2008 in Germany

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See also:Other events of 2008
History of Germany  • Timeline  • Years

Events in the year 2008 in Germany.

Incumbents

Federal level

State level

Events
  • 1 January - Deutsche Post loses its monopoly on mail under 50 grams following EU legislation.[1]
  • 1 January - Berlin, Cologne and Hanover introduce restrictions on cars without suitable catalytic converters or diesel particulate filters. More cities will follow during the year.[2]
  • 1 January - Eight states introduce a smoking ban in public places, including restaurants and bars. Three states imposed similar bans in 2007 and the remaining five states will follow later in the year.[3]
  • 1 January - A telecommunications data retention law came into force, requiring German telecommunications services and Internet providers to store telephone and Internet data for up to six months.
  • 3 January - Arrest warrants are issued for Brigitte Mohnhaupt and Knut Folkerts, two members of the left-wing terrorist group Red Army Faction in relation to the 1977 assassination of federal prosecutor Siegfried Buback.[4]
  • 15 January - The federal government announces that the government budget for 2007 has been balanced and government debt has not increased — for the first time since 1969.[5]
  • 15 January - Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia announces the closure of its factory in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, scrapping its 2300-strong workforce. Nokia, having received approximately 88 million euros in subsidies from the German and NRW governments for the Bochum facility, plans to relocate to Romania where the labour costs are cheaper and millions in EU subsidies are available.[6]
  • 21 January - Black Monday - The DAX falls 523.98 points (-7.16%), the biggest fall since 2001-09-11.
  • 27 January - State election in Lower Saxony - The ruling CDU/FDP coalition under Christian Wulff is returned to office, although with a reduced majority. The Left receive 7.1% of the vote and enter the Lower Saxon parliament for the first time.
  • 27 January - State election in Hesse - The ruling CDU/FDP coalition under Roland Koch loses its majority in the Hessian parliament, with the CDU losing 12% in comparison to the previous election in 2003. The preferred opposition coalition of SPD and Greens under Andrea Ypsilanti also fails to reach a majority. Coalition negotiations begin. The Left receive 5.1% of the vote and narrowly cross the 5%-threshold required to enter the Hessian parliament for the first time.
  • 3 February - Nine Turkish residents die in house fire in Ludwigshafen,[7] leading to concern within the Turkish community.[8]
  • 14 February - The home and office of Klaus Zumwinkel, CEO of Deutsche Post, is searched by police investigating tax evasion.[9] Zumwinkel resigns on the following day.[10] The raid on Zumwinkel is the first after it became known to the government that billions of euros have been diverted into a bank in Liechtenstein by around 900 wealthy Germans.[11]
  • 14 February - The Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne announces that they recently discovered that the Monet painting On the Banks of the Seine by Port Villez, which has been in the museum's possession since 1954, is a forgery.[12]
  • 24 February - State election in Hamburg
  • 2 March - Local elections in Bavaria.[13]
  • 6 March - Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2008
  • 27 March - Plans scraps to build the Transrapid high-speed monorail link between the Bavarian capital Munich and its airport because of a massive overrun in costs.[14]
  • 19–30 May - 9th UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn
  • 25 May - Local elections in Schleswig-Holstein
  • 25 June - German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung (pictured) announces a troop increase of the country's contingent in Afghanistan to 4,500, yet refuses to move the soldiers to areas where they would be more likely to be involved in direct combat. (NYT) - 2008-06-25
  • 31 August - Dresdner Bank was paid for 9.8 Milliarden Euro to Commerzbank [15]
  • 1 September - Since 1 September 2008 foreigners which wish to gain German nationality have to answer a test with 33 questions in German. Sueddeutsche - 2008-09-01
  • September 22–28 – photokina in Cologne
  • 26 September - The German Bundestag decided that from 2013 German parents will have the right to send their children to a Kindergarten or Pre-school playgroup from the age of one year. The States of Germany have to build enough Kindergarten/Pre-school playgroups to meet this requirement (Work-life balance). n-tv - 2008-09-26
  • 28 September - State election in Bavaria: The CSU lost its majority after 46 years in Landtag. n-tv - 2008-09-28
  • October - The Volkswagen Golf Mk6 is launched at the 2008 Paris Motor Show.
  • Date unknown: The German company Schaeffler Group buys the much larger German company Continental AG.

Arts & literature

Film

Television

Sport

Births

Deaths

See also

References
  1. "Companies vie for German mail delivery". Businessweek.com. 2 August 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
  2. "German Cities Ring in New Year With Clean Air Campaign". Deutsche Welle. 1 January 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
  3. "German States to Ring in 2008 with Smoking Ban". Der Spiegel. 31 December 2007. Archived from the original on 1 January 2008. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
  4. "Judge Issues Arrest Warrants for Former RAF Terrorists". Deutsche Welle. 3 January 2008. Archived from the original on 4 January 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
  5. "Erster ausgeglichener Haushalt seit 1969". Die Zeit (in German). 15 January 2008. Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
  6. "Politicians Accuse Nokia of Abusing German, EU Subsidies". Deutsche Welle. 16 January 2008. Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
  7. "Germany fire victims remembered". BBC News. 10 February 2008. Archived from the original on 13 February 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  8. "Fire Sets German-Turkish Race Relations on Edge". Deutsche Welle. 7 February 2008. Archived from the original on 10 February 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  9. "Authorities Investigating Deutsche Post CEO for Tax Evasion". Der Spiegel. 14 February 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  10. "Deutsche Post boss set to resign". BBC News. 15 February 2008. Archived from the original on 18 February 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  11. "The Liechtenstein Connection". Der Spiegel. 16 February 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  12. "Monet painting in Cologne museum found to be forged". International Herald Tribune. 14 February 2008. Archived from the original on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
  13. "Merkel Allies Lose Status in Bavarian Municipal Polls". Deutsche Welle. 3 March 2008. Retrieved 8 March 2008.
  14. "Germany Scraps Transrapid Rail Plans". Deutsche Welle. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
  15. Spiegelonline
  16. "German war film challenges taboo". BBC News. 1 April 2008. Archived from the original on 5 April 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
  17. "Chess Olympiad Dresden 2008". Archived from the original on 28 December 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
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