to the rise of Hitler). Hindenburg became president in 1925 upon the death of the first president of the Republic, Friedrich Ebert. In 1933 he appointed Hitler … [Read more...]

August 1, 1889 Birth of Walther Gerlach in Biebrich am Rhein, Germany. Gerlach was a professor of physics at the University of Tübingen and Munich. He did substantial work on the deflection of atoms in a non-homogeneous magnetic field. August 1, 1890 Birth of Walther Eichrodt in Gernsbach, Germany. Eichrodt was a professor of theology … [Read more...]

July 31, 1527 Birth of Maximilian II in Vienna, Austria. Maximilian became Holy Roman Emperor in 1546. He tried to instill tolerance between Catholics and the new Protestants. July 31, 1800 Birth of the chemist Friedrich Wöhler in Eschersheim, Germany on July 31, 1800. It was Wöhler who discovered how to synthesize urea from an inorganic … [Read more...]

July 30, 1855 Birth of Georg Wilhelm von Siemens, a German telecommunications industrialist of the Siemens family. Known as Wilhelm von Siemens, he was a general partner of the family company Siemens. He is credited with championing the Berlin to Iraq railway system that was to be completed about 1915. The direct competition such a railway … [Read more...]

July 29, 1605 Birth of Simon Dach in Memel, Prussia (now Lithuania). Dach was one of the outstanding German Baroque poets. July 29, 1889 Birth of Ernst Reuter in Apenrade, Germany. Reuter was the Mayor of West Berlin during the time of Cold War (1948-1953). Memorable is Reuter’s speech in front of the burned-out Reichstag building on 9 … [Read more...]

July 28, 1750 Death of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) in Leipzig. He was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist of the Baroque Period. He enriched many established German styles through his skill in counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organization, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, … [Read more...]

July 27, 1881 Birth of Hans Fischer in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He was an organic chemist. His work from 1921 was almost entirely on the porphyrin group of compounds, which contain four pyrrole rings linked together. His first major success was with haemin, the red non-protein part of hemoglobin. He found the detailed structure and … [Read more...]