2026 in Germany

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See also:	Other events of 2026 History of Germany  • Timeline  • Years

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Events in the year 2026 in Germany.

Incumbents

• President: Frank-Walter Steinmeier
• Chancellor: Friedrich Merz

Events

January

• 1 January – Two people are killed in fireworks-related incidents during New Year's celebrations in Bielefeld. ^[1]
• 3 January – An arson attack on cables in Berlin causes a blackout affecting 40,000 households. ^[2] Left-wing Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group) claims responsibility and calls it a protest against fossil fuel usage and AI data centers. ^[3]
• 6 January – The governing coalition between the SPD and the BSW in Brandenburg is replaced by a new coalition between the SPD and the CDU. ^[4]
• 7 January – The government formally recognizes and establishes diplomatic relations with Niue, coordinating ties from the embassy in Wellington, New Zealand. ^[5]
• 8–11 January – 2026 Men's EuroHockey Indoor Championship in Heidelberg. ^{[6] [7]}
• 20 January – Thousands of people protest across Dortmund, Frankfurt, and Bremen, in support of Kurdish forces against the Syrian Armed Forces in clashes in northeastern Syria. ^[8]
• 21 January – A dual German-Ukrainian citizen is arrested in Berlin on suspicion of spying for Russia. ^[9] The incident results in the expulsion of a Russian diplomat from Germany the next day. ^[10]
• 23 January – A Lebanese national is arrested at Berlin Brandenburg Airport on suspicion of membership in Hamas and plotting a terrorist attack in Europe. ^[11]
• 28 January – Sven Schulze is elected as minister-president of Saxony-Anhalt. ^[12]

February

• 2 February –
  • A nationwide strike is held by ver.di demanding shortened shifts for public workers and increased bonuses, causing extensive disruption to public transportation. ^[13]
  • Five people are arrested in Lübeck and Lauenburg on suspicion of illegally exporting goods to Russian defense companies. ^[14]
• 3 February – Two people are arrested on suspicion of plotting to sabotage several corvettes destined for the German Navy at a shipyard in Hamburg in 2025. ^[15]
• 5 February – The Federal Cartel Office orders Amazon, Inc. to return 59 million euros ($70 million) in profits from unfair trading practices. ^[16]
• 25 February – A suspect in the 2025 murder of Ukrainian politician Andriy Portnov is arrested in Heinsberg. ^[17]
• 26 February – A court in Cologne issues an injunction against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution's designation of the AfD as an extremist organization pending a judicial review. ^[18]

March

• 5 March – A court in Berlin convicts a Syrian national for carrying out a antisemitic knife attack at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe that injured one person in 2025 and sentences him to 13 years' imprisonment. ^[19]
• 8 March
  • 2026 Baden-Württemberg state election: The Greens win a plurality of 30.2% in the Landtag of Baden-Württemberg, the CDU win 29,7% and the AfD win 18.8% in the Landtag. ^[20]
  • A meteorite strikes a roof of a house in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate. No one is injured. ^[21]
• 12 March – German economic crisis: Lufthansa pilots organize a 48-hour strike over ongoing pension dispute, causing major delays at all German airports. ^[22]
• 19 March – Germany drops out of defending Israel in the International Court of Justice's genocide case against Israel, citing their need to defend themselves in a separate case launched against them by Nicaragua. ^[23]
• 22 March – 2026 Rhineland-Palatinate state election
  • The CDU won with 31.0% of votes, while the SPD, which led the state government since 1991, suffered heavy losses and fell to second place with 25.9% of votes.
  • The AfD climbed to third place by doubling its vote share to 19.5%, the highest in Western German states.
  • The FDP and FW both lost votes, failed to reach the five percent hurdle and lost their parliamentary representation

Predicted and scheduled

• 27 May – 2026 UEFA Conference League final in Leipzig. ^[24]
• 11–23 August – 2026 FEI World Championships in Aachen. ^{[25] [26]}
• 4–13 September – 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Berlin. ^[27]
• 6 September – 2026 Saxony-Anhalt state election
• 20 September – 2026 Berlin state election
• 20 September – 2026 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election
• 31 December – The television channels One, Tagesschau24 and Alpha will close. ^[28]

Holidays

Further information: Public holidays in Germany

Source: ^[29]

• 1 January – New Year's Day
• 6 January – Epiphany
• 8 March – International Women's Day
• 2 April – Maundy Thursday
• 3 April – Good Friday
• 5 April – Easter Sunday
• 6 April – Easter Monday
• 1 May – International Workers' Day
• 9 May – Ascension Day
• 24 May – Whit Sunday
• 25 May – Whit Monday
• 4 June – Corpus Christi
• 15 August – Assumption Day
• 20 September – Children's Day
• 3 October – German Unity Day
• 31 October – Reformation Day
• 1 November – All Saints' Day
• 18 November – Repentance Day
• 25 December – Christmas Day
• 26 December – Saint Stephen's Day

Art and entertainment

• List of German submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

Deaths

January

• 1 January – Hubertus von Pilgrim, 94, sculptor ^[30]
• 2 January – Lajos Rovátkay, 92, harpsichordist and musicologist ^[31]
• 4 January – Klaus Keitel, 87, politician ^[32]
• 6 January – Kathleen Muxel, 54, member of the Landtag of Brandenburg (since 2019) ^[33]
• 7 January – Dietrich Stratmann, 89, physicist and politician ^[34]
• 8 January – Jürgen Plagemann, 90, rower
• 9 January - Hans Herrmann , 98, racing driver ^[35]
• 12 January – Martin Willich, 80, politician ^[36]
• 19 January – Peter Radunski, 86, politician
• 20 January – Wolfgang Heichel, 75, singer (Dschingskhan) ^[37]
• 21 January – Rüdiger Erben, 58, member of the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt (2006, since 2011) ^[38]
• 22 January – Francis Buchholz, 71, musician and bass guitarist ^[39]
• 29 January – Stefan Gossler, 71, actor
• 31 January – Gisela Engeln-Müllges, 85, mathematician

February

• 1 February – Rita Süssmuth, 88, president of the Bundestag (1988–1998) and federal minister for youth, family and health (1985–1988) ^[40]
• 3 February – Herbert Sukopp, 95, ecologist ^[41]
• 5 February - Brigitte Groneberg, 82, assyriologist and philologist
• 11 February –
  • Christoph Luitpold Frommel, 92, art historian ^[42]
  • Helmuth Rilling, 92, choral conductor ^[43]
  • Peter Meyer, 85, footballer

March

• 1 March – Käthe Menzel-Jordan, 109, architect ^[44]
• 14 March – Jürgen Habermas, 96, philosopher and sociologist ( The Theory of Communicative Action ) ^[45]
• 21 March - Carsten Träger, 52, politician (SPD)

See also

• 2026 in the European Union
• 2026 in Europe

References

1. Leigh, Suzanne (1 January 2026). "Netherlands police face 'unprecedented' New Year's violence". BBC News . Retrieved 1 January 2026.
2. "Berlin power outage hits 45,000 homes after suspected arson attack". The Guardian. AFP. 3 January 2026. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 4 January 2026.
3. "Leftwing militants claim responsibility for arson attack on Berlin power grid". The Guardian.
4. n-tv: Basus für Koalition ist nicht mehr gegeben, January 6, 2026
5. "Germany to recognize Niue, a Pacific island linked to New Zealand". Yahoo! News . 7 January 2026. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
6. "Fünftes Turnier in drei Jahren an den Deutschen Hockey-Bund vergeben - Hockey Hallen-EM findet 2026 in Heidelberg statt". hockey.de (in German). German Hockey Federation. 22 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
7. "Hockey: Hallen-EM 2026 in Heidelberg". freenet.de (in German). 22 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
8. Hairsine, Kate (20 January 2026). "Germany sees thousands join pro-Kurdish protests". Deutsche Welle . Retrieved 21 January 2026.
9. "Germany arrests woman accused of supplying war-related information to Russian agent". AP News . 21 January 2026. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
10. "Germany expels a Russian diplomat after a suspect is arrested in an espionage case". AP News . 21 January 2026. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
11. "Germany arrests suspected Hamas member over alleged attack plot". BBC . 25 January 2026. Retrieved 25 January 2026.
12. "Lawmakers in German state elect new governor to counter far-right rise". AP News . 28 January 2026. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
13. "Germany hit by nationwide public transport strike". France 24 . 2 February 2026. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
14. "Germany detains 5 men accused of illegally exporting goods to Russian defense companies". AP News . 2 February 2026. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
15. "2 arrested in investigation of attempted sabotage against ships built for German navy". AP News . 4 February 2026. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
16. "Germany claws back 59 mn euros from Amazon over price controls". France 24 . 5 February 2026. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
17. "Suspect in murder of top Ukrainian ex-official arrested in Germany". The Kyiv Independent. 25 February 2026.
18. "German court says intelligence agency can't designate the AfD party an extremist group for now". AP News. 26 February 2026. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
19. "A Syrian man is convicted of stabbing a Spanish tourist at Berlin's Holocaust Memorial". AP News. 5 March 2026. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
20. "Merz's party stumbles into a year of German state elections with a narrow defeat". AP News. 10 March 2026. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
21. Connor, Richard (9 March 2026). "Germany: Meteorite punches through a house in Koblenz". DW . Retrieved 9 March 2026.
22. Wilson, Natalie (12 March 2026). "Lufthansa faces huge flight disruption as pilot union announces strike". The Independent . Retrieved 12 March 2026.
23. "Germany U-turns, Won't Intervene on Israel's Behalf in ICJ Gaza Genocide Case".
24. "Invitation to bid to host the UEFA Champions League Finals 2026 & 2027, UEFA Europa League Finals 2026 & 2027, UEFA Europa Conference League Finals 2026 & 2027 and UEFA Women's Champions League Finals 2026 & 2027". UEFA Circular Letter. No. 24/2023. Union of European Football Associations. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
25. "FEI confirms bidders for FEI World Championships 2026". 24 August 2023.
26. "The FEI World Championships 2026 to be held in Aachen". CHIO Aachen. 19 November 2023.
27. "FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026: Deutschland erhält Zuschlag!". German Basketball Federation. 28 April 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
28. Welt.de: ARD stellt „Tagesschau24“ ein – zwei weitere TV-Kanäle werden gestrichen, 2026
29. "Germany Public Holidays 2026". Public Holidays Global. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
30. "Skulpteur der Erinnerung". Skulpteur der Erinnerung (in German). Retrieved 6 January 2026.
31. "Rovátkay Lajostól búcsúzunk". Magyar Régizenei Központ (in Hungarian). Retrieved 4 January 2026.
32. Bock, Michael (7 January 2026). "Erster Landtagspräsident von Sachsen-Anhalt ist verstorben". Volksstimme (in German). Retrieved 8 January 2026.
33. "AfD-Landtagsabgeordnete Muxel gestorben". n-tv (in German). 6 January 2026. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
34. "Dietrich Stratmann". Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine (in German).
35. Böttinger, Astrid (9 January 2026). "Porsche mourns the loss of Hans Herrmann". Porsche Newsroom. Porsche AG . Retrieved 9 January 2026.
36. Rybarczyk, Christoph; Gall, Insa; Drechsler, Jakob (14 January 2026). "„Einer der besten Debattenredner": Martin Willich ist tot". Hamburger Abendblatt (in German). Retrieved 14 January 2026.
37. "Moskau hit singer Wolfgang Heichel has died at the age of 75". Izvestia . 13 February 2026. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
38. "SPD-Politiker Rüdiger Erben ist tot – Weggefährten tief betroffen". Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (in German). 22 January 2026. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
39. Brannigan, Paul (23 January 2026). "Former Scorpions/Michael Schenker Bassist Francis Buchholz Dead at 71". Louder Sound. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
40. "Ex-Bundestagspräsidentin Rita Süssmuth gestorben". BR24 (in German). 1 February 2026. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
41. "Herbert Sukopp" (in German). der Tagesspiegel. 7 February 2026. Archived from the original on 8 February 2026.
42. Satzinger, Georg (13 February 2026). "Nachruf für Christoph Luitpold Frommel (25.9.1933-11.2.2026)". Bibliothek des Kunsthistorischen Instituts der Universität Bonn (in German). Retrieved 13 February 2026.
43. "Helmuth Rilling ist tot: Gründer der Bachakademie Stuttgart starb mit 92 Jahren". SWR (in German). 12 February 2026. Archived from the original on 12 February 2026. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
44. "Älteste Erfurterin gestorben: Im Stadtbild finden sich ihre Spuren". Thuringer Allgemeine (in German). 1 March 2026. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
45. Moulson, Gier (14 March 2026). "Jürgen Habermas, influential German philosopher, dies at 96". AP News . Retrieved 14 March 2026.

External links

• Online calendar