📰 Breaking News: News Archive for February 2009 | Latest Updates from Germany 2025

01 February
- Rail unions tell Deutsche Bahn to explain spy scandal
- Huge police force breaks up illegal neo-Nazi concert
- Hoffenheim back on top
- Gabriel blames conservatives for failure of environmental rulebook
- Car industry senses boost
- KaDeWe jewellery heist remains a mystery
02 February
- Sri Lanka 'threatens' German ambassador
- Children find talking TV bread loaf in abandoned building
- Police warn of shoddy terrorism protection
- Two winners split country's third-largest lottery jackpot
- Archbishop calls rehabilitiation of Holocaust denier a 'mistake'
- CIA warns terrorists targeting German vote
- Pirates demand $6 million for German liquid gas tanker
- 'Father' of Playmobil Hans Beck dies
- A German Pope's dangerous dance with Holocaust deniers
- Merkel sees financial markets stabilising
- BMW talks green cars with France's Peugeot
- Steinmeier heads to DC for talks with Clinton
03 February
- US army deserter pleads for asylum in Germany
- Workers strike in four German states
- Number of traumatised German troops in Afghanistan grows
- East German songwriter commits suicide in jail
- German retail sales continue to slide
- Wave of flu infections to increase related deaths this year
- Study finds long-life gene in elderly Germans
- Munich and Hamburg ranked Europe's best property investments
- Bloody man plunges from Hamburg overpass
- Merkel: Pope's comments on Holocaust denial 'insufficient'
- US and Germany talk security and trade
04 February
- German troops to be stationed in France
- Mysterious Hamburg death was a suicide
- Stuttgart man wins Empire State Building Run-Up race
- Stressed-out Germans boost sweets sales
- Munich Re sails through crisis posting profits for 2008
- More people head to the movies
- The best of Berlin in February
- Bankruptcy derails toy train maker Märklin
- Skier Riesch suffers nasty fall during downhill training
- Truck makes action-film jump on A3 motorway
- Germany hosts talks on Iran's nuke programme
- Bahn and Telekom admit to spying on staff
- Praise and anger for Merkel's pope criticism
- Whereabouts of late Nazi fugitive 'Doctor Death' uncovered
05 February
- Biden to outline US foreign policy vision at Munich conference
- Suspect in child murder fled to Turkey
- Squatter house associated with Bernd das Brot kidnapping burns
- Deutsche Bank posts historic loss
- Berlinale film festival opens
- Police to identify Nazi 'Doctor Death' remains
- Ballack and Frings recalled to face Norway
- Hundreds of Iraqi Christian refugees bound for Rhineland
- US deserter confident he'll get asylum
- New firm picks up shards of Hummel figurine production
- What's on in Germany: February 5 - 11
- Strikes close schools in Hamburg and the Rhineland
- German industrial orders plunge
- Merkel hails US decision to weakening 'Buy American' clause
06 February
- German convicted for Tunisian attack
- Schäuble says Obama's inauguration won't ease terrorism
- Colombian cocaine by mail earns Münster man 7 years prison
- Infineon posts sharp loss and forecasts dire 2009
- Man stabs family and jumps off balcony
- Munich conference hoping for 'new chapter' in transatlantic ties
- Catholic groups urge Germans to back pope
- BMW shares buoyant despite plunging 2008 sales
- Child murder suspect still likely on the run in Turkey
- Munich welcomes Guantanamo Uighurs
- Should I junk my old car for the Abwrackprämie?
- Bochum man demands mercy killing over false cancer diagnosis
07 February
- German businessman charged with illegal sales to Iran
- Barbie unveils Merkel doll at Nuremberg toy fair
- NATO chief slams allies over Afghanistan efforts
- Germany in top spot in global popularity survey
- Holocaust-denying bishop refuses to recant without 'evidence'
- Biden says US wants to renew ties with Moscow
- Secret military docs dropped in street, found by passer-by
- Economy minister Glos tries to resign
08 February
- German police arrest suspected al Qaeda member
- Despite financial crisis, carnival lovers to party on
- Turkish center hit by multiple Molotov cocktails
- In Munich, Karzai calls for reconciliation with moderate Taliban
- Police arrest 17 during security conference weekend
- State transport minister under fire for putting pedal to metal
- Chancellor and pope try to bury hatchet in Holocaust row
09 February
- More public workers strike as wage dispute wears on with states
- China asks UK to go easy on German shoe thrower
- German classical artists honoured at 51st Grammy Awards
- Guttenberg named new economy minister
- Althaus was not drunk or speeding in ski accident
- Football league nixes naughty 69 jersey for Karlsruhe's Drpic
- Global downturn hits German trade surplus
- Military training 'cyber soldiers' for digital wars
- German heroin smuggler faces death penalty in Taiwan
- Berlinale sifts through wreckage of the global financial crisis
10 February
- Germany warms up for first friendly of the year with Norway
- Drunk switches dead passenger to driver side
- Stormy winter weather causes traffic chaos across Germany
- Machinery sector to shed 25,000 jobs
- 'Porno techno' artist forms duo to take Germany to Eurovision
- Berlin defends EU treaty amid court showdown
- Berlinale ticket sellers assaulted and robbed
- Germany most popular country for Americans to do business
- German student missing after secret police arrest in Cairo
- I don't want my MTV
- Man in court for shoe attack on China's Wen
- Michelle Pfeiffer lauds younger screen lovers at Berlinale
11 February
- Holocaust denying bishop told to quickly correct 'stupidity'
- Germany wakes up to snow
- Bartender faces jail for boy's booze death
- Cairo releases German-Egyptian blogger
- Suspect nabbed in Turkey for girl's murder
- Berlin’s Tempelhof to host 40th anniversary Woodstock concert
- Dalai Lama says unrest possible in Tibet during German visit
- Hypo Real Estate gets €10 bln in guarantees
- Two boys killed by freight train
- Police arrest brothers in KaDeWe jewellery heist investigation
- Berlin mulls tracking data on foreign visitors
- Big business dominates the Berlinale on and off screen
- BASF warns of job cuts
- Germany questioned over Nazi 'Dr Death'
12 February
- Germany embarrassed in Norway friendly
- Strike at Berlin airports causes delays
- Parliament to debate help for traumatised soldiers
- What's on in Germany: February 12 - 18
- Berlinale premieres film on China's 'Oskar Schindler'
- Drug mules arrested after belly x-rays
- Schumacher walks away from serious motorcycle spill
- Talking straight with gay filmmaker Jochen Hick
- Wikipedia prankster dupes German media
- Snow causes road mayhem in Hesse
- One-fourth of employable German youths on welfare
- Lufthansa balks at paying more for Austrian Airlines
13 February
- Bayern 'won't leave Hoffenheim in peace' until they're back on top
- Twin KaDeWe robbery suspects' family in 'red light scene'
- Porsche test driver dies in autobahn crash
- Germany's most famous prostitute passes away
- Volkswagen to develop electric cars with Toshiba
- Dispute with Egypt over Nefertiti bust reignites
- Recession in Germany worse than expected
- German-Afghan gets life for 'honour killing'
- Steinbrück warns against growing spectre of protectionism
- More Germans 'doping' to enhance workplace performance
- Berlin's 'Material' witness
- Filmmakers scrutinise Germany 20 years after the fall of the Wall
14 February
- German man arrested for smuggling rare coral into US
- Bayer Leverkusen crush league leaders Hoffenheim
- German mayors push to keep US military bases
- Merkel criticises banks for paying hefty bonuses to executives
- Germany to appoint Afghanistan envoy
- Thousands protest against neo-Nazi march in Dresden
15 February
- Peruvian survivors' tale wins top prize at Berlin film fest
- German birth rate climbs steadily
- Karlsruhe student crowned ‘Miss Germany 2009’
- Hertha tops league after beating Bayern
- Expert says Germany to continue dominating global exports
- Indian radioactive metal found in Germany
16 February
- Merkel says nationalising Hypo Real Estate bank an option
- Union calls for strikes as state wage talks fail
- Heavy snow makes for messy Monday morning traffic
- Five injured in neo-Nazi attack near Dresden
- Berlin appoints special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan
- Life sentence upheld for German murderer of Swedish kids
- BMW slashes 850 UK jobs at Mini
- State officials discuss splitting Opel from GM
- Court upholds university tuition fees in Baden-Württemberg
- Althaus will not be questioned in ski death
- The FDP's Karneval conspiracy
- Officer from Polanski's 'Pianist' honoured
17 February
- Germans look for love on the 'Flirt Express' speed dating train
- Roads dangerous with more snow on the way
- Twin KaDeWe robbery suspects headed to Berlin jail
- German woman rescued from New Zealand 'horror house'
- McDonald's hopeful Germans will opt for cheap eats in recession
- Daimler warns rough ride ahead in 2009
- Attack sparks fear of rising neo-Nazi violence
- Friesland health office discovers Nazi-era eugenics records
- Steinmeier makes surprise visit to Iraq
- GM reportedly considering axeing three Opel factories in Europe
- German Media Roundup: can Opel motor on without GM?
18 February
- Auschwitz blueprints found in attic go on display in Berlin
- Germany shouldn't host Iraqi Christians, minister says
- GM not planning to close Opel plants yet
- Berlin mulls genetically modified corn ban
- Germany backs law to nationalise banks
- Naked Merkel Karneval float to appear in Brazilian bikini
- Artists create baby hatch for unwanted plants
- Wilhelm brings home third biathlon medal
- Condé Nast shuts down Vanity Fair Germany
- NASA rocket scientist Konrad Dannenberg dies
19 February
- Werder scores a late equaliser against Milan
- Germans learn foreign languages while foreigners shun German
- Steinbrück: Berlin will consider aid for Opel
- What's on in Germany: February 19 - 25
- Bremen coating valuables with synthetic DNA to fight theft
- Man stands trial 27 years after suffocating girl in box
- Berlin raises teacher salaries by almost half
- Devil and angel rob shop owner in Cologne as Karneval begins
- Car sharing gaining traction in Germany
- German jet pack helps humans fly above water
- Berlin offers citizenship for French-German WWII babies
20 February
- Hoffenheim boss says his boys are players, not pop stars
- Booze gets Karneval off to a violent start
- One dead, one injured, and one missing in avalanches
- US investor sets price for Hypo Real Estate nationalisation
- US soldier found dead in Mannheim barracks
- Germany opens new Antarctic research station
- Berlin predicts long and bleak recession
- Opel reportedly needs more state aid
- Drunk British soldier takes tank joyride
- Thirteen languages face extinction
- Joining the ranks of the Righteous after helping Polanski's 'Pianist'
- Germany passes historic stimulus plan
21 February
- Snow set to continue as road salt runs out
- Neo-Nazis in attack part of German-Swedish connection
- Schröder slammed for 'private' visit to Iran
- Karneval organisers cover up offensive procession figures
- Jobless numbers set to leap in summer
- US soldier in Bavaria guilty in quadruple Iraq murder case
- Merkel demands tighter leash for global markets
22 February
- Bayern 'should say sorry' for third loss
- Hamburg police plan to ban punks from city
- Scorpions, Peter Fox and Lindenberg get Echo awards
- Westerwelle says he is ready to take on foreign minister role
- SPD pushes for synthetic heroin to be rated medicine for addicts
- Germany to work with US to try to save Opel
- EU tackles economic crisis at Berlin summit
23 February
- Steinmeier says 'turbo-capitalism' is dead
- Man and toddler drown after falling through icy pond
- German short film wins Oscar
- Özdemir worried by Muslim anti-Semitism
- Deutsche Bank predicts massive 2009 recession
- German gender wage gap above EU average
- Who's afraid of the Saxon wolf?
- Karneval revellers brave chilly rain for Rosenmontag parade
- DAX plunges below 4,000 points
- Works council officials says Opel needs European aid to survive
24 February
- Thousands evacuated for late-night bomb clean up
- Berlin ready to help Opel survive
- Fire fighter strike halts air traffic in Berlin
- Business confidence reaches all-time low
- Avalanche danger closes Bavarian roads
- Economic crisis cooking course conjures €3 meals in Cologne
- Schumi donates to bring Poldi back to play for Cologne
- HSH Nordbank gets €3-billion state bailout
- No second beer please, we're German
- Berlin court rules supermarket cashier rightfully fired over €1.30
- EU tells Germans salty pretzels not threatened
25 February
- Mother and three children die in fire
- Opel plant workers to rally in hopes of saving their jobs
- Bayern hopeful Toni will be fit for Champions League clash
- Monster pig terrifies Hessian motorists
- Chinese firms kick off German spending spree
- Schwan warns Merkel refugee row could damage Polish ties
- Police chief attacks Karneval booze frenzy
- German economy officially taking a dive
- Ex-RAF leftist turned neo-Nazi lawyer Mahler gets 6 years in jail
- Duisburg candidate for mayor: boycott Israel
26 February
- Auto parts family Schaeffler worked with Nazis
- Junk car premium boosts consumers
- Thierse calls €1.30 Kaiser's cashier verdict 'barbaric'
- What's on in Germany: February 26 - March 4
- Illiterate Turkish man denied German citizenship
- Thousands of Germans addicted to nose spray
- Introducing…Heidi Klum
- Chemicals giant BASF warns of dire 2009
- Dresdner drags down Allianz results
- Opel workers protest GM cutback plans
- Recession tightens its grip on labour market
- Interior Ministry warns terror camp trainees returning to Germany
27 February
- Thousands of workers strike in four states
- Deutsche Telekom upbeat after meeting 2008 targets
- Toni wants Bayern to play Bremen with passion
- Avalanche buries senior in mountain hut for two days
- Jewish council calls Williamson's apology a 'third-class regret'
- Police call other police to aid injured woman
- German inflation up to one percent in February
- Study says ban on headscarves violates human rights
- Software turns phone into time machine
- Polish prime minister calls on Merkel to drop Steinbach
- Opel splits from GM
28 February
- Nazi sex slave story finally told at camp
- Visitors flood big new Duisburg mosque
- Women still lagging behind in government
- SPD to target wealthy as report says middle classes pay more tax
- Book claims Gorbachev gave up on East Germany in 1980s
- CDU politician arrested for alleged heroin smuggling