1981 in Germany

Events in the year 1981 in Germany.

Incumbents

13 - 24 February - 31st Berlin International Film Festival
28 February - Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981
14 June - East German general election, 1981{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ugeMgomY7hAC |title=Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe: Fourth Edition |publisher=Hoover Press |isbn=978-0-8179-7693-4 |language=en}}
1 August — Launch of the MK2 Volkswagen Polo, which makes use of a larger estate-like bodyshell, although it is still marketed as a hatchback.{{cite web |title=Vw: polo history |url=http://media.vw.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=9381 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070608171124/http://media.vw.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=9381 |archive-date=8 June 2007 |access-date=16 October 2008}}
23 September — Launch of the new Opel Ascona, which for the first time is available with a hatchback and front-wheel drive, as well as a new range of engines.
29 October — Raiders of the Lost Ark in movie theaters in Germany.
December — The Volkswagen Polo and Opel Ascona miss out on the European Car of the Year award, which instead goes to the Renault 9 from France.
Date unknown - Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt was founded, although it was not opened to the public until 1991.{{Cite web |title=Geschichte |url=https://www.mmk.art/de/about/history/ |access-date=January 30, 2020 |website=www.mmk.art}}

Date unknown - German research team led by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research (GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung) in Darmstadt bombarded a target of bismuth-209 with accelerated nuclei of chromium-54 to produce 5 atoms of the isotope bohrium-262

8 January — Mortimer von Kessel, Wehrmacht general (born 1893)
February 22 - Curtis Bernhardt, film director (born 1899)
March 5 – Gertraud Winkelvoss, German neo-Nazi politician (born 1917){{Cite book |last=Schumacher |first=Martin |url=https://kgparl.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/mdb-a-z.pdf |title=Die Volksvertretung 1946–1972 |publisher=Commission for the History of Parliamentarism and Political Parties |year=2006 |pages=1376 |language=de |trans-title=The People's Representation 1946-1972}}
March 7 - Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling, German tennis player (born 1908)
April 4 — Carl Ludwig Siegel, mathematician (born 1896)
April 20 — Hans Söhnker, actor (born 1903)
May 9 — Fritz Umgelter, television director, writer and film director (born 1922)
May 13 - Joseph-Ernst Graf Fugger von Glött, German politician (born 1895)
May 18 - Eleonore Baur, German Nazi, only woman to participate in Munich Beer Hall Putsch (born 1885)
June 4 - Fritz Steuben, German author (born 1898)
June 16 - Julius Ebbinghaus, German philosopher (born 1885)
July 5 — Helmut Gröttrup, electrical engineer (born 1916)
July 19 - Karl Steinhoff, German politician (born 1892)
August 23 - Rolf Herricht, German actor and comedian (born 1927)
October 29 - Carl Joseph Leiprecht, German bishop of Roman Catholic Church (born 1903)
November 22 - Hans Adolf Krebs, German physician and biochem (born 1900)
December 31 — Gunther Krappe, Wehrmacht officer (born 1893)