| 1952 | Born March 13th in Karlsruhe, south-west Germany |
| 1963 | First compositions |
| 1968-1972 | Secondary School (Humanistisches Gymnasium); simultaneously studies in composition at the Karlsruhe Music Academy (Eugen Werner Velte); further composition studies with Wolfgang Fortner and Humphrey Searle |
| 1970 | Attends the Darmstadt Summer Courses for the first time |
| 1972 | Completes secondary school studies, diploma in composition, Karlsruhe Music Academy |
| 1972/73 | Composition studies with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne |
| 1973-76 | Composition studies with Klaus Huber and musicological studies with Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht in Freiburg |
| 1973-1978 | Teaches at the Karlsruhe Music Academy |
| 1974 | Awarded the City of Stuttgart Prize |
| 1975 | Awarded the City of Mannheim Prize |
| 1976 | Faust und Yorick - chamber opera No 1 (Jean Tardieu/Frithjof Haas) |
| 1977/8 | Jakob Lenz - chamber opera No 2 (Georg Büchner/Michael Frühling) |
| 1978 | Awarded Berlin Art Prize Fellowship; Kranichstein Music Prize Darmstadt; Reinhold-Schneider Prize Freiburg |
| since 1978 | Lecturer at the Darmstadt Summer Courses |
| 1979 | Receives Fellowship Award of the City of Hamburg |
| 1979/80 | German Art Academy Fellowship at the Villa Massimo in Rome |
| 1981 | Awarded the City of Bonn Beethoven Prize. Teaches at the Munich Music Academy |
| since 1982 | Presidium member, German Association of Composers |
| 1983 | Fellowship at the Cité des Arts in Paris |
| 1983/6 | Die Hamletmaschine, opera, (Heiner Müller/Rihm) |
| 1984/5 | Fellow of the Berlin Science Institute, Presidium member, German Music Council |
| 1984-89 | Co-editor of the music journal Melos |
| since 1984 | Musical advisor, Deutsche Oper Berlin |
| since 1985 | Professor for composition at the Karlsruhe Music Academy (successor of Professor Velte). Member of the advisory council of the Heinrich Strobel Institute, South-West German Radio Baden-Baden |
| 1986 | Awarded the Rolf Liebermann Prize for the opera Hamletmaschine |
| 1986/87 | Oedipus, opera, (text by Rihm after Sophokles, Hölderlin, Nietzsche, H. Müller) |
| 1987/91 | Die Eroberung von Mexico (The Conquest of Mexico), opera, (Antonin Artaud/Rihm) |
| since 1989 | Member of the Board of Directors, GEMA |
| 1990-93 | Awarded German Distinguished Service Cross |
| 1991 | Guest speaker at the opening ceremony of the Salzburg Festival. Member, Academy of the Arts in the cities of Munich, Berlin and Mannheim |
| 1994 | Séraphin, 'an attempt at music theatre/instruments, voices...' World premiere in Frankfurt |
| 1997 | Awarded the Prix de Composition Musical de la Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco |
| 1998 | Awarded the Jacob Burckhardt Prize of the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Foundation
Doctorate of Freie Universität Berlin |
| 2000 | Awarded the Bach Prize of the City of Hamburg
Composer-in-residence at the Salzburg Festival and the Musica Festival in Strasbourg
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| 2001 | Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Jagden und Formen
The French Ministry of External Affairs confers the title of "Officier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" on Wolfgang Rihm. |
| 2001-2 | Large-scale celebration of the composer's 50th birthday throughout Europe, with several festivals and concert organisations devoting series of concerts to his oeuvre. Numerous world premieres. |
| 2003 | 22 May: awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize
7 November: Entry in the Golden Book of the town of Karlsruhe
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| 2004 | 8 May: recipient of the Medal of Merit of Baden-Württemberg/Germany |
| 2006 | 27. October: Wold Première of the opera Das Gehege (after Botho Strauss' play "Schlusschor") at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich
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