2008 in Germany - Events

Events

• 1 January - Deutsche Post loses its monopoly on mail under 50 grams following EU legislation.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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, leading to concern within the Turkish community.
• 14 February - The home and office of Klaus Zumwinkel, CEO of Deutsche Post, is searched by police investigating tax evasion. Zumwinkel resigns on the following day. 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.
• 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.
• 24 February - State election in Hamburg
• 2 March - Local elections in Bavaria.
• 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.
• 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
• 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
• 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.