Power struggles, crises, strikes: the business year 2015

In January, the European Central Bank (ECB) unveiled a plan to buy government and other bonds. From March, the bank spent 60 billion euros ($65 billion) per month on those bonds. Until March 2017 at least, around 1.5 trillion euros ($1.63 trillion) are being disbursed. The ECB's aim is to fuel the economy and inflation. Critics can't agree on whether the monetary stimulus will bear fruit.

Family Minister Manuela Schwesig called it "an historic step." In March, the Bundestag approves a 30-percent quota for women. From 2016, one in three supervisory board members must be female. CDU/CSU and SPD voted in favor of the draft bill. The Left party and the Greens abstain, calling for higher quotas. Other critics voice concerns: the new law may not be in accordance with the constitution.

On March 18, the streets of Frankfurt see a fierce battle between protesters and police. Cars are set on fire, stones are thrown. On the day the ECB unveiled its new headquarters, activists vented their anger about European financial policies. Frankfurt drowns in chaos. The demonstration had been organized by the anti-capitalist "Blockupy" movement.

The end of March sees the first ever coast-to-coast trip by a self-driving vehicle in the US. Delphi Automotive's refitted Audi Q5 travels 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) from San Francisco to New York, arriving there after a nine-day-journey guided by automatic pilot. According to Delphi, the car travelled in fully automated mode for 99 percent of the drive.

When the Apple Watch was launched in April, some dismissed it as a useless gadget, others queue for it. The computer watch is Apple's first attempt to hold its own in a new product category since the iPad launch five years before. There are no official sales figures. According to the Canalys market research institute, the watch emblazons seven million wrists.

Claiming that he had "distanced himself from [Martin] Winterkorn," Volkswagen Supervisory Board Chairman Ferdinand Piëch publicly withdrew his backing for the CEO in April. However, shareholders take a dim view of Piëch's move. A fierce struggle for power ensues, from which Winterkorn emerges as the winner. As a consequence Piëch, the patriarch, resigned from all his posts.

Germany's biggest lender paid dearly in the wake of the scandal involving manipulation of the Libor and Euribor interbank rates. Eventually, Deutsche Bank accepts a settlement sum in excess of $2.5 billion (2.3 billion euros). The Libor rate sets a daily benchmark for trillions of dollars of transactions worldwide. Traders of several banks had conspired to rig the rates for their benefit.

The envisaged "better days" didn't come, so both of Deutsche Bank's co-CEOs had to resign. During the lender's AGM in May, more than a third of shareholders withdraw their backing for Jürgen Fitschen and Anshu Jain. The bombshell drops in early June: Jain leaves right away, Fitschen is set to resign in May 2016. Britain's John Cryan is brought in as their successor.

June sees the end of an era. Canada's Hudson's Bay Company buys Germany's Kaufhof department store chain for 2.8 billion euros ($3.15 billion). The Canadians' business plan was deemed "fit for the future." René Benko, the owner of Kaufhof rival Karstadt, loses out - he had planned to merge the two into a publicly listed department store. Previously, Kaufhof had been owned by retail giant Metro.

In June, queues line up in front of Greece's banks. Greeks are anxious about their money, and a cap has been put on cash withdrawals from ATMs. Ultimately, Greece accepts tough austerity measures urged by its creditors; banks re-open after being closed for weeks. In August, the road is paved for a third aid package. In total, new loans worth 86 billion euros ($93 billion) are to be disbursed.

In May alone, rail commuters have to cope with waiting times of 127 hours - a record figure in German public transport. Several strikes result in delays and cancelled trains. In July, Deutsche Bahn and the train drivers' union GdL reach an agreement which puts an end to a conflict lasting for more than 10 months. The parties agree on wage increases and fewer working hours for train drivers.

A steering wheel with a life of its own, the car accelerates and brakes all by itself: Losing control of one's own car is a horrific scenario. In July, two IT experts publicized their hacker attack on a Jeep, controlling it via the car's radio, which turned out to be vulnerable to interference. Fiat Chrysler had to recall 1.4 million vehicles in order to equip them with a software "patch."

In August, Google created a new parent company called Alphabet. Traditional internet and search engine businesses continue to be run under the Google banner. The remainder of the empire was turned into independent companies, e.g. smart-home system provider Nest, which produces thermostats, and Calico, a biotech startup whose aim is to improve - and even prolong - life.

The news broke in September: Diesel VWs were found to emit more nitrogen oxide on the roads than in tests. The carmaker installed special software in VWs and Audis to trick the testing process. In total, 11 million vehicles seem affected. Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned. VW could ultimately face fines of up to $18 billion (16.6 billion euros) from the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Seven days of idle waiting: 4,700 planes remained grounded, around half a million travelers' November plans were unsettled. That was the upshot of the longest strike in Lufthansa's history. Cabin crew union Ufo was calling for higher wages and better pensions - a deal was struck on November 28. The walkout followed other stoppages by pilots, whose strike had been stopped by a court order.