Germany's most-Googled word of 2015 is...

In the end, "Sonnenfinsternis" (solar eclipse) turned out to be the Google search team of the year in the table, which ranks searches based on how much the number of people asking about them increased.

The astronomical event in March was enjoyed by thousands all over the country – including us at The Local.

But the rest of the list included a little less science and a lot more hard news.

Hard on the heels of the solar eclipse were "Pegida", "Flugzeugabsturz" (plane crash) around the time of the Germanwings tragedy, and "Paris", scene of two brutal terrorist attacks this year.

"Griechenland" (Greece), "Charlie Hebdo" (the French satirical magazine attacked in January), and "Helmut Schmidt", the beloved former Chancellor who died in November aged 96, were all featured in the top 10 as well.

But the search chart also revealed the lighter side of life in Germany, with "Dschungelcamp" (Jungle Camp, Germany's version of British TV show "I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here") in fourth place and "iPhone 6" at sixth place.

Minions beat Star Wars

Meanwhile, the "Films" ranking revealed that Germans' childish side won out over the geeks, with Minions beating the new instalment of Star Wars to the number one spot.

Image: Universal Pictures/DPA

The rest of the list was filled out with predictable Hollywood fare – apart from two home-grown entries, "Honig im Kopf" (Head Full of Honey), and Hitler comedy "Er Ist Wieder Da" (Look Who's Back).

Oliver Masucci, star of "Er Ist Wieder Da" (Look Who's Back) in costume as Hitler above Berlin. Photo: DPA

And among celebrities, schlager singer Helene Fischer reigned supreme at the top of the German chart, followed by stricken Formula One legend Michael Schumacher and reality TV star Daniela Katzenberger.

The biggest questions

Germans also had a whole host of serious questions for Google in 2015, which the search engine divided up into "What?", "Why?" and "How?" categories.

Photo: DPA

The nation spent most of the year puzzled about what to eat if you believe the "What?" list, with "what am I cooking today?" in first place.

But while the price of stamps and TV schedules also made their appearances, the most metaphysical questions like "what is love?", "what is 0 divided by 0?" and "what are parsnips?" also made appearances at ranks 5, 7 and 10 respectively.

German's biggest How? head-scratchers ranged from "how is the weather going to be?" and "How fast is my internet?" to "how tall is the Eiffel Tower?" and "how old am I?" - although some also took the time to ask Google how it was doing and what its name is.

Meanwhile, the "Why?" list was stuffed full of classics like "why is the sky blue?", "why are bananas curved?" and "why aren't I losing weight?".

But there was evidence of sad goings-on under "Why?" as well, with "why am I not getting pregnant?" at number four.

Things got back to the humorous at number 10 though, with "why are cats afraid of cucumbers?" - a YouTube trend that made it big worldwide this year - battling its way onto the list.