| 1911 | Finishes grammar school and starts vocational training in commerce. Befriends Friedrich Pollock | ||
| 1914-1919 | Works in his father's factory, participates in the First World War 1917/1918 and sits for his A-levels in 1919 | ||
| 1919-1922 | Studies psychology and philosophy in Munich, Freiburg i.Br. and Frankfurt a.M. Receives his PhD in Frankfurt/Main under Hans Cornelius (1863-1947) with the title "Antinomie der teleologischen Urteislkraft". He befriends Felix Weill and Theodor W.Adorno. | ||
| 1925 | Habilitation in Frankfurt/Main. Title of thesis "Kants Kritik der Urteilskraft als Bindeglied zwischen theoretischer und praktischer Philosophie" | ||
| 1926 | Private lecturer in Frankfurt am Main. Marriage to Rosa Riekher | ||
| 1930 | Appointed professor for social philosophy | ||
| 1931 | Along with Erich Fromm and Herbert Marcuse Horkheimer he belongs to the co-founders of the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt. He becomes director in 1931 | ||
| 1932-1939 | Editor of "Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung" | ||
| 1933 | After the Institute for Social Research is closed by the National Socialists Horkheimer emigrates first to Switzerland | ||
| 1934 | Emigration to the US; here Horkheimer sets up again the Institute for Social Research at the Columbia University in New York | ||
| 1937 | Short visit to Europe; encounters Benjamin | ||
