January 7 – Two people are killed in a shooting inside a company office in Bad Friedrichshall.[1]
January 9 – Elon Musk does a live broadcast with Alice Weidel from the AfD on X Spaces, during which Musk doubles down on his endorsement of the AfD.[2][3]
January 15 – The Karlsruhe branch of the AfD initiates a campaign by distributing flyers resembling flight tickets labeled Abschiebetickets (deportation tickets) in mailboxes, prompting a police investigation.[7]
January 29 – A non-binding resolution calling for tighter immigration policies passes in the Bundestag with support of opposition parties including the CDU and the AfD.[10] The next day, Angela Merkel criticises CDU leader Friedrich Merz for introducing the resolution.[11]
January 31 – A bill filed by the CDU/CSU restricting immigration to Germany is voted down in the Bundestag.[12]
February
February 12 – The government extends controls on Germany's borders until 15 September.[13]
February 13 – 2025 Munich car attack: Two people are killed while at least 37 others are injured after a car rams through a street demonstration in Munich. The suspect, an Afghan with a valid residence and work permit, is arrested.[14][15]
2025 German federal election: The CDU/CSU wins a plurality in the Bundestag with about 28.6% of the vote, followed by the AfD with 20.8% and the SPD with 16.4%.[19]
The AfD becomes the strongest party in the East, securing all five former East German states.[20]
Christian Lindner resigns as leader of the FDP and announces his retirement from active politics after the party fails to win a seat in the Bundestag following the federal election.[21]
February 26 – Four people are injured in a shooting near a courthouse in Bielefeld.[24]
February 27
A court in Jena sentences two Afghan residents to up to five years imprisonment for plotting to attack the Swedish Riksdag and assassinate lawmakers in response to the burning of copies of the Koran.[25]
A two-day strike is launched at Munich Airport, resulting in disruptions to 80% of flights.[26]
A truck carrying heating oil collides with a tram at a crossing in Ubstadt-Weiher, causing both vehicles to catch fire and leaving three people dead.[31]
March 18 – The Bundestag votes 512-206 in favor of the proposed Debt brake agreement amendment, sending it to the Bundesrat, where it would have to pass by two-thirds in order to become law.[32] The measure passes with the support of the SPD, CDU/CSU, Alliance 90/The Greens and the SSW also supported the reform, while the FDP, AfD, The Left and the BSW vote against.[33]
March 21 – The Bundesrat votes in favor of the debt brake agreement amendment 53-16, passing the two-thirds threshold to become law. The states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Rhineland-Palatinate all abstain from voting, which is counted as voting in opposition. The Free Voters of Bavaria, which initially voiced objections to the amendment, ultimately votes in favor as a bloc.[34]
May 5 – The AfD sues the Federal Office for the Protection of Constitution, accusing it of violating the German constitution by trying to prosecute the party for saying ideas which are considered freedom of speech and legitimate criticism of German immigration policies.[45][46]
May 7 – Friedrich Merz is elected as Chancellor by the Bundestag following two rounds of voting.[47]
May 13 – Peter Fitzek, a leader of the Reichsbürger movement and self-proclaimed "king" of Germany, is arrested on charges of plotting to overthrow the state.[49]
May 18 – Five people are injured in a knife attack in Bielefeld.[51]
May 21 – Five teenagers are arrested nationwide on suspicion of plotting attacks on migrants and political opponents on behalf of the far-right group Last Defense Wave.[52]
May 22 – A Yemeni national is arrested in Dachau on suspicion of membership in the Houthi movement.[53]
May 27 – A Syrian national is arrested in Pirmasens on suspicion of involvement in human rights abuses at a prison in Damascus during the Arab Spring in Syria.[57]
May 31 –
A light aircraft crashes into a residential building in Korschenbroich, killing two people.[58]
The Berlin Administrative Court rules against the German government's practice of rejecting asylum-seekers at border controls unless carried out under the Dublin Regulation.[62]
4 June –
In the largest evacuation in Cologne since 1945, more than 20,000 residents are ordered evacuated as part of efforts to defuse three unexploded bombs dropped during World War II.[63]
A Ryanair aircraft flying from Berlin to Milan makes an emergency landing at Memmingen Airport after encountering turbulence that injures nine people on board.[64]
The Federal Administrative Court strikes down a ban imposed in July 2024 by the federal government on the far-right magazine Compact and its publisher, Compact-Magazin GmbH, saying that the publication did not meet conditions that justified the prohibition.[69]
27 June – The Bundestag votes 444-135 to suspend family reunions for migrants with "subsidiary protection" until 2027.[72]
July
1 July –
One person is killed while two others are injured in a knife attack inside the offices of a local electricity supplier in Mellrichstadt. A suspect is arrested.[73]
3 July – Four people are injured in an axe attack inside an Intercity Express train traveling between Straubing and Plattling on its way to Vienna. A suspect is arrested.[75]
4 July – A bus traveling from Copenhagen to Vienna overturns near Röbel, injuring 23 of the 55 people on board.[76]
6 July – Poland imposes temporary border controls on crossings with Germany in Lithuania as part of efforts to curb the flow irregular asylum-seekers.[77]
15 July – The Federal Constitutional Court dismisses a case brought about by Yemeni plaintiffs accusing the German government of failing to prevent deaths from US drone strikes on Yemen coordinated from Ramstein Air Base, citing the lack of a "sufficient connection" to the German state’s authority and "a serious danger of systematic violation" of international law.[79]
18 July –
Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri aka Al-Buti, a Libyan national and former prison official wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on inmates in 2015, is arrested in Germany.[80]
Germany launches its second repatriation flight to Afghanistan since the Taliban retook power in 2021, deporting 81 Afghan nationals.[81]
Nineteen people are injured by the errant detonation of fireworks at a fair in Düsseldorf.[82]
27 July – A passenger train traveling from Sigmaringen to Ulm derails near Riedlingen, killing three people and injuring 50 others.[84]
29 July –
A court in Ingolstadt convicts three people for stealing 483 Celtic coins from a museum in Manching in 2022 and sentences them to up to 11 years' imprisonment.[85]
A helicopter of the German Air Force crashes near Leipzig, killing two crew members and leaving a third missing.[86]
August
8 August – Germany imposes a limited arms embargo to Israel in response to the latter's conduct in the Gaza War.[87]
14 August – The government dismisses Richard Lutz as CEO of Deutsche Bahn amid criticism over poor service.[88]
24 August – An American citizen is injured in a knife attack at a tram in Dresden.[89]
26 August – An acquaintance of the main suspect in the 2024 Vienna terrorism plot in Austria is convicted by a court in Berlin for plotting and supporting a terrorist attack overseas and sentenced to a suspended 18-month prison term.[90]
5 September – A schoolteacher is injured in a stabbing attack in Essen. The 17-year-old suspect is shot by police before being taken into custody.[94]
10 September – The state court of Düsseldorf convicts Syrian national Issa Al H. of carrying out the 2024 Solingen stabbings and sentences him to life imprisonment.[95]
11 September – The Bundestag votes in favor of lifting the parliamentary immunity of AfD deputy Maximilian Krah amid investigations into his alleged involvement with China, corruption and espionage.[96]
↑ The President of the Bundesrat, the speaker of the Bundesrat, a federal legislative chamber, in which the governments of the sixteen German states are represented. The president of the Bundesrat is ex officio also deputy to the President of Germany (Basic Law, Article 57), thus becomes first in the order, while acting on behalf of the President or while acting as head of state during a vacancy of the presidency.
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