2018 in Germany
Events in the year 2018 in Germany.
Incumbents
- President: Frank-Walter Steinmeier
- Chancellor: Angela Merkel
Events
January
- In January 2018, American company Energizer takes control over German company VARTA.
- 9 January - The Church of St. Lambertus in Immerath is demolished.
February
- 15–25 February - 68th Berlin International Film Festival
- 22 February - Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018
March
- 7 March - Murder of Keira Gross: 14-year-old Keira Gross is stabbed to death in Berlin.
- 14 March - The Fourth Merkel cabinet led by Angela Merkel is sworn in.
April
- 7 April - 2018 Münster attack - a man crashes into a restaurant in Münster, killing four and wounding twenty before killing himself.
- 12 April - 2018 Hamburg stabbing attack - an immigrant murders his divorced wife and infant.
May
- 22 or 23 May - 14-year-old German Jewish girl Susanna Feldmann is raped and murdered in Viersen
June
- 1 June - The state Bavaria pass a Kreuzpflicht Law that requires crosses in all public buildings.
- June: German chemical giant Bayer takeover of American company Monsanto
- 26 June - For the first time the German football team does not reach the knockout stage in the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
- 30 June - German company ThyssenKrupp outsources steel production to a new company, with company seat in Amsterdam. The new company is a fusion of ThyysenKrupp steel production and Indian company Tata Steel.
July
- 1 July - Interior minister Horst Seehofer offers to resign after rejecting Chancellor Angela Merkel's EU migration deal.
August
- 6–12 August - 2018 European Athletics Championships in Berlin
- 30 August - In the city of Chemnitz, 8,000-strong far right protests are held after a German man is killed by an Iraqi and a Syrian asylum seeker.
September
- September - Fusion of German companies Kaufhof and Karstadt
- 18 September - Hans-Georg Maaßen the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is moved from his role to a role as state secretary in Horst Seehofer ministry. after he caused controversy following the 2018 Chemnitz protests, when Maaßen questioned whether there was any credible evidence for such "hunts", and stated that his security agency had in fact not seen any such evidence.
October
- 14 October - At least three people die and eight are injured when a small plane crashes into a crowd in Fulda.
- 14 October - After Bavarian state election, 2018 the party CSU forms a new government with party Free Voters of Bavaria.
- 28 October - Hessian state election, 2018
November
- 2 November - The German state of Hesse scraps the death penalty provision from Hesse's state constitution by popular vote, with 83% of the votes in favor.
- 30 November - German company Jack Wolfskin is sold to American company Callaway Golf Company
- November - German company HSH Nordbank is sold to American private equity companies like Cerberus Capital Management and J.C. Flowers & Co.
December
- 7 December - Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer succeeds Angela Merkel as the new chairperson of the Christian Democratic Union, one of the major political parties in Germany.
Deaths
January
- 2 January - Michael Pfeiffer, professional football player and manager
- 4 January - Philipp Jenninger, politician
- 5 January - Hans Werner Kettenbach, writer
- 10 January -, writer and playwright
- 12 January - Heinrich von Stietencron, Indologist
- 15 January - Karl-Heinz Kunde, cyclist
- 30 January - Rolf Schafstall, footballer
February
- 3 February - Rolf Zacher, actor
- 8 February - Verena Butalikakis, politician
- 14 February - Anton Regh, footballer
- 20 February - Herbert Ehrenberg, politician
March
- 10 March - Ralf Waldmann, German motorcycle racer
- 11 March - Lorenz Dittmann, art historian
- 11 March - Siegfried Rauch, actor
- 11 March - Karl Lehmann, Roman Catholic Cardinal prelate, Bishop of Mainz
- 17 March - Michael Rutschky, German author, Heinrich-Mann-Prize
April
- 7 April - Peter Grünberg, German physicist, and Nobel Prize in Physics laureate
- 17 April - Karl Rawer, physicist, specialist in radio wave propagation and the ionosphere
- 19 April - Herbert Pilch, linguist and celtologist
- 25 April - Hans Dresig, Professor for Applied mechanics and Theory of Mechanisms and Machines
- 26 April - Wolfgang Zapf, sociologe
May
- 1 May - Elmar Altvater, political scientist
- 2 May - Harald Range, German lawyer
- 2 May - Wolfgang Völz, actor
- 17 May - Jürgen Marcus, singer
- 20 May - Dieter Schnebel, composer
- 20 May - Roland Vogt, politician
- 22 May - Daniela Samulski, swimmer
June
- 9 June - Reinhard Hardegen, German U-boat commander
- 15 June - Enoch zu Guttenberg, conductor
- 18 June - Paul Gratzik, German poet and novelist
- 29 June - Franz Beyer, German musicologist
July
- 3 July - Karin Eckhold, German actress
- 9 July - Hans Günter Winkler, showjumper
- 14 July - Christa Dichgans, painter
- 24 July - Duke Carl Gregor of Mecklenburg, German nobleman and musician
- 24 July - Walter Hirrlinger, German politician
August
- 1 August - Rotraut Wisskirchen, biblical archaeologist and academic
- 23 August - Dieter Thomas Heck, German television moderator
- 26 August - Inge Borkh, German soprano
September
- 3 September:
- * Klaus Gerwien, German footballer
- * Maria Beig, German author
- 7 September - Hans Oleak, German astrophysicist
- 9 September - Daniel Küblböck, German singer
- September - Rudolf Schieffer, German historian
- 12 September - Hans Kloss, German artist
- 14 September - Walter Remmers, German politician
- 20 September - Conrado Walter, German prelate of Roman Catholic Church in Brazil
- 22 September - Ottokar Runze, German film director
October
- 1 October - Graciano Rocchigiani, German boxer
- 4 October - Kurt Malangré, German politician
- 4 October - Karl Mildenberger, German boxer
- 11 October - Dieter Kemper, German cyclist
- 16 October - Berthold Leibinger, German entrepreneur
- 16 October - Wilfried Scharnagl, German journalist
- 17 October - Fritz Wittmann, German politician and lawyer
- 22 October - Friedrich Ostermann, German auxiliary bishop of Roman Catholic Church
November
- 14 November - Rolf Hoppe, German film actor
- 18 November - Klaus Bockisch, German football player
- 20 November - Dietmar Schwager, German football player
- 29 November - Ulrich Leyendecker, German composer
- 30 November - Dagobert Lindlau, German composer
December
- 1 December - Stefanie Tücking, German radio and television presenter
- 2 December - Lothar Baumgarten, German artist
- 2 December - Bernd Martin, German football player
- 3 December - Markus Beyer, German boxer
- 3 December - Hans-Günther Thalheim, German Germanist and linguist
- 10 December - Johann Georg Reißmüller, German journalist
- 10 December - Robert Spaemann, German philosopher
- 12 December - Wilhelm Genazino, German journalist
- 14 December - Horst Herold, German police officer
- 17 December - Amélie Mummendey, German social psychologist
- 17 December - Jan Stressenreuter, German author
- 20 December - F. W. Bernstein, German poet and cartoonist
- 25 December - Sigi Schmid, German football coach
- 30 December - Edgar Hilsenrath, German writer