German History Timeline - Important Dates & Events

Events in German History

Events 1 - 200 of 2,206

Battle of Vercellae Ends Cimbri Threat

0101-07-30 BC Battle of Vercellae: Roman army under Gaius Marius defeats the Cimbri in Cisalpine Gaul, ending the Celto-Germanic threat on Italy's border with over 100,000 Cimbri killed

• 0009-09-11 The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends after four days with a Germanic alliance defeating Roman forces and putting an end to expansion of the empire east of the Rhine

• 0089-01-01 Governor Lucius Antonius Saturninus of Germany becomes emperor of Rome
• 0476-08-28 German ruler Flavius Odoacer captures Pavia
• 0489-08-28 King of the Ostrogoths Theodoric the Great defeats Germanic King of Italy Odoacer at the Battle of Isonzo, forcing his way into Italy
• 0489-09-30 Germanic King of Italy Odoacer attacks Ostrogothic leader Theodoric the Great at the Battle of Verona and is defeated again
• 0496-12-25 King Clovis I is baptized a Roman Catholic in Reims cathedral - first Germanic king to do so, according to Henry of Tours (year disputed)

• 0842-02-14 Charles II & Louis the German sign The Oaths of Strasbourg, a pact uniting their armies in fights against their older brother Lothar
• 0843-08-10 Treaty of Verdun: Brothers Lotharius I, Louis the German & Charles the Bald divide France
• 0860-08-01 Peace of Koblenz: Charles the Bald, Louis the German & Lotharius II
• 0896-02-22 Pope Formosus crowned Arnulf King of Carinthia and Holy Roman Emperor
• 0905-07-21 Holy Roman Emperor Louis III captured, blinded, and forced to relinquish his royal Italian and imperial crowns
• 0911-11-10 Conrad I of Germany [Conrad the Younger] (30) elected as King of East Francia
• 0933-03-15 Battle of Riade: German King Henry I beats Magyars
• 0936-08-07 Otto I the Great crowned King of Germany (East Francia)
• 0955-08-10 Battle of Lechfeld: Otto I, King of the Germans defeats the Hungarian, ending 50 years of Magyar invasion of Western Europe.
• 0961-05-26 German King Otto II crowned
• 0962-02-02 Pope John XII crowns German King Otto I the Great Emperor
• 0967-12-25 John XIII crowned Otto II the Red German compassionate emperor
• 1002-06-06 German King Henry II the Saint crowned
• 1003-03-27 Peace deal signed between Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor and the pagan Wends (Slavs)
• 1014-02-14 Pope Benedict VIII crowns Henry II Holy Roman Emperor
• 1024-09-08 Duke Conrad II chosen as German king and crowned at Mainz Cathedral
• 1028-04-14 German emperor Conrad II the Sailor crowns his son Henry III, king
• 1032-09-06 Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor becomes King of Burgundy, succeeding Rudolf III
• 1037-05-28 Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II removes "Constitutio the Feudis"
• 1039-06-04 Henry III becomes Holy Roman Emperor
• 1044-07-06 The Battle of Ménfő takes place in Hungary, won by a German force led by Peter Orseolo over Hungarians

• 1064-04-30 German King Henry IV gives away Utrecht county of West Friesland
• 1075-06-09 Battle of Langensalza: German King Henry IV defeats the Duchy of Saxony on the River Unstrut near Langensalza in Thuringia
• 1076-01-24 Synod of Worms: German King Henry IV fires Pope Gregory VII
• 1076-02-14 Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (for the 1st time)
• 1077-01-21 German King Henry IV petitions Pope Gregory VII for forgiveness
• 1077-01-28 German King Henry IV is absolved by Holy Roman Emperor Pope Gregory VII and invited back to the Church after his penitent Walk to Canossa
• 1083-06-03 Henry IV of Germany storms Rome, capturing St Peter's Cathedral
• 1084-03-31 Anti-pope Clemens crowns German King Hendrik IV as Holy Roman Emperor
• 1087-05-30 German Emperor Henry IV crowns his son Conrad II, King of Germany
• 1090-07-03 Battle at Hagenoorde: German emperor beats earl Egbert II
• 1096-06-25 1st Crusade slaughter Jews of Werelinghofen, Germany
• 1099-01-06 Henry V crowned German king
• 1111-02-12 King Henry V, King of Germany and Italy, arrives in Rome for his coronation as Holy Roman Emperor, but Pope Paschal II refuses to crown him until April owing to the Investiture Controversy
• 1111-04-13 After months of controversy Pope Paschal II crowns Henry V, the King of Germany and Italy, as the Holy Roman Emperor
• 1118-04-07 Pope Gelasius II excommunicated by Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, forcing him to flee Rome and rule in exile
• 1122-09-23 Concordat of Worms agreed between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V
• 1125-08-30 Duke Lotharius of Supplinburg elected king of Germany
• 1125-09-13 Duke Lotharius of Supplinburg crowned as German king Lotharius III
• 1133-06-04 Rome-Innocentius II crowns Lotharius III Roman-German emperor
• 1138-03-07 Conrad II von Hohenstaufen re-elected German king
• 1147-10-25 Seljuk Turks defeat German crusaders under Conrad III at the Battle of Dorylaeum

Siege of Damascus

1148-07-24 The Crusaders led by Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany lay siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade (abandoned 28 July)

Emperor Frederick Barbarossa

1155-06-18 Pope Adrian IV crowns Frederick I Barbarossa Holy Roman Emperor at St Peter's Basilica, Rome

• 1178-07-30 Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa is crowned King of Burgundy
• 1189-05-11 Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and 100,000 crusaders depart Regensburg for the Third Crusade
• 1190-06-10 Third Crusade: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa drowns while crossing the Saleph River (modern Turkey) leading an army to Jerusalem

Ransom for Richard I

1194-02-04 Ransom of 100,000 pounds of silver is paid for release of Richard I, King of England, to Holy Roman Emperor Henry V

• 1194-11-20 Palermo, Sicily, is conquered by Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI
• 1194-12-25 Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI crowned King of Sicily in Palermo Cathedral
• 1198-09-05 Philips of Zwabia, Prince of Hohenstaufen, crowned King of Germany and King of the Romans
• 1208-11-11 Otto van Wittelsbach chosen German king
• 1209-10-04 Pope Innocent II crowns German king Otto of Wittelsbach
• 1210-11-18 Pope Innocent III excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV
• 1212-12-09 Frederick II (later also Holy Roman Emperor) crowned King of Germany in Mainz

Battle of Bouvines

1214-07-27 Battle of Bouvines: King Philip II of France vs Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV and King John of England; as a result John loses Normandy and his other possessions in France (hence his nickname John "Lackland")

• 1215-07-23 Frederick II is crowned King of the Romans (King of the Germans) in Aachen
• 1217-09-21 Battle of St Matthews Day: German forces defeat Estonian army and kill their leader Lembitu, during Northern Crusades to Christianize the north
• 1219-02-18 Jerusalem re-taken by the Christian Crusader kingdom in a peace treaty between Holy Roman Emperor Frederik II and Egyptian ruler Al-Kamil
• 1220-04-26 King of the Germans Frederick II grants bishops sovereign rights
• 1220-11-22 Frederick II crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome by Pope Honorius III
• 1227-09-29 Pope Gregory IX excommunicate German emperor Frederik II
• 1230-07-27 Treaty of San Germano between Emperor Frederik II & Pope Gregory IX
• 1237-11-27 Battle of Cortenuova: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II defeats the Second Lombard League
• 1241-04-09 Battle of Liegnitz - Mongolian armies inflict one of the largest defeats in Polish history on Polish and Germans force led by Henry of Silesia with 20-25,000 killed or massacred, including Henry
• 1241-05-25 1st attack on Jewish community of Frankfurt am Main, Germany
• 1247-10-03 William II of Holland elected Roman Catholic anti-king of Germany
• 1248-11-01 Earl William II of Holland crowned as King of Germany
• 1264-08-05 Anti-Jewish riots break out in Arnstadt Germany
• 1268-10-29 Conradin, the last legitimate male heir of the German Hohenstaufen dynasty of Kings and Holy Roman Emperors, is executed with Frederick I, Margrave of Baden by Charles I of Sicily
• 1273-10-01 Count Rudolf van Habsburg becomes the first King of the Germans
• 1285-10-12 180 Jews burn to death as synagogue in which they are hiding set ablaze by mob of Christians in retribution for alleged crime of "blood libel", ritualistic bloodletting from a kidnapped child, in Munich, Duchy of Upper Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire
• 1298-06-23 Adolf of Nassau deposed as King of Germany
• 1298-06-25 Rindfleisch Persecutions, 250 Jews killed in Rothenburg, Germany
• 1298-07-02 Battle of Gollheim between warring German kings Albert I of Habsburg and Adolf of Nassau results in Adolf's defeat and death
• 1298-07-23 Rindfleisch ("Beef") Persecutions - Jewish community in Wurzburg, Germany massacred
• 1298-07-27 Albert I of Habsburg is proclaimed King of the Germans after the defeat and death of King Adolf of Nassau at the Battle of Göllheim
• 1298-08-24 Albert I of Habsburg is crowned King of Germany at Aachen cathedral
• 1298-10-19 Rindfleisch Persecutions -140 Jews of Heilbron, Germany are murdered
• 1307-01-18 German king Albert I makes his son Rudolf II King of Bohemia
• 1308-05-01 Albert I, King of Germany, is assassinated by his nephew John of Swabia [the Parricide], for cutting John out of his right to inherit
• 1310-08-31 German king Heinrich VII makes his son Johan king of Bohemia
• 1328-05-12 Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV and assembly of priests select Pietro Rainalducc as anti-Pope Nicolas V; consecrated in Rome by the Bishop of Venice
• 1346-04-13 Pope Clemens VI declares German emperor Louis of Bavaria, envoy
• 1347-07-11 Heir to the Bohemian throne elected German anti-king Charles IV
• 1349-01-30 Black Death Massacre: Jews (except pregnant women and children) are burnt to death on suspicion of poisoning the community during the Bubonic Plague, in Freiburg im Breisgau, Strasbourg; part of a wave of pogroms across Western Europe
• 1349-01-30 Gunther of Schwarzburg chosen German anti-king

Black Death Riots

1349-03-21 Black Death Massacre: Between 100 and 3,000 Jews are killed in Black Death riots in Erfurt, Germany; part of a wave of pogroms across Western Europe

• 1349-03-22 Black Death Massacre: Townspeople of Fulda, Landgraviate of Hesse massacre Jews, blaming them for the Black Death; part of a wave of pogroms across Western Europe
• 1349-04-30 Black Death Massacre: Jewish community of Radolfzell, Germany, exterminated
• 1349-08-24 Black Death Massacre: Jews of Free Imperial City of Cologne set themselves on fire to avoid forced baptism into Christianity amidst Bubonic Plague accusations; part of a wave of pogroms across Western Europe
• 1349-09-10 Black Death Massacre: Jews who survived Black Death riots in Constance. Prince-Bishopric of Constance, Holy Roman Empire are burned to death; part of a wave of pogroms across Western Europe
• 1349-11-29 Black Death Massacre: Jews of Free Imperial City of Augsburg massacred amidst accusations of them causing the Bubonic Plague; part of a wave of pogroms across Western Europe
• 1356-01-10 German Emperor Charles I promulgates the 'Golden Bull', to regulate the election of a new king - the most important constitutional document of the Holy Roman Empire
• 1357-07-09 Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor assists laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague
• 1362-01-16 A great storm tide in the North Sea destroys the German island of Strand and the city of Rungholt
• 1370-02-17 Battle at Rudau: Germany beats Lithuania

• 1377-06-30 Foundation stone laid for Ulm Minster, in Ulm, Germany. Will not be completed until 1890, when it becomes the tallest church in the world.
• 1415-05-29 Pope John XXIII [Baldassare Cossa] formally deposed as Pope at the Conference of Constance, Germany, after he had fled the town in disguise
• 1415-07-06 Bohemian religious reformer Jan Hus is burned at the stake in Constance, Germany
• 1430-05-05 Jews are expelled from Speyer, Germany
• 1431-08-14 Battle of Domažlice: German imperial army takes flight and flees after hearing the Hussites sing their battle chorale - part of the Hussite crusades [1]
• 1436-07-05 German emperor Sigismund signs peace with Hussieten
• 1438-03-18 Albert II of Habsburg chosen as King of Germany at Frankfurt
• 1466-10-19 The Thirteen Years' War ends with the Second Peace of Thorn, Germany
• 1485-06-01 Matthias of Hungary takes Vienna from Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III

German Beer Purity Law

1487-11-30 The first German Beer Purity Law (Reinheitsgebot), is promulgated in Munich by Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria stating beer should be brewed from only three ingredients – water, malt and hops

• 1492-05-15 Cheese & Bread rebellion: German mercenaries kill 232 residents of Alkmaar, Netherlands
• 1492-10-24 24 Jews are burned at the stake in Mecklenburg, Germany
• 1493-12-23 Georg Alt's German translation of Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle is published
• 1498-02-14 Treaty of Dordrecht establishes an anti-French alliance between Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and King Henry VII of England
• 1498-07-20 Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I names Albert III, Duke of Saxony the Governor of Friesland
• 1500-02-17 Battle of Hemmingstedt - German peasant army repels ducal army of Schleswig and Holstein

• 1513-09-23 English King Henry VIII and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I conquer Tournai, Belgium
• 1516-04-23 Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria endorses "The German Beer Purity Law" (Reinheitsgebot) and adds to it standards for the sale of beer in Bavaria, ensuring beer is only brewed from three ingredients – water, barley, and hops

Diet of Worms

1521-01-28 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms in Worms, Germany which lasts until May 25. Produced the "Edict of Worms" which denounced Martin Luther.

• 1521-10-25 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V bans wooden buildings in Amsterdam and decrees new building have to be built from stone
• 1521-11-19 Battle at Milan: Emperor Charles V's pontifical, Spanish and German troops beat French forces and occupy Milan

Luther's Invocavit Sermons

1522-03-09 Martin Luther begins preaching his "Invocavit Sermons" in the German city of Wittenberg, reminding citizens to trust God's word rather than violence and thus helping bring to a close the revolutionary stage of the Reformation

• 1522-05-25 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V returns to Spain
• 1524-07-15 Emperor Charles I bans German national synode
• 1524-07-19 Peasants' War begins in Germany's Black Forest
• 1525-02-24 Battle of Pavia: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's troops defeat the French killing or wounded 5,000 and capturing French King Francis I
• 1525-05-15 The battle of Frankenhausen: German peasant army surrounded, 5,000 slaughtered ; ends the peasants' uprising
• 1525-07-19 Catholic German monarchy form Union of Dessau
• 1526-05-02 German evangelical monarchy joins the Schmalkaldic League
• 1526-06-25 Diet of Speyer convenes, resulting in the Edict of Speyer, which temporarily suspends the 1521 Edict of Worms (a Papal ban on Luther's teachings); allows Lutheranism and other "reforms" to propagate unimpeded throughout Germany
• 1527-04-30 Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France sign the Treaty of Westminster, pledging to combine their forces against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in attempt to win War of the League of Cognac

Sack of Rome

1527-05-06 Spanish and German Imperial troops sack Rome, ending the Renaissance. Charles III, Duke of Bourbon is killed in the assault removing any restraint for the victorious soldiers.

• 1527-05-30 University of Marburg (Germany) founded
• 1528-10-20 Treaty of Gorinchem signed between Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Duke Charles of Guelders

Treaty of Barcelona

1529-06-29 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Pope Clement VII sign the Treaty of Barcelona to bring peace to Italy and to repel Turkish advances

• 1530-04-08 Holy Roman Emperor convenes Imperial Diet in German city of Augsburg to address Protestant tensions
• 1530-06-20 Diet Augsburg inaugurated by Emperor Charles V to address Ottoman threat and rising Protestant tensions
• 1530-06-25 The Augsburg Confession: German Protestant princes force Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to hear their Confession of Faith (statement of Lutheran theology)
• 1531-02-27 Evangelical German towns form Schmalkaldische Union
• 1531-05-31 Dutch Catholic activist Engel Korsendochter leads a march of 300 women from the Guild of the Holy Sacrament protesting plans to replace a treasured chapel with a wool warehouse in Amsterdam; they are charged with rebellion, fined, and banished for 4 years - most were pardoned upon appeal to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
• 1531-06-09 Pope Clement VII and French King Francis I sign secret treaty against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
• 1532-06-23 Treaty of Closer Amity With France / Pommeraye Treaty signed between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
• 1534-01-27 French King Francis I signs classified treaty with Landgrave of Hesse
• 1534-05-12 German Duchy of Wurttemberg becomes Lutheran under Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg
• 1536-02-18 Francis I, King of France and Suleiman I of the Ottoman Empire sign military and trade agreement against King Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
• 1537-09-24 Catholic uprising in the Free and Hanseatic City of Lübeck (now Germany) fails
• 1538-06-10 Catholic German monarchy signs League of Neuremberg, in response to the formation of the Protestant Schmalkaldic League
• 1538-06-18 Truce of Nice signed between Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and French King Francis I ending the Italian War of 1536-38
• 1539-04-19 Charles, protestant German monarch, signs Treaty of Frankrfurt
• 1543-02-11 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and English King Henry VIII sign anti-French covenant
• 1543-09-12 Treaty of Venlo signed by William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg giving up the Duchy of Guelders, to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
• 1544-08-17 French city of Saint-Dizier seized by Imperial army of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V during Italian War (1842-46)
• 1545-03-24 German Parliament opens in Worms
• 1547-05-16 Protestant German monarch surrenders to Karel in Wittenberg
• 1547-06-23 Champion of the Protestant Reformation, Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse is captured and taken to south Germany
• 1547-09-01 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V demands creation of an Imperial League (German state)
• 1552-01-15 France signs secret treaty with German Protestants
• 1555-10-21 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V makes Erard of Pallandt, Lord of Culemborg
• 1555-10-25 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V publicly abdicates his roles as Lord of the Netherlands and Duke of Burgundy in favor of his son Philip II of Spain

Treaty of Vaucelles

1556-02-05 King Henry II of France and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V sign the Treaty of Vaucelles, creating a temporary truce in the Italian War of 1551–59

• 1556-08-27 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V abdicates in favor of his brother Ferdinand I

Paul IV Snubs Ferdinand I

1556-09-09 Pope Paul IV refuses to crown Ferdinand I of Austria Holy Roman Emperor

• 1558-05-03 Ferdinand I officially appointed Holy Roman Emperor after his brother Charles abdicated in 1556

• 1568-02-17 Treaty of Adrianople of 1568: Representatives of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II and Ottoman Sultan Selim II agree to a peace plan ending the war between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire; Maximilian agrees to provide a cash "present" and ruling authority is granted to the Ottomans in Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wallachia
• 1570-08-16 Treaty of Speyer establishing Principality of Transylvania signed by King of Hungary John Sigismund Zápolyai and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II
• 1571-01-11 Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II grants Austrian nobility freedom of religion

Kepler Calculates his Conception

1571-05-16 German astronomer Johannes Kepler, by his own calculations, is conceived at 4:37 AM

• 1576-10-12 Rudolf II succeeds Maximilian II as Holy Roman Emperor
• 1577-07-24 Spanish army/German mercenaries conquer Namur
• 1593-03-25 Recantation of Loos, Dutch scholar Coinelius Loos recants his earlier written protest against witchcraft persecution in Trier, Germany before officials in Brussels
• 1596-08-03 German astronomer and priest David Fabricius discovers the light variation of Mira (1st variable star)
• 1596-10-24 -26] Battle at Kerestes: Ottoman beat Austria-Hungary & Germany
• 1597-08-11 Germany throws out English sales people

Hanze Steelyard Repossessed

1598-08-04 London's Lord Mayor repossesses the Steelyard from the Hanze (German Hanseatic League) on instruction from Elizabeth I [1]

• 1601-10-24 Johannes Kepler succeeds Tycho Brahe as imperial mathematician to Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II
• 1603-06-19 Merga Bien arrested for witchcraft in Fulda, Germany, part of Fulda witch trials. She and about 250 people later burned at the stake.
• 1609-07-10 Catholic German monarchy forms Catholic League

Marius Discovers Jupiter’s Moons

1610-01-08 German astronomer Simon Marius independently discovers the first three moons of Jupiter one day after Galileo

• 1612-12-15 German Astronomer Simon Marius is 1st to observe Andromeda galaxy through a telescope
• 1614-09-01 Vincent Fettmich expels Jews from Frankfurt-on-Main, Germany
• 1618-05-15 German astronomer Johannes Kepler discovers the third of his three planetary laws, the "harmonic law"

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