2012 in Germany

Years in Germany:	2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Centuries:	20th century · 21st century · 22nd century
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Years:	2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Events in the year 2012 in Germany.

Incumbents

Federal level

Christian Wulff

Joachim Gauck

Angela Merkel

• 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 June 12 Torsten Albig
• Minister-President of Thuringia – Christine Lieberknecht

Events

January – June

• January 6 – In state Saarland coalition of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer breaks up.
• January 20 – Bavarian Film Awards in Munich
• January 23 – The drugstore Schlecker files for bankruptcy.
• February 9–19 – 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in Berlin
• February 16 – Roman Lob is selected to represent Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest.
• February 17 – German President Christian Wulff resigns following a major loan scandal.
• February 19 – Joachim Gauck is chosen as the main candidate to succeed Christian Wulff.
• February 27 – The party Die Linke selects Beate Klarsfeld as its candidate to succeed Christian Wulff.
• February 29 – Schlecker announces the closure of half its stores across Germany.
• March 6–10 – CeBIT in Hanover
• March 7–11 – ITB Berlin in Berlin
• March 15–18 – Leipzig Book Fair in Leipzig
• March 18 – German presidential election, 2012 – Joachim Gauck is elected President of Germany, taking the oath of office on March 23
• March 25 – April 1 – 2012 World Team Table Tennis Championships in Dortmund
• March 25 – Elections in state Saarland
• April 23–27 – Hanover Messe in Hanover
• April 27 – Deutscher Filmpreis in Berlin
• May 6 – Elections in Schleswig-Holstein
• May 13 – Elections in North Rhine-Westphalia – Hannelore Kraft is elected to continue as Minister-President, heading an SPD-Green coalition.
• May 22 – Peter Altmaier replaces Norbert Rottgen as Environment Minister.
• May 26 – Roman Lob represents Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest, finishing 8th.
• June – The Germany national football team takes part in UEFA Euro 2012.
• June 12 – 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.
• June 18–24 – Kiel Week in Kiel
• June 28 – 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.

July – December

• July 3 – 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.
• July 13 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter alleges that there were irregularities when Germany won the right to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
• July 31 - 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.
• August 9–12 – Hanse Sail in Rostock
• August 31- September 5 – Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin in Berlin
• September 11–16 – ILA Berlin Air Show in Berlin
• September 12 - The German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe ruled, that the new European bailout fund was inline with the German constitution.
• September 15–19 – gamescom in Cologne
• September 18–23 – photokina in Cologne
• September 20–27 – Frankfurt Motor Show in Frankfurt
• September 21 - JadeWeserPort opened.
• September 22- October 7 – Oktoberfest in Munich
• September 28 - The SPD selects Peer Steinbruck as its candidate to face Angela Merkel in the German federal election, 2013.
• October 4 - Michael Schumacher announces his retirement from Formula One.
• October 5 - Footballer Michael Ballack announces an end to his playing career.
• October 10–14 – Frankfurt Book Fair, with special guest New Zealand.
• November 12 - 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards in Frankfurt
• November 25 - In Formula One, German driver Sebastian Vettel wins the Drivers' Championship for the third consecutive year.
• November 26 - A fire at a workshop for disabled people in Southwestern Germany kills 14 people.
• December 10 - An explosive device is found, and made safe, at the main railway station in Bonn.
• December 25 - Joachim Gauck makes his first Christmas address as President.

Deaths

January

Vadim Glowna 1941–2012

• January 2 – Helmut Müller-Brühl, 78, conductor
• January 3 – Willi Entenmann, 68, footballer and coach
• January 4 – Xaver Unsinn, 82, ice hockey player
• January 10 – Kyra T. Inachin, 43, historian
• January 13 – Guido Dessauer, 96, paper engineer and art collector
• January 17 – Julius Meimberg, 95, Luftwaffe flying ace
• January 18 – Georg Lassen, 96, naval officer
• January 24 – Vadim Glowna, 70, actor and film director
• January 25 – Veronica Carstens, 88, former First Lady

February

Gunther Plaut 1912–2012

• February 1 – Lutz Philipp, 71, Olympic athlete
• February 2 – Paul Consbruch, 81, Roman Catholic prelate
• February 8 – Gunther Plaut, 99, German-born Canadian rabbi and author
• February 20 – Imanuel Geiss, 81, historian
• February 25 – Louisiana Red, 79, American blues musician (died in Hannover)
• February 27 – Werner Guballa, 67, Roman Catholic bishop

March

Friedhelm Konietzka 1938–2012

• March 11 – Hans G. Helms, 79, experimental writer
• March 12 – Friedhelm Konietzka, 73, German-born Swiss footballer and manager
• March 13 – Princess Anna of Saxony, 82, noblewoman.
• March 17 – John Demjanjuk, 91, Ukrainian convicted Nazi war criminal, died in Bad Feilnbach.
• March 19 – Karl-Heinz Spickenagel, 80, footballer.
• March 21 – Albrecht Dietz, 86, entrepreneur and scientist.
• March 29 – Borgia, 18, racehorse.

April

Barbara Buchholz 1959–2012

• April 5 – Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, 76, entrepreneur and auto designer.
• April 9 – Ivan Nagel, 80, theatre director.
• April 10 – Barbara Buchholz, 52, musician and composer.
• April 12 – Manfred Orzessek, 78, footballer.
• April 18 – Fritz Theilen, 84, resistance activist.
• April 20 – Peter Carsten, 83, actor.
• April 21 – Heinz Jentzsch, 92, racehorse trainer.

May

• May 3 – Felix Werder, 90, German-born Australian composer.
• May 10 – Horst Faas, 79, photojournalist.
• May 10 – Gunther Kaufmann, 64, actor.
• May 12 – Ernst Josef Fittkau, 75, entomologist.
• May 12 – Fritz Ursell, 89, German-born British mathematician.
• May 15 – Peter Koslowski, 59, philosopher and academic.
• May 15 – Arno Lustiger, 88, Polish-born writer and historian of Judaism.
• May 16 – Hans Geister, 83, athlete.
• May 18 – Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, 86, baritone and conductor.
• May 18 – Hans-Dieter Lange, 85, television journalist.
• May 24 – Klaas Carel Faber, 90, Dutch-born war criminal, died in Ingolstadt.
• May 27 – Friedrich Hirzebruch, 84, mathematician.
• May 30 – Gerhard Pohl, 74, politician.

June

Karl-Heinz Kammerling 1930–2012

• June 9 – Audrey Arno, 70, pop singer.
• June 12 – Margarete Mitscherlich-Nielsen, 94, psychoanalyst.
• June 14 – Karl-Heinz Kammerling, 82, academic teacher of pianists.
• June 18 – Lina Haag, 105, anti-fascist activist during World War II.
• June 20 – Heinrich IV, Prince Reuss of Kostritz, 92, nobleman.
• June 24 – Gad Beck, 88, Resistance activist and Holocaust survivor.
• June 24 – Franz Crass, 84, bass singer.
• June 24 – Rudolf Schmid, 97, Swiss-born German Roman Catholic bishop.
• June 24 – Jean Cox, 90, American opera singer, died in Bayreuth.
• June 25 – Doris Schade, 88, television actress.
• June 27 – Ralph Warren Victor Elliott, 90, German-born Australian professor of English and runologist.

July

Susanne Lothar 1960–2012

• July 10 – Fritz Langanke, 92, Waffen SS Lieutenant.
• July 18 – Günther Maleuda, 81, politician, President of the People's Chamber (1989–1990).
• July 19 – Hans Nowak, 74, footballer.
• July 21 – Alexander Cockburn, 71, Scottish-born Irish-American journalist and writer, died in Hesse.
• July 21 - Susanne Lothar, 51, actress.
• July 23 – Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen, 86, head of the Royal House of Saxony.
• July 27 - Carl-Ludwig Wagner, 82, politician, former Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate.
• July 29 - Heinz Staab, 86, chemist.
• July 31 - Rudolf Kreitlein, 92, football referee.

August

Georg Leber 1920-2012

• August 2 - Bernd Meier, 40, footballer.
• August 8 - Kurt Maetzig, 101, film director.
• August 19 - Hellmut Geissner, 86, scholar.
• August 21 - Georg Leber, 91, politician.
• August 24 - Georg Feuerstein, 65, German-born Canadian scholar of Hinduism.
• August 26 - Krzysztof Wilmanski, 72, Polish-born German scientist.
• August 28 - Alfred Schmidt, 81, philosopher.
• August 30 - Paul Friedrichs, 72, motocross racer.
• August 31 - Norbert Walter, 67, economist.

September

• September 8 - Adolf Bechtold, 86, footballer.
• September 8 - Peter Hussing, 64, boxer.
• September 16 - Friedrich Zimmermann, 87, politician.
• September 21 - Sven Hassel, 95, Danish-born German soldier and author.

October

Dirk Bach 1961-2012

• October 1 - Dirk Bach, 51, comedian, actor and television presenter.
• October 4 - Erhard Wunderlich, 55, handball player.
• October 6 - Albert, Margrave of Meissen, 77, nobleman.
• October 11 - Helmut Haller, 73, footballer.
• October 12 - Harry Valérien, 88, sports journalist and presenter.
• October 17 - Henry Friedlander, 82, German-born American Jewish historian.
• October 27 - Hans Werner Henze, 86, composer.
• October 31 - Alfons Demming, 84, Roman Catholic prelate.

November

• November 8 - Pete Namlook, 51, composer and producer.
• November 10 - Wilhelm Hennis, 89, political scientist.
• November 18 - Helmut Sonnenfeldt, 96, German-born American foreign policy official.
• November 29 - Klaus Schutz, 86, former Mayor of Berlin.

December

Peter Struck 1943-2012

• December 4 - Peter Kiesewetter, 67, composer.
• December 7 - Berthold Albrecht, 58, businessman.
• December 11 - Albert O. Hirschman, 97, German-born American economist.
• December 14 - Klaus Koste, 69, gymnast.
• December 16 - Axel Anderson, 83, German-born Puerto Rican actor
• December 19 - Peter Struck, 69, politician.
• December 25 - Rudolf Muller, 81, Roman Catholic prelate.
• December 27 - Jesco von Puttkamer, 79, German-born American aerospace engineer.
• December 28 - Emmanuel Scheffer, 88, German-born Israeli football coach.