2012 in Germany
Events in the year 2012 in Germany.
Incumbents
Federal level
- President –
- * until 17 February: Christian Wulff
- * 17 February-18 March: Horst Seehofer
- * starting 18 March: Joachim Gauck
- Chancellor – Angela Merkel
State level
- Minister-President of Baden-Wuerttemberg – Winfried Kretschmann
- Minister-President of Bavaria – Horst Seehofer
- Mayor of Berlin – Klaus Wowereit
- Minister-President of Brandenburg – Matthias Platzeck
- Mayor of Bremen – Jens Boehrnsen
- Mayor of Hamburg – Olaf Scholz
- Minister-President of Hesse – Volker Bouffier
- Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – Erwin Sellering
- Minister-President of Niedersachsen – David McAllister
- Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia – Hannelore Kraft
- Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate – Kurt Beck
- Minister-President of Saarland – Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
- Minister-President of Saxony – Stanislaw Tillich
- Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt – Reiner Haseloff
- Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein – Peter Harry Carstensen to 12 June Torsten Albig
- Minister-President of Thuringia – Christine Lieberknecht
Events
January – June
- 6 January – In state Saarland coalition of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer breaks up.
- 20 January – Bavarian Film Awards in Munich
- 23 January – The drugstore Schlecker files for bankruptcy.
- 9–19 February – 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in Berlin
- 16 February – Roman Lob is selected to represent Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest.
- 17 February – German President Christian Wulff resigns following a major loan scandal.
- 19 February – Joachim Gauck is chosen as the main candidate to succeed Christian Wulff.
- 27 February – The party Die Linke selects Beate Klarsfeld as its candidate to succeed Christian Wulff.
- 29 February – Schlecker announces the closure of half its stores across Germany.
- 6–10 March – CeBIT in Hanover
- 7–11 March – ITB Berlin in Berlin
- 15–18 March – Leipzig Book Fair in Leipzig
- 18 March – German presidential election, 2012 – Joachim Gauck is elected President of Germany, taking the oath of office on 23 March
- 25 March – 1 April – 2012 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Dortmund
- 25 March – Elections in state Saarland
- 23–27 April – Hanover Messe in Hanover
- 27 April – Deutscher Filmpreis in Berlin
- 6 May – Elections in Schleswig-Holstein
- 13 May – Elections in North Rhine-Westphalia – Hannelore Kraft is elected to continue as Minister-President, heading an SPD-Green coalition.
- 22 May – Peter Altmaier replaces Norbert Rottgen as Environment Minister.
- 26 May – Roman Lob represents Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest, finishing 8th.
- June – The Germany national football team takes part in UEFA Euro 2012.
- 9 June – 16 September: dOCUMENTA
- 12 June – Torsten Albig is elected as Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein, after the SPD, Greens and South Schleswig Voter Federation agree to form a coalition in the state.
- 18–24 June – Kiel Week in Kiel
- 28 June – UEFA Euro 2012: The Germany national football team is knocked out at the Semi Final stage, by the Italy national football team, through two goals from Mario Balotelli.
- Date unknown: As the largest German-Sino transaction ever, at the end of January 2012 German company Putzmeister was sold to the company Chinese Sany Heavy Industries.
July – December
- 3 July – Heinz Fromm resigns as Head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, following controversies over the organisation's handling of the far-right.
- early July – Success for German players in the Wimbledon tennis Singles: In the Men's section, Florian Mayer and Philipp Kohlschreiber reach the quarter finals; in the Women's section, Sabine Lisicki reaches the quarter finals, and Angelique Kerber reaches the semi finals.
- 13 July – FIFA President Sepp Blatter alleges that there were irregularities when Germany won the right to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
- 31 July - Germany wins its first Gold Medals of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, in the Equestrian sport, taking team gold, and with Michael Jung taking individual gold.
- 9–12 August – Hanse Sail in Rostock
- 31 August – 5 September – Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin in Berlin
- 11–16 September – ILA Berlin Air Show in Berlin
- 12 September - The German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ruled, that the new European bailout fund was inline with the German constitution.
- 15–19 September – gamescom in Cologne
- 18–23 September – photokina in Cologne
- 20–27 September – Frankfurt Motor Show in Frankfurt
- 21 September - JadeWeserPort opened.
- 22 September – 7 October – Oktoberfest in Munich
- 28 September - The SPD selects Peer Steinbruck as its candidate to face Angela Merkel in the German federal election, 2013.
- 4 October - Michael Schumacher announces his retirement from Formula One.
- 5 October - Footballer Michael Ballack announces an end to his playing career.
- 10–14 October – Frankfurt Book Fair, with special guest New Zealand.
- 12 November - 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards in Frankfurt
- 25 November - In Formula One, German driver Sebastian Vettel wins the Drivers' Championship for the third consecutive year.
- 26 November - A fire at a workshop for disabled people in Southwestern Germany kills 14 people.
- 10 December - An explosive device is found, and made safe, at the main railway station in Bonn.
- 25 December - Joachim Gauck makes his first Christmas address as President.
- Date unknown: German company Volkswagen Group acquired Italian company Ducati and German companies MAN and Porsche.
Deaths
January
- 2 January – Helmut Müller-Brühl, 78, conductor
- 3 January – Willi Entenmann, 68, footballer and coach
- 4 January – Xaver Unsinn, 82, ice hockey player
- 10 January – Kyra T. Inachin, 43, historian
- 13 January – Guido Dessauer, 96, paper engineer and art collector
- 17 January – Julius Meimberg, 95, Luftwaffe flying ace
- 18 January – Georg Lassen, 96, naval officer
- 24 January – Vadim Glowna, 70, actor and film director
- 25 January – Veronica Carstens, 88, former First Lady
February
- 1 February – Lutz Philipp, 71, Olympic athlete
- 2 February – Paul Consbruch, 81, Roman Catholic prelate
- 8 February – Gunther Plaut, 99, German-born Canadian rabbi and author
- 20 February – Imanuel Geiss, 81, historian
- 25 February – Louisiana Red, 79, American blues musician
- 27 February – Werner Guballa, 67, Roman Catholic bishop
March
- 11 March – Hans G. Helms, 79, experimental writer
- 12 March – Friedhelm Konietzka, 73, German-born Swiss footballer and manager
- 13 March – Princess Anna of Saxony, 82, noblewoman
- 19 March – Karl-Heinz Spickenagel, 80, footballer
- 21 March – Albrecht Dietz, 86, entrepreneur and scientist
April
- 5 April – Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, 76, entrepreneur and auto designer
- 6 April - Heinz Kunert, German engineer
- 9 April – Ivan Nagel, 80, theatre director
- 10 April – Barbara Buchholz, 52, musician and composer
- 12 April – Manfred Orzessek, 78, footballer
- 18 April – Fritz Theilen, 84, resistance activist
- 20 April – Peter Carsten, 83, actor
- 21 April – Heinz Jentzsch, 92, racehorse trainer
May
- 3 May – Felix Werder, 90, German-born Australian composer
- 10 May – Horst Faas, 79, photojournalist
- 10 May – Gunther Kaufmann, 64, actor
- 12 May – Ernst Josef Fittkau, 75, entomologist
- 12 May – Fritz Ursell, 89, German-born British mathematician
- 15 May – Peter Koslowski, 59, philosopher and academic
- 15 May – Arno Lustiger, 88, Polish-born writer and historian of Judaism
- 16 May – Hans Geister, 83, athlete
- 18 May – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, 86, baritone and conductor
- 18 May – Hans-Dieter Lange, 85, television journalist
- 19 May - Gerhard Hetz 69, swimmer
- 24 May – Klaas Carel Faber, 90, Dutch-born war criminal, died in Ingolstadt
- 27 May – Friedrich Hirzebruch, 84, mathematician
- 30 May – Gerhard Pohl, 74, politician
June
- 9 June – Audrey Arno, 70, pop singer
- 12 June – Margarete Mitscherlich-Nielsen, 94, psychoanalyst
- 14 June – Karl-Heinz Kammerling, 82, academic teacher of pianists
- 18 June – Lina Haag, 105, anti-fascist activist during World War II.
- 20 June – Heinrich IV, Prince Reuss of Kostritz, 92, nobleman
- 24 June – Gad Beck, 88, Resistance activist and Holocaust survivor
- 24 June – Franz Crass, 84, bass singer
- 24 June – Rudolf Schmid, 97, Swiss-born German Roman Catholic bishop
- 25 June – Doris Schade, 88, television actress
- 27 June – Ralph Warren Victor Elliott, 90, German-born Australian professor of English and runologist
July
- 10 July – Fritz Langanke, 92, Waffen SS Lieutenant
- 18 July – Günther Maleuda, 81, politician, President of the People's Chamber
- 19 July – Hans Nowak, 74, footballer
- 21 July - Susanne Lothar, 51, actress
- 23 July – Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen, 86, head of the Royal House of Saxony
- 27 July - Carl-Ludwig Wagner, 82, politician, former Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate
- 29 July - Heinz Staab, 86, chemist
- 31 July - Rudolf Kreitlein, 92, football referee
August
- 2 August - Bernd Meier, 40, footballer
- 8 August - Kurt Maetzig, 101, film director
- 19 August - Hellmut Geissner, 86, scholar
- 21 August - Georg Leber, 91, politician
- 24 August - Georg Feuerstein, 65, German-born Canadian scholar of Hinduism
- 26 August - Krzysztof Wilmanski, 72, Polish-born German scientist
- 28 August - Alfred Schmidt, 81, philosopher
- 30 August - Paul Friedrichs, 72, motocross racer
- 31 August - Norbert Walter, 67, economist
September
- 8 September - Adolf Bechtold, 86, footballer
- 8 September - Peter Hussing, 64, boxer
- 16 September - Friedrich Zimmermann, 87, politician
- 21 September - Sven Hassel, 95, Danish-born German soldier and author
October
- 1 October - Dirk Bach, 51, comedian, actor and television presenter
- 4 October - Erhard Wunderlich, 55, handball player
- 6 October - Albert, Margrave of Meissen, 77, nobleman
- 11 October - Helmut Haller, 73, footballer
- 12 October - Harry Valérien, 88, sports journalist and presenter
- 17 October - Henry Friedlander, 82, German-born American Jewish historian
- 27 October - Hans Werner Henze, 86, composer
- 31 October - Alfons Demming, 84, Roman Catholic prelate
November
- 8 November - Pete Namlook, 51, composer and producer
- 10 November - Wilhelm Hennis, 89, political scientist
- 18 November - Helmut Sonnenfeldt, 96, German-born American foreign policy official
- 29 November - Klaus Schutz, 86, former Mayor of Berlin
December
- 4 December - Peter Kiesewetter, 67, composer
- 7 December - Berthold Albrecht, 58, businessman
- 11 December - Albert O. Hirschman, 97, German-born American economist
- 14 December - Klaus Koste, 69, gymnast
- 16 December - Axel Anderson, 83, German-born Puerto Rican actor
- 19 December - Peter Struck, 69, politician
- 25 December - Rudolf Muller, 81, Roman Catholic prelate
- 27 December - Jesco von Puttkamer, 79, German-born American aerospace engineer
- 28 December - Emmanuel Scheffer, 88, German-born Israeli football coach