2010 in Germany

The following is a list of events from the year 2010 in Germany.

Incumbents

Federal level

• President: Horst Köhler (until 31 May 2010) Jens Böhrnsen (Acting; 31 May – 30 June 2010) Christian Wulff (from 30 June 2010)
• Chancellor: Angela Merkel

Events

• 16 January – The German government asks its citizens to stop using Microsoft's web browser Internet Explorer to protect their own security.
• 22 January – A Nuremberg court issues an arrest warrant for former Argentine leader Jorge Rafael Videla, on suspicion of killing a German man.
• 11–21 February – 60th Berlin International Film Festival
• 13 February – More than 10,000 anti-fascist protesters successfully block a planned neo-Nazi march in Dresden.
• 4 April – Three car bombs hit the Egyptian, German and Iranian embassies in the centre of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, in quick succession, killing at least 30 people.
• 29 May – With the song "Satellite", Germany's Lena wins the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, the first German victory since 1982.
• 25 June – Germany's TanDEM-X satellite, whose aim it is to create the most precise 3D map of Earth's surface, obtains its first images.
• 30 June — Christian Wulff is elected President of Germany.
• 4 July – In a referendum, voters in the German state of Bavaria vote to ban smoking at all pubs and restaurants.
• 7 July – Spain defeats Germany 1–0 to win its semi-final and for its first time, along with Netherlands make the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final.
• 10 July – 2010 FIFA World Cup: Germany defeats Uruguay 3–2 to finish third.
• 12 July – At least eight people are injured after a tornado strikes the German island of Duene in the North Sea.
• 24 July – A massive stampede at the 2010 Love Parade in Duisburg kills 20 people and injures dozens more people.
• 8 August – Dutch rider Ellen van Dijk wins the 2010 Sparkassen Giro.
• 26 August – German HIV-positive pop singer Nadja Benaissa is found guilty of grievous bodily harm after transmitting HIV to a man who had unprotected sex with her without her telling him of her condition.
• 21–26 September – photokina in Cologne
• 3 October Germany celebrates 20 years of unification. The German government pays its last World War I reparations.
• 21 October – Freck Langsam, German no-budget Gangster Comedy film is released.
• 26 October – The number of unemployed in Germany drops first time since 1991 below three million.
• 1 November – German identity cards are issued in the ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1 format and contain RFID chips with personally identifiable information including a biometric Photo and, if desired, two fingerprints.

• 9 November – Demonstrations in Wendland near Gorleben against CASTOR-transport.
• 29 November – Break of coalition in Hamburg between the Green and CDU parties.
• December – The German Meteorological Service, Deutsche Wetterdienst, says December was the coldest December month since 1969 in Germany.

Deaths

January

• 1 January Marlene Neubauer-Woerner, 91, German sculptor (b. 1918) Freya von Moltke, 98, German World War II resistance fighter (b. 1911)
• 4 January – Ludwig Wilding, 82, German artist (b. 1927)
• 9 January Franz-Hermann Brüner, 64, German head of OLAF (b. 1945) Diether Posser, 87, German politician (b. 1922)
• 14 January Katharina Rutschky, 68, German educationalist and author (b. 1941) Petra Schürmann, 74, German television presenter, Miss World 1956 (b. 1933)
• 15 January – Detlev Lauscher, 57, German footballer (b. 1952)
• 18 January – Günter Mielke, 67, German Olympic athlete (b. 1942)
• 30 January – Ruth Cohn, 97, German psychotherapist (b. 1912)
• 31 January – Erna Baumbauer, 91, German casting agent (b. 1919)

February

• 10 February – Michael Palme, 66, German sportswriter and host (b. 1943)
• 12 February – Werner Krämer, 70, German footballer (b. 1940)
• 14 February – Rosa Rein, 112, German-born Swiss supercentenarian (b. 1897)
• 16 February – Ino Kolbe, 95, German Esperanto expert (b. 1914)
• 17 February – Ines Paulke, 51, German rock and roll singer and songwriter, suicide (b. 1958)
• 18 February – Erwin Bachmann, 88, German Waffen-SS officer (b. 1921)
• 21 February – Casimir Johannes Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, 93, German politician (b. 1917)
• 23 February Gerhardt Neef, 63, German footballer (Rangers), (b. 1946) Henri Salmide, 90, German World War II naval officer, saved Bordeaux port from destruction (b. 1919)
• 27 February – David Bankier, 63, German-born Israeli Holocaust scholar (b. 1947)

March

• 5 March – Wolfgang Schenck, 97, German airman, Luftwaffe flying ace (b. 1913)
• 12 March – Hanna-Renate Laurien, 81, German politician (b. 1928)
• 14 March – Konrad Ruhland, 78, German musicologist (b. 1932)
• 20 March – Erwin Lehn, 90, German musician and conductor (b. 1919)
• 21 March – Wolfgang Wagner, 90, German director (Bayreuth Festival) (b. 1919)
• 22 March – Emil Schulz, 71, German boxer (b. 1938)
• 25 March – Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, 93, German political scientist (b. 1916)
• 27 March – Peter Herbolzheimer, 74, German jazz musician (b. 1935)
• 30 March Alfred Ambs, 87, German World War II flying ace (b. 1923) Josef Homeyer, 80, German Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of Hildesheim (1983–2004) (b. 1983) Martin Sandberger, 98, German Nazi leader and Holocaust perpetrator (b. 1911)
• 31 March – Ludwig Martin, German lawyer (b. 1909)

April

• 3 April – Ferdinand Simoneit, 84, German journalist, author and World War II veteran (b. 1925)
• 4 April Friedrich Wilhelm Schäfke, 87, German mathematician and academic (b. 1922) Erich Zenger, 70, German Roman Catholic theologian and bible scholar (b. 1939)
• 5 April Günther C. Kirchberger, 81, German academic and painter (b. 1928) Gisela Trowe, 86, German actress (b. 1922)
• 6 April – Hans Schröder, 79, German sculptor and painter (b. 1931)
• 8 April – Andreas Kunze, 57, German actor (b. 1952)
• 9 April – Gisela Karau, 78, German author, editor and columnist (b. 1932)
• 10 April Martin Ostwald, 88, German-born American classics scholar (b. 1922) Manfred Reichert, 69, German footballer (b. 1940)
• 11 April Gerhard Geise, 80, German mathematician (b. 1930) Hans-Joachim Göring, 86, German footballer and coach (b. 1923) Gert Haller, 65, German business manager, lobbyist and politician (b. 1944) Theodor Homann, 61, German footballer (b. 1948) Egon Hugenschmidt, 84, German jurist and politician (b. 1925)
• 12 April Ambrosius Eßer, 76, German Dominican clergy and church historian (b. 1933) Wolfgang Graßl, 40, German skier and coach (b. 1970) Werner Schroeter, 65, German film director (b. 1945)
• 14 April – Stefan Schmitt, 46, German jurist and politician (b. 1963)
• 15 April – Wilhelm Huxhorn, 54, German footballer (b. 1955)
• 17 April – Josef W. Janker, 87, German author, journalist and World War II veteran (b. 1922)
• 21 April – Manfred Kallenbach, 68, German footballer, heart failure (b. 1942)
• 24 April Leo Löwenstein, 43, German racing driver (b. 1966) Paul Schäfer, 88, German religious sect founder and former Nazi army corporal (b. 1921)
• 30 April – Paul Mayer, 98, German Roman Catholic prelate and cardinal (b. 1911)

May

• 3 May Stefan Doernberg, 85, German writer and teacher (b. 1924) Guenter Wendt, 85, German-born American spacecraft engineer (NASA) (b. 1923)
• 4 May – Freddy Kottulinsky, 77, German-born Swedish racing driver (b. 1932)
• 5 May – Alfons Kontarsky, 77, German pianist (b. 1931)
• 8 May – Peer Schmidt, 84, German actor (b. 1926)
• 9 May – Karl-Heinz Schnibbe, 86, German partisan, World War II resistance fighter (b. 1924)
• 12 May Dieter Bock, 71, German businessman and multimillionaire (b. 1938) Edith Keller-Herrmann, 88, German chess Grandmaster (b. 1921)
• 13 May Walter Klimmek, 91, German footballer (b. 1919) Klaus Kotter, 75, German bobsleigh official (b. 1934)
• 15 May – Christian Habicht, 57, German actor (b. 1952)
• 17 May Ludwig von Friedeburg, 85, German politician and sociologist, Hesse Minister for Education (1969–1974) (b. 1924) Fritz Sennheiser, 98, German electrical engineer and entrepreneur, founder of Sennheiser (b. 1912)
• 23 May – Eva Ostwalt, 108, German-born American Holocaust survivor (b. 1902)
• 24 May – Anneliese Rothenberger, 83, German opera singer (b. 1919)
• 29 May – Paul Müller, 69, German biologist (b. 1940)

June

• 10 June – Sigmar Polke, 69, German painter and photographer (b. 1941)
• 12 June – Daisy D'ora, 97, German actress and socialite (b. 1913)
• 13 June – Ernest Fleischmann, 85, German-born American impresario, executive director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (b. 1924)
• 15 June – Heidi Kabel, 95, German stage actress (b. 1914)
• 18 June – Hans Joachim Sewering, 94, German physician, member of the Waffen SS (1933–1945) (b. 1916)
• 19 June – Ursula Thiess, 86, German artist and actress (Bengal Brigade) (b. 1924)
• 21 June – Wilfried Feldenkirchen, 62, German economic historian and project manager (Siemens) (b. 1947)
• 22 June Marie-Luise Jahn, 92, German activist, member of the anti-Nazi resistance movement White Rose (b. 1918) Manfred Römbell, 68, German writer (b. 1941)
• 23 June Jörg Berger, 65, German football manager (b. 1944) Frank Giering, 38, German actor (Funny Games) (b. 1971)
• 28 June Willie Huber, 52, German-born Canadian ice hockey player (Detroit Red Wings) (b. 1958) Kirsten Heisig, 48, German politician and juvenile magistrate (b. 1961)

July

• 2 July – Carl Adam Petri, 83, German computer scientist (b. 1926)
• 3 July – Herbert Erhardt, 79, German footballer, FIFA World Cup winner 1954 (b. 1930)
• 12 July – Günter Behnisch, 88, German architect (b. 1922)
• 22 July – Herbert Giersch, 89, German economist (b. 1921)
• 24 July – Theo Albrecht, 88, German entrepreneur and billionaire (Aldi Nord, Trader Joe's) (b. 1922)
• 25 July – Erich Steidtmann, 95, German Nazi SS officer (b. 1914)
• 30 July – Otto Joachim, 99, German-born Canadian violist and composer of electronic music (b. 1910)

August

• 5 August – Jürgen Oesten, 96, German U-boat commander during World War II (b. 1913)
• 7 August – Jürgen Thimme, 92, German archaeologist and U-boat commander (b. 1917)
• 8 August – Bernhard Philberth, 83, German physicist, engineer, philosopher and theologian (b. 1927)
• 11 August – Bruno Schleinstein, 78, German actor (b. 1932)
• 12 August – Manfred Homberg, German boxer (b. 1933)
• 18 August Maria Wachter, 100, German communist and resistance fighter, member of VVN (b. 1910) Sepp Daxenberger, 48, German politician (b. 1962)
• 19 August – Gerhard Beil, 84, East German politician (b. 1926)
• 21 August – Christoph Schlingensief, 49, German film and theatre director (b. 1960)
• 26 August – Walter Wolfrum, 87, German World War II Luftwaffe fighter ace (b. 1923)

September

• 7 September – Eberhard von Brauchitsch, 83, German industrial manager (b. 1926)
• 11 September – Baerbel Bohley, 65, East German opposition figure & artist (b. 1945)
• 16 September – Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern, 86, German nobleman (b. 1924)
• 18 September – Egon Klepsch, 80, German politician (b. 1930)

October

• 14 October – Hermann Scheer, 66, German politician (b. 1944)
• 21 October – Loki Schmidt, 91, German environmentalist and wife of Helmut Schmidt (b. 1919)

November

• 5 November – Hajo Herrmann, 97, German Luftwaffe pilot (b. 1913)
• 6 November – Ezard Haußmann, 75, German actor (b. 1935)
• 15 November – Andreas Kirchner, 57, German Winter sportsman (b. 1953)
• 20 November Walter Helmut Fritz, German author (b. 1929) Heinz Weiss, German actor (b. 1921)
• 26 November – Maria Hellwig, 90, German singer (b. 1920)
• 30 November – Peter Hofmann, 76, German singer (b. 1944)

December

• 7 December Armin Weiss, 83, chemist and politician (b. 1927) Arnold Weiss, 86, German-born American soldier (b. 1924)
• 15 December – Hans-Joachim Rauschenbach, 87, German sport journalist (b. 1923)
• 17 December – Mikhail Umansky, 58, Russian-born German chess grandmaster (b. 1952)
• 20 December - Katharina Szelinski-Singer, 92, German sculptor (b. 1918)

See also

• 2010 in German television
• Germany at the 2010 Winter Olympics