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| 2000, Jan. 18 |
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| Surrounded by charges of illegal fund-raising, Helmut Kohl resigned as honorary chairman of the CDU. Kohl refused to name any of the donors. The once-dominant CDU was almost ruined by the scandal. | 1 |
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| April 10 |
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| Replacing former chancellor Helmut Kohl, who had led the CDU for eighteen years, Angela Merkel was chosen as the new party head for the Christian Democrats. Merkel was viewed as a very promising new personality who might save the party from its disastrous involvement in recent scandals. | 2 |
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| July 14 |
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| Chancellor Schroeder by a narrow margin passed tax reform legislation that would cut taxes for the rich and eliminate the capital gains tax on German companies that sold shares in other companies. The latter reform was expected to spur corporate mergers by German businesses. | 3 |
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| Oct. 3 |
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| Though concerned about recent uprisings of anti-Semitic violence, Germany celebrated the tenth anniversary of the unification of East and West Germany. | 4 |
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