Events in the year 1890 in Germany.
Incumbents
National level
Kaiser – Wilhelm II
Chancellor – Otto von Bismarck to March 20, then Leo von Caprivi
State level
Kingdoms
King of Bavaria – Otto
King of Prussia – Wilhelm II
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 III
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 to 12 March, then Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Sondershausen – Karl Günther, 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) – Eugen von Zimmerer (acting governor) (2nd term) to (17 April), then Markus Graf Pfeil, to 3 August, then ... Kurz (acting governor) to December 2, then Jesko von Puttkamer (acting governor) (2nd term) German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika) – Hermann Wissmann (commissioner) (1st term) German New Guinea (Deutsch-Neuguinea) – Fritz Rose (acting commissioner to 30 September, then commissioner) German South-West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika) – Heinrich Ernst Göring (acting commissioner) to August, then Louis Nels (acting commissioner) Togoland – Eugen von Zimmerer (commissioner) Wituland (Deutsch-Witu) – Gustav Denhardt (resident) to 1 July
Events
5 February – German company Allianz is founded in Berlin. 20 February – German federal election, 1890. 20 March – Bismarck cabinet ends. 1 July — Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty. Germany receives Heligoland and the Caprivi Strip from the United Kingdom and a free hand to control and acquire the coast of Dar es Salaam. In return, Germany renounces its protectorate over Wituland (part of modern-day Kenya) and pledges not to interfere in the actions of the UK vis-à-vis the Sultanate of Zanzibar. The U.K. cedes sovereignty of the Heligoland archipelago to Germany. 16 July - German company Mannesmann is founded in Düsseldorf. August — Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Alexander III of Russia meet at Narva.
Date unknown
German physician and physiologist Emil von Behring publishes an article with Kitasato Shibasaburo reporting that they have developed "antitoxins" against both diphtheria and tetanus in Berlin.