---
title: "Which came first, Germany or Nintendo?"
description: "Germany vs Nintendo: Germany came first, by 18 years — 1871 against 1889. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/germany-vs-nintendo/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Germany or Nintendo?

**Which came first, Germany or Nintendo?: Germany**

1871 — 18 years before Nintendo

Germany came first, by 18 years. The German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles.

## Side by side

|  | Germany | Nintendo |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1871 | 1889 |
| Date | 1871-01-18 | 1889-09-23 |
| Category | country | company |
| What happened | The German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles. | Fusajiro Yamauchi began making hanafuda playing cards in Kyoto. |

## Germany

Germany as a unified state dates from 1871, which makes it younger than the United States, Canada, Italy and the bicycle. It then ceased to exist as a single state in 1949 and was reunified on 3 October 1990, so the current Federal Republic in its present borders is younger than the personal computer. Nintendo, founded in 1889, is older than most people's mental image of Germany allows.

## Nintendo

Nintendo was founded in 1889 to make handmade hanafuda cards, and it was a playing-card company for about eighty years. It is older than the Ford Motor Company (1903), older than the aeroplane, older than the Eiffel Tower by five months, and older than the modern Olympic Games. Before settling on video games in the 1970s it tried taxis, instant rice and a chain of love hotels.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Germany or Nintendo?

Germany, by 18 years — 1871 against 1889.

### When did Germany start?

1871. The German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles.

### When did Nintendo start?

1889. Fusajiro Yamauchi began making hanafuda playing cards in Kyoto.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]