In 1878 Pringsheim married the Berlin actress Gertrude Hedwig Anna Dohm (1855–1942), whose mother was the famous Berlin advocate of women's rights Hedwig Dohm (1831–1919). They had five children: Erik (born 1879), Peter (born 1881), Heinz (born 1882) and twins born in 1883, Klaus and Katharina, known as Katia. His first-born son, Erik, was exiled to Argentina because of his dissolute life and gambling debts and died there at an early age. His sons Peter and Klaus followed him in pursuing academic careers, obtaining professorships in physics and musical composition. One musician in the family was enough, so his third son, Heinz, became an archaeologist with a doctorate in that field, but soon changed course, becoming a successful conductor and critic in Berlin and Munich. His daughter Katia was the first female in Munich to earn the qualifications for university admission and was one of the first active women students at Munich University. She later became the wife of the author and Nobel Prize winner Thomas Mann.