As negotiations between Greece and its creditors stumbled toward breakdown, culminating in a sound rejection on Sunday by Greek voters of the conditions demanded in exchange for a financial lifeline, a vintage photo resurfaced on the Internet, the International New York Times reported. It shows Hermann Josef Abs, head of the Federal Republic of Germany’s delegation in London on Feb. 27, 1953, signing the agreement that effectively cut the country’s debts to its foreign creditors in half. It is an image that still resonates today.

Frankfurt prosecutors are examining the role played by individuals connected with Deutsche Bank’s involvement in the Libor rate-rigging scandal – potentially opening up a new front in the affair that has rocked Germany’s biggest bank. The investigation is the first step in a procedure that could lead to criminal charges, the Irish Times reported. The prosecutors’ investigation stems from a report by the German financial watchdog BaFin, details of which were revealed by the Financial Times on Friday.

Germany's finance ministry denied a report on Saturday that its officials were working on a plan to allow an orderly debt restructuring for any country that becomes insolvent, Reuters reported. German magazine Der Spiegel had reported that Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble asked officials to draft plans for a system of debt restructuring for any insolvent country so that it could stay in the euro. Greece is negotiating for loans in exchange for reforms so that it can repay debts due in the coming weeks and avoid default.

Leading German industrialists have sounded the alarm over the European Central Bank’s move to drive down interest rates, warning that cheap money is causing volatility and could create “another bubble”, the Financial Times reported. Wolfgang Buechele, chief executive of Linde, the industrial gas and plant engineering group, told the Financial Times: “You hear from national bankers and the ECB that we have to focus in the future on managing bubbles.

Germany's Kettler, known for its Kettcar carts for kids, has filed for insolvency, the sporting goods and bicycle maker said. Privately held Kettler said on Wednesday the move had become necessary "to avoid a hostile takeover and realign the company". Christoph Schulte-Kaubruegger of law firm White & Case has been named provisional trustee for Kettler, a court filing dated Tuesday showed. The company, based in the western German town of Ense-Parsit, was founded by Heinz Kettler in 1949 and is now run by his daughter Karin Kettler.

If all goes according to plan, early next year Commerzbank will pay a dividend for the first time since the bank was engulfed by the crisis, the Irish Times reported on a Financial Times story. That would be a symbolic moment in the rehabilitation of the bank in which the German government was forced to invest €18.2 billion during the turmoil after the Lehman Brothers collapse. It would also be a welcome change of fortune for Commerzbank’s shareholders, who have seen their holdings diluted by capital raisings.

The upheaval is deepening around the German maker of a controversial new smart gun, The Washington Post reported. Armatix, based near Munich, is undergoing a “corporate restructuring,” according to a statement Thursday from a company spokesman. Details were not immediately available from German courts, but the spokesman said the move was “not an insolvency proceeding.” Financial records reported to German authorities show Armatix has recorded more than 14 million euros in losses since 2011.

Germany’s finance minister said he couldn’t rule out a Greek default, a stance that will add pressure on Athens as negotiations over much-needed financing enter their final stretch. Asked whether he would repeat an assurance he gave in late 2012 that Greece wouldn’t default, Wolfgang Schäuble told The Wall Street Journal and French daily Les Echos that “I would have to think very hard before repeating this in the current situation.

German politicians kept up the pressure on Greece over the weekend to implement reforms, with Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel warning Athens in an interview that a third aid package would not be on the cards unless the Greeks made some changes. Greece is fast running out of cash and talks with its lenders have been deadlocked over their demands for Greece to implement reforms, including pension cuts and labor market liberalization.

EnBW has been named preferred bidder for insolvent wind farm operator Prokon, Germany's third-biggest power utility said on Tuesday. EnBW has made a binding offer to acquire all assets of Prokon for a "mid-level three-digit million-euro" amount, the company said. The all-cash offer would value Prokon, which filed for insolvency in January last year, at more than 500 million euros ($561.6 million), one person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. A creditor panel at Prokon will probably take a final decision on EnBW's bid in early July, the utility said.