1981 in Germany

← 1980 1979 1978 1981 in Germany → 1982 1983 1984
Decades:	1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
See also:	Other events of 1981 History of Germany  • Timeline  • Years

Events in the year 1981 in Germany.

Incumbents

• President – Karl Carstens
• Chancellor – Helmut Schmidt

Events

• 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.
• 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.
• December - The Volkswagen Polo and Opel Ascona surprisingly miss out on the European Car of the Year award, which instead goes to the Renault 9 from France.

Births

• February 23 - Jan Böhmermann, German television presenter
• May 21 - Maximilian Mutzke, German drummer and singer.
• August 4 - Florian Silbereisen, German singer.
• August 22 - Christina Obergföll, German athlete.

Deaths

• April 4 - Carl Ludwig Siegel, mathematician (born 1896)
• April 20 - Hans Söhnker, film actor (born 1903)
• July 5 - Helmut Gröttrup, electrical engineer (born 1916)