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

01 December
- Germany celebrates 25 years of Wham's 'Last Christmas'
- Brandenburg parliament rocked by Stasi scandal
- Mercedes-Benz workers protest possible factory move to US
- Police ram bike to nab fugitive from Aachen
- Berlin Wall checkpoint up for auction on eBay
- High court deems Berlin shop hours unconstitutional
- Shorter working hours keep lid on joblessness
- Lidl to offer deep discounts on Deutsche Bahn tickets
- US ambassador calls Germany Washington's most important ally
- Germany criticised for Nazi trial double standards
02 December
- Hertha boss admits club in worst crisis of the decade
- Germany still paying off WWI reparations
- US wants up to 2,500 more German troops
- Mercedes-Benz moves C-Class production to Alabama
- Brüderle demands banks boost business lending
- Critics say Merkel's tax cuts for hotels could stimulate sex trade
- Tourist arrested at Disney World for fake bomb threat
- Germans go Google gaga for Megan Fox
- Jewish leader says Swiss vote shows Europe's growing anti-Muslim views
- Leipzig University celebrates 600th anniversary amid student protests
- Parliament to investigate deadly Kunduz air strike
03 December
- Eight students injured in laboratory chemical accident
- Paul McCartney kicks off tour in Hamburg, where it all began
- Conservatives say Muslims must show restraint with mosques
- What's on in Germany: December 3 - 9
- Siemens posts billion euro loss
- Petition forces Bavarian smoking ban referendum
- Thou shalt not shop
- Deutsche Bahn faces long-distance bus rivals
- EU court rules German custody laws discriminate against fathers
- Merkel expecting major climate change effort at Copenhagen talks
- Berlin extends military mission in Afghanistan
- Guttenberg: air strike ‘militarily inappropriate’
04 December
- Director Fatih Akin boycotts Switzerland after minaret ban
- Bundeswehr sends off Schneiderhan amid Afghanistan scandal
- Tanker spills 8,000 litres of lubricant on A1 motorway
- Bundesbank sees economy rebounding in 2010
- Going back to old school organic farming
- Study finds no dangerous radiation around nuclear Asse dump
- Berlin and Hamburg attacks an anarchist 'declaration of war'
- Economies of eastern German states show more spark
- Stuttgart station revamp raises hopes, hackles
- Deutsche Bahn picked for UK rail services
- Germany faces Australia, Ghana and Serbia
05 December
- US pilot opposed German Afghan attack orders
- Nearly seven years prison for child abuser guru Oliver Shanti
- Bisky suggests Left and SPD should make up, possibly even fuse
- Warmer, damper weather to replace chill of last few days
- Banned footie fan takes complaint to top court
- Opel to cut more than 8,000 jobs, still needs €3.3 billion
- Westerwelle defends Swiss after minaret ban
- The Best of the Rhineland in December
- Death certificate of WWI ace the Red Baron found in Poland
06 December
- Man faces court for blackmail of SAP founder
- Hamburg police attack 'was to mark death of Greek student'
- German woman found stabbed to death on Italian motorway
- Museum chief says Egypt has not demanded Nefertiti's return
- Two-degree target crucial to Copenhagen, minister says
- Grey seal watching trips start as population stabilises
- Elder statesman Graf Lambsdorff dies
07 December
- VfB Stuttgart fires coach Babbel after dire draw
- Federal institute warns of toxins in toys
- Swine flu threat continues as Germans opt out of vaccine
- Opel expected to turn a profit in 2009
- Fifty-car pileup injures 16 in Bavaria
- Hundreds of leads in Passau police chief stabbing case
- LBBW bank raided for suspected fraud
- Pete Doherty arrested in Berlin
- Regulator demands Deutsche Telekom open fast internet network
- Berlin to compensate Afghan air strike victims
- The (second) breakfast of champions
- Google Earth adds WWII aerial shots of Berlin
08 December
- German tourist caught smuggling lizards in his underwear
- Archaeologists uncover evidence of ancient cannibal rituals
- Three bodies found in plane crash near Frankfurt
- Lower Saxony gives in to Merkel's tax cuts
- Hamburg pastor probed for child porn
- Banned Pechstein gets permission to compete
- Daimler to keep EADS stake at 15 percent
- Retailers report merry sales for holidays
- Bluish-green fireball sighted over northern Germany
- Former Nazi SS hit man admits to Dutch murders
- FDP must pay €3.5-mln fine for illegal donations
09 December
- Bayern thumps Juventus to reach knock-outs
- Germany to accept more foreign academic credentials
- Holbrooke urges Berlin to increase troops in Afghanistan
- Volkswagen buys major stake in Suzuki
- Circus trainer mauled by three tigers in Hamburg
- What's on in Germany: December 10 - 16
- Hopp blackmailer jailed for nearly four years
- Axel Springer introduces iPhone apps with monthly fees
- Stralsund restores rare Baroque celestial globe
- German bonds garner top rating as Greece wavers
- Mecklenburg wolves allowed to devour €150,000 in livestock
- The Best of Berlin in December
- Pressure mounts on Guttenberg over air strike
10 December
- Stuttgart make Champions League final 16 with new coach
- Winter weather weekend on the way
- Students protest uni reform meeting
- Online Advent calendars collecting children's personal information
- Experts warn parents of 'fainting game' after teen death
- KSK special forces involved in Kunduz strike
- Stuttgart 21 rail project approved despite soaring costs
- Hamburg unveils world's most powerful weather supercomputer
- Retirees Germany's most generous charity donors
- Daimler: Sindelfingen jobs safe until 2020
- Merkel calls taxing bankers' bonuses a 'charming' idea
- Schäuble says German deficit to surge in 2010
11 December
- Bremen coach says team must prove worthy of Bundesliga title
- Guttenberg on surprise trip to Afghanistan
- Health insurance experts warn of extra fees to come
- Spread of Islam feared by 3 out of 4 Germans
- Merkel to present university reform plan next week
- Allied Museum angles for space at Tempelhof Airport
- Mercedes F1 team reportedly hoping to sign Schumacher
- Gourmet guerrillas invade Berlin’s culinary scene
- Deutsche Bank's Ackermann says banks to follow G20 on bonuses
- Muslim inventor set to take orthopaedic prayer rugs worldwide
12 December
- Merkel defies Europe over bank-bonus tax
- Bad service in German restaurants, new study finds
- German WWII criminals wanted in Italy
- Siemens probed over Iran exports
- Broadcasting fees spark coalition rift
- Doubts emerge about army chief's sackings
13 December
- Volkswagen launches Polo in India
- US should take Germany as example, says Obama advisor
- Five-star Bayern back in the title hunt
- Westerwelle promises more domestic time
- Retailers banking on a final Christmas splurge
- Two people put each other in hospital over shopping cart
14 December
- Retiree makes emergency call for more toilet paper
- G77 accuse Merkel of blocking climate strides
- Guttenberg refuses to resign over air strike
- Deutsche Bahn to cut 14,000 jobs
- Nationalisation of Austria's HGAA costs Bavaria €3.75 billion
- Head of German drug watchdog resists pressure to step down
- Ex-Nazi guard Demjanjuk probed for fatal 1947 car crash
- Controversial new ID cards coming in 2010
- Deep freeze extends icy grip on Germany
- Top women's volleyball team prove work is a beach
15 December
- Merkel set to become target in Kunduz affair
- NATO steps up call on Germany for fresh Afghanistan troops
- Privacy challenge to data-storage law reaches constitutional court
- Vandals target Westerwelle's car
- Exhibition shows how the Nazis stole Christmas
- Twitter entry provokes furious mayhem in Lower Saxon legislature
- Juvenile alcohol abuse surges
- German banks wary of fresh Iran sanctions
- More than one in seven Germans on poverty line
- Polanski's latest film to premier at Berlinale
- Fresh doubts on Mannichl stabbing case
- Germany's rules of disengagement in Afghanistan
- Merkel 'nervous' climate talks could fail
16 December
- Ministry withheld Kunduz reports from Merkel
- Police union moots European database for violent protesters
- Full-time employment positions declining
- Lower Saxony drivers at highest risk for tree collisions
- 'Christmas Academy' teaches Germans yule rules
- Schäuble defends record new debt in 2010 budget
- Severed pig's ear sent to Muslim organisation
- Germans back tax on bankers’ bonuses
- Berlin calls Iran's missile test 'alarming'
- Muslims mull mosque debate after Swiss vote
17 December
- Löw's contract extended until 2012
- Computer flap causes morning train chaos in Hannover
- Parliamentary mothers push for babies in the Bundestag
- What's on in Germany: December 17 - 23
- Merkel says climate talks 'not looking promising'
- Twitter introduces German service
- German hackers arrested in South Korea for extortion
- Snow and ice freeze traffic
- Daimler delivers first e-Smart cars in Berlin
- Catholic school girl found dead in Dresden
- Snack bar sells gold-covered schnitzel for €150
- ECB signs off on new Frankfurt headquarters
- Rosa Luxemburg murder mystery probed
18 December
- Fire fighters use night vision camera to save child's guinea pig
- Deutsche Bank execs to share new UK bonus tax burden
- Military filmed Kunduz strike from ground
- Deutsche Bahn to launch electro-car sharing programme
- Notorious Auschwitz entry gate stolen
- Frankfurt police say missing American likely fell in Main River
- Bundesrat backs Merkel's tax-relief package
- The Local presents Portnoy’s podcast
- 'Abwrackprämie' named word of the year
- Business confidence up for ninth consecutive month
19 December
- Merkel shows her dismay in Copenhagen
- Schalke tops table with win over Mainz
- Doctors restore sight to the blind with artificial retinas
- SPD rules out support for Afghan combat troop increase
- Lovesick former pupil stabs teacher to death
- Ice and snow cause traffic chaos
- Domestic tourism flaccid and cheap: expert
- Another tiger attack as woman mauled at zoo
- Kroos double shoots Leverkusen back to top spot
20 December
- Anger simmers in Demjanjuk's home village
- Let's talk to the Taliban, says Guttenberg
- Merkel puts brave face on future climate talks
- Becker to Woods: I feel your pain
- Union demands €100bn stimulus investment
- Bayern ready to give Luca Toni away – at no charge
- Weather forces airport closures, cancellations
- Yuletide greetings from China
- Police focus on neo-Nazis and collectors in Auschwitz case
- Left's Lafontaine tipped for comeback after cancer surgery
21 December
- Police recover stolen Auschwitz gate sign
- Westerwelle wary on Afghan troop rise
- Egypt demands return of Nefertiti bust from Germany
- Myth-testing teenager injures tongue on chilly lamppost
- Schäuble foreshadows serious belt tightening
- Bavarian ski resorts look to a brighter, if warmer, future
- PCs may be exempt from broadcast fee
- Turkish militant suspect turns himself in to German authorities
- Kleindienst to build on Dubai islands despite Nakheel bankruptcy
- Rapper fined over 'nauseating' misogynist lyrics
22 December
- Thousands stranded at Frankfurt airport
- Egyptian Nefertiti bust is rightfully ours, Germany says
- Unemployment insurance tipped to rise
- Merry Christmas, watch out for blood-sucking ticks on the tree!
- Traditional Christmas recipes
- German coffee makers fined for massive price-fixing scheme
- Christmas post offices swamped with letters to Santa - from adults
- Airport chaos continues in Frankfurt
- Economic outlook darkens for 2010
- White Christmas forecast for parts of Germany
- Body of missing American found in river
- Foreign collector behind Auschwitz theft
23 December
- Schumi with Mercedes for the long haul
- Politicians reject mooted unemployment insurance hike
- Kidnapped German family may still be alive in Yemen
- What's on in Germany: December 24-January 6
- Report says Bundeswehr lied during Kunduz strike
- Poison gas kills two men in homemade sauna
- RAF's Becker released from custody
- Siemens partners with Dong Energy for stake in Lincs wind project
- Dresden joins list of airport closures
- 'We have a major lack of leadership'
- Naser steps down over BayernLB fiasco
24 December
- Deutsche Bank buys Dutch state bank
- Child caught ploughing snow with excavator
- Mercedes workers angry at Schumi F1 contract
- Germans still giving despite recession
- Christmas likely to be wet, not white
- 1 mln jobs saved by reducing working hours
25 December
- The Local’s guide to Christmas in Germany
- UNHCR criticises Germany's refugee policy
- Protestant leader calls for Afghan withdrawal
- Student sit-ins continue through Christmas
- Five dead in Christmas Day fire
- Economic experts blast tax cut plans
- Merkel slams China for jailing dissident
26 December
- Environment minister condemns USA and China
- Russia seeks Opel compensation from GM
- New Nietzsche book aims to save his reputation
- Union boss accuses Deutsche Bahn of playing on job-cut fears
- Guttenberg: Afghan democracy impossible
- Scania rules out MAN merger
27 December
- German police tighten airport security
- Industry leaders support Merkel's tax cuts
- Police claim self-defence after killing deranged man
- ECB boss tells Germany to slash deficit
- Deutsche Telekom criticises business regulations
- Bomb scare diverts US-bound German flight
- Wikipedia reaches one million German entries
- Avalanche kills 12-year-old boy in Italian Alps
28 December
- Germany set to lose export crown
- Police clear out protesting students
- Germans lose faith in politics
- DAX companies cut 116,000 jobs in 2009
- Man goes to jail after illegal street crossing
- Berlin condemns Iran
- FDP speaks out against bank bonus tax
- Hölzl wins big as Olympics near
- Police against body scanners as airport security debate reignites
29 December
- Policeman commits mysterious suicide
- Private channels to go to EU over licence fees
- Aid organisations blast German government
- Businesses warned of second wave for financial crisis
- Disaster damage down in 2009
- Icy roads cause series of accidents
- Clunker bonus gives Opel great year
- Father and brother jailed for 'honour killing'
- Inflation hits record low in 2009
- New book digs up Stasi files on Günter Grass
- Berlin's Checkpoint Charlie gets McDonald's
30 December
- Opel workers reject GM job cut plans
- FDP and Greens report record membership
- Polish court to hear WWII massacre case
- Kidnap victim relatives complain about Foreign Ministry
- Nena becomes a nana
- German arms dealer arrested in Austria
- Government not opposed to body scanners
- Policeman who shot husband of Dresden 'veil martyr' cleared
- States only want half as much swine flu vaccine
- Ribery on his way to Madrid next summer
31 December
- Merkel warns of bumpy economy in 2010
- Officials call airport duty-free shops a security risk
- Two men missing on the Zugspitze
- Deep freeze disrupts trains
- Two men explode flat with home-made fireworks
- Punk legend Hagen writes of journey to Jesus
- Tenants association fears impending apartment shortage
- The Local's year in review