2007 in Germany

Events from the year 2007 in Germany.

Incumbents

Federal level

*President – Horst Köhler
*Chancellor – Angela Merkel

tate level

*Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg – Günther Oettinger
*Minister-President of Bavaria – Edmund Stoiber until 30 September, then Günther Beckstein
*Governing mayor of Berlin – Klaus Wowereit
*First mayor of Bremen – Jens Böhrnsen
*Minister-President of Brandenburg – Matthias Platzeck
*First mayor of Hamburg – Ole von Beust
*Minister-President of Hesse – Roland Koch
*Minister-President of Lower Saxony – Christian Wulff
*Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – Harald Ringstorff
*Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia – Jürgen Rüttgers
*Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate – Kurt Beck
*Minister-President of the Saarland – Peter Müller
*Minister-President of Saxony – Georg Milbradt
*Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt – Wolfgang Böhmer
*Minister-President of Schleswig-Holstein – Peter Harry Carstensen
*Minister-President of Thuringia – Dieter Althaus

Events

January

*1 January - Germany assumes presidency of the G8 for the year and presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months.
*1 January - Value added tax is raised from 16% to 19%.
*1 January - BenQ-Siemens in Munich declares insolvency.
*5 January - Mounir El Motassadeq was sentenced in Hamburg to 15 years prison for his involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
*8 January - Russian oil supplies to Germany, Poland, and Ukraine are cut for three days as part of the Russia-Belarus energy dispute.
*18 January - Following in-party pressure, Edmund Stoiber announces his resignation as Minister-President of Bavaria and chairman of the CSU, effective on 30 September. [cite web |title=Bavarian leader Stoiber to quit|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6275483.stm |work=BBC News]
*18 January - Hurricane Kyrill, the worst storm to hit Germany since 1999, kills 13 in Germany and at least 31 in the rest of Western Europe.

February

*2 February - The federal parliament passes a reform in health insurance, making insurance compulsory for all German citizens.

March

*9 March - The national retirement age is raised to 67.
*9 March - War in Afghanistan: The federal parliament approves the deployment of Panavia Tornados to Afghanistan. Threats against Germany by Al-Quaida soon follow.
*25 March - In Berlin, 27 European ministers celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome.

April

*11 April - In Beirut, the trial begins for one of the Lebanese perpetrators of the 2006 German train bombing plot.
*12 April - A Tornado fighter jet of the German air force ("Luftwaffe") collides with a rock face in the Swiss Bernese Oberland. One pilot ejects to safety, one dies.
*13 April - Günther Oettinger, Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, creates controversy with his eulogy of predecessor Hans Filbinger. Oettinger describes Filbinger as an opponent of the Nazi regime, although Filbinger was a member of the Nazi party and his true role during the war is still disputed.

May

*7 May - President Horst Köhler rejects a request to pardon Red Army Faction terrorist Christian Klar, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of banker Jürgen Ponto
*13 May - State election in Bremen - The SPD and CDU, who have governed Bremen since 1995 in a grand coalition under Jens Böhrnsen (SPD), both suffer losses although the SPD remains the strongest party. The Left Party.PDS enjoy their first success in a western German state with enough votes to enter the Bremen Senate. After two months of negotiations, a red-green alliance (SPD and Greens) is established.
*14 May - The Stuttgart-based car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler sells its American daughter company Chrysler for 5500 million euros, ending a 10-year union. After the demerger, DaimlerChrysler is renamed to Daimler AG.
*24 May - Cyclist Erik Zabel confesses to doping with EPO for at least one week during the 1996 Tour de France, only to stop due to the adverse effects of the drugs on his health. At this same press conference, Rolf Aldag also confesses to long-term EPO use.

June

*1 June - The DAX exceeds 8000 points for the first time in eight years.
*6 June-8 June - 33rd G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
*16 June - The Left Party.PDS and the WASG fuse to form the Left Party.

July

August

eptember

October

November

December

*21 December - Border controls with Germany's eastern neighbours are removed as the Czech Republic, Poland and seven other countries join the Schengen border-free zone. The only remaining German border with border controls is that with Switzerland.

Arts & Literature

Film

*25 February - The Lives of Others ("Das Leben der Anderen") wins the 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Television

port

*4 February - "Handball" - Germany wins the 2007 World Men's Handball Championship held in Germany, defeating Poland in the final in Cologne.
*18 February - "Indoor field hockey" - Germany wins the 2007 World Indoor Field Hockey Championship held in Vienna, Austria, defeating Poland in the final and defend their title. The women's team - also the previous champions - take third place.
*20 February - "Ice hockey" - The Adler Mannheim win the Deutscher Eishockey-Pokal.
*31 March - "Boxing" - Henry Maske returns to the ring after an 11-year absence to avenge his only professional defeat, beating Virgil Hill after 12 rounds by unanimous decision. Immediately after the bout, Maske announces his final retirement.
*8 April - "Curling" - Germany take second place at the 2007 Ford World Men's Curling Championship in Edmonton, Canada, losing to the host nation in the final.
*17 April - "Ice hockey" - The Adler Mannheim win the Deutsche Eishockey Liga for the sixth time, becoming the first team to win both the league and cup titles in a single season.
*22 April - "Handball" - HSV Hamburg wins the EHF Cup Winner's Cup final against CB Ademar León.
*29 April - "Handball" - THW Kiel wins the all-German final of the EHF Champions League against SG Flensburg-Handewitt. SC Magdeburg wins the EHF Cup final against CAI BM Aragón.
*5 May - "Volleyball" - VfB Friedrichshafen become German volleyball champions for the seventh time.
*12 May - "Rugby" - RG Heidelberg wins the final of the Rugby-Bundesliga.
*19 May - "Football" - VfB Stuttgart wins the 2006-07 season of the Fußball-Bundesliga for the fifth time.
*28 May - "Field hockey" - Crefelder HTC wins the EuroHockey Club Champions Cup for the first time.
*2 June - "Handball" - THW Kiel become national handball champions for a record 13th time.
*26 June - "Basketball" - The Brose Baskets from Bamberg become German champions in the Basketball Bundesliga for the second time.
*1 July - "American football" - The Marburg Mercenaries are defeated by the Dodge Vikings Vienna in the Eurobowl.
*8 July - "Field hockey" - Der Club and der Alster in Hamburg become German field hockey champions for the fifth time.
*24 August to 2 September - 2007 World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Japan. Germany finishes fifth on the overall medal tally.
*30 September - "Football" - Germany wins the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in Shanghai, China, defeating Brazil and not surrendering a single goal during the tournament. The German team becomes the first women's team to win two consecutive titles.
*21 October - "Handball" - THW Kiel wins the EHF Men’s Champions Trophy, defeating Celje Pivovarna Laško in the final;, completing the most successful year in the club's history (EHF Champions League, national champions, EHF Champions Trohpy). Two other German teams — HSV Hamburg and SC Magdeburg — take third and fourth place.
*16 December - "Handball" - Germany takes third place in the 2007 World Women's Handball Championship held in France, defeating Romania in Paris.

Deaths

*22 February - Lothar-Günther Buchheim, author, painter, and art collector (b. 1918)
*1 April - Hans Filbinger, jurist and politician (b. 1913)
*26 June - Jupp Derwall, footballer and coach (b. 1927)
*1 July - Gottfried von Bismarck, aristocrat and socialite (b. 1962)
*4 July - Liane Bahler, cyclist (b. 1982)
*22 July - Ulrich Mühe, actor (b. 1953)
*28 November - Elly Beinhorn, pilot (b. 1907)

References