February 2025 news

February in Germany brings a multitude of interesting events that warm up the final winter days. In cultural life, exhibitions, film premieres and carnivals are expected. On the political arena, early elections will take place, the results of which may be unpredictable and will affect our lives for at least the next 4 years.

As spring approaches, a sense of revival can be felt, filling the cities with new energy. Here is what awaits us in February:

Early Bundestag elections

Early Bundestag elections — 23 February 2025. The need for them arose following the collapse of the traffic-light coalition: the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Greens, and the Free Democratic Party (FDP).

Election manifestos of the parties - political parties have presented their economic programmes. You can take a short quiz on the portal Wahl-O-Mat from 6 February, which will help you decide on a direction among the wide variety of programmes. For example, the SPD under the leadership of Olaf Scholz proposes allocating 18 billion euros annually to support private investment as part of the “Made in Germany” programme.

Ban on the use of artificial intelligence

From 2 February 2025, in the European Union comes into force ban on the use of certain artificial intelligence applications, that evaluate people based on their behaviour, characteristics and other traits, such as a “social credit system”.

Fastnacht/Fasching carnivals

In February, the traditional large-scale Carnival celebrations (Fastnacht/Fasching), or the “fifth season”. The most famous are in the cities of Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz.

St Valentine’s Day

14th February – Valentine’s Day.

Berlinale 2025

From 13 to 23 February 2025, Berlin will host the landmark 75th Berlinale film festival — one of the world’s largest film events, gathering thousands of spectators and professionals from all over the world.

International confectionery and snacks exhibition

From 2nd to 5th February, Cologne will host international sweets and snacks trade fair — ISM Cologne 2025, where the latest industry products and trends will be showcased.

The Kandinsky Cosmos exhibition

From 8 February, the Museum Barberini in Potsdam will open its doors to the exhibition “Kosmos Kandinsky”.

Exhibition of outstanding German artists of the 1920s–1930s

In February and until 9 March in Kunsthalle Mannheim over 200 unique exhibitions by prominent German artists from the 1920s and 1930s are presented.