The blue-chip DAX 30 index nosedived by 239.8 points or 3.75 percent to an intraday low of 6,390.22 points shortly after 1300 GMT.
Financial stocks were among the biggest losers, with shares in Germany's biggest bank Deutsche Bank shedding 5.4 percent, Commerzbank shares down as much as 7.1 percent and shares in insurers Allianz and Munich Re down by 5.4 percent and 4.95 precent respectively.