1950 in Germany

Last updated December 14, 2025

Events in the year 1950 in West Germany and East Germany .

Incumbents

West Germany

President – Theodor Heuss
Chancellor – Konrad Adenauer

East Germany

First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party – Walter Ulbricht
President – Wilhelm Pieck
Minister-President – Otto Grotewohl

Events

April 30 - The last Ration stamps (for sugar) expire in West Germany; In the GDR, food stamps were still in use until 1958.
June 5 - German broadcaster ARD started.
July 6 - Treaty of Zgorzelec was signed between the Republic of Poland and East Germany (GDR).
July 19 - The Central Council of Jews in Germany is founded.
August 5 - Publication of the Charter of German Expellees.
September 7 - Schwarzwaldmädel, the first German color film after the end of the war, premieres in Stuttgart. It ushers in an era of local film in West Germany.
September 19 - At the conference of foreign ministers of the three Western powers in New York, the federal government in Bonn was recognized as the only “free and legally constituted” government in Germany.
October 5-9 - Himmerod memorandum
October 19 - East German general election, 1950

Births

January 9 - Rio Reiser, singer (died 1996)
January 21 - Marion Becker, athlete
January 22 - Werner Schulz, politician (died 2022)
January 27 - Ulrich Deppendorf, journalist
January 30 - Reinhold Kauder, canoeist
February 2 - Barbara Sukowa, actress
February 8 - Manfred Milinski, biologist
March 6 - Felix Genn, German bishop of Roman Catholic Church
March 12 – Traudl Treichl, German alpine skier
March 22 - Hugo Egon Balder, actor and comedian
March 22 - Herman Weigel, German film producer
April 25 - Peter Hintze, German politician (died 2016)
April 30 - Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt, German judge
May 12 - Renate Stecher, athlete
May 16 - Georg Bednorz, physicist
May 18 - Thomas Gottschalk, actor and television presenter
May 26 - Werner Bergmann, sociologist
May 31 - Christine Kurzhals, politician (died 1998)^[1]
June 15 - Heidi Schüller, long jumper
June 16 - Klaus Lage, singer
June 21 - Ferdinand Kirchhof, judge
June 20 - Gudrun Landgrebe, actress
July 7 - Gerda Hasselfeldt, politician
July 27- David Storl, track and field athlete who specialises in the shot put
August 5 - Rosi Mittermaier, alpine ski racer (died 2023)
August 12 – Iris Berben, actress
September 2 - Michael Rother, musician
September 23 - Dietmar Lorenz, judoka
October 13 - Annegret Richter, athlete
October 28 - Annette Humpe, singer
November 10 - Bernd-Ulrich Hergemöller, historian
November 17 - Roland Matthes, swimmer
November 28 - Hans Fassnacht, swimmer

Deaths

8 February - Arthur Kampf, German painter (born 1864)
9 February - Franz Justus Rarkowski, German bishop of Roman-Catholic Church (born 1873)
12 February — Max Beckmann, German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor and writer (born 1884)
3 March - Eugen Klöpfer, German actor (born 1886)
11 March - Heinrich Mann, German writer (born 1871)
3 April - Kurt Weill, German composer (born 1900)^[2]
22 April - Günther Rüdel, German general (born 1883)
27 April — Karl Straube, German organist (born 1873)^[3]
2 May — Paul Eugen Sieg, physicist and writer (born 1899)
3 May — August Marahrens, German Protestant bishop who served as Landesbischof of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover (born 1875)
29 May — Wilhelm Bendow, German actor (born 1884)
29 June — Melitta Bentz, German inventor and entrepreneur (born 1873)
1 September - Fritz Kampers, German actor (born 1891)
10 October - Josef Straßberger, German weightlifter (born 1894)
1 November - Heinrich Tessenow, German architect (born 1876)
2 November - Kurt Schmitt, German economic leader and the Reich Economy Minister (born 1886)
8 November — Carl Wilhelm Erich Zimmer, German zoologist (born (1873)
30 November - Werner Haase, German surgeon (born 1900)
21 December - Konrad von Preysing, German prelate of Roman-Catholic Church (born 1880)
27 December — Max Beckmann, German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor and writer (born 1884)

References

↑ "Biographie des MdB Christine Kurzhals, SPD" [Biography of MP Christine Kurzhals, SPD]. Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 2025-06-04.
↑ Mercado, Mario R. (1989). Kurt Weill: A Guide to His Works. Kurt Weill Foundation for Music.
↑ Biographie, Deutsche. "Straube, Karl - Deutsche Biographie". www.deutsche-biographie.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-08-30.

This German history article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This year in Europe article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Biographie des MdB Christine Kurzhals, SPD" [Biography of MP Christine Kurzhals, SPD]. Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 2025-06-04.

[2] Mercado, Mario R. (1989). Kurt Weill: A Guide to His Works. Kurt Weill Foundation for Music.

[3] Biographie, Deutsche. "Straube, Karl - Deutsche Biographie". www.deutsche-biographie.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-08-30.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Years in Germany (1871–present)
19th century	Pre-1871 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900
20th century	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
21st century	2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025