According to the state control center, officers were called to 507 weather-related accidents from 6 a.m. on Sunday to 6 a.m. on Monday.
The accidents resulted in one fatality and 37 minor injuries. In Duisburg, a car had run off the road and landed in a stream, killing the driver.
Police in the city of Dortmund said they had been inundated with calls and pleaded for people to stay at home.
"Take advantage of home office and other possibilities not to add to the traffic," a police statement said.
Germany snowed in by extreme winter weather
A major snowstorm caused injuries, accidents, railway and football match cancellations across northern and central Germany. Forecasters say the snowstorm is set to bring even lower temperatures in the upcoming week.
Image: Jens Büttner/dpa/picture alliance
Snow blankets northern, eastern Germany
Pedestrians walk along the Elbe River in Dresden. In its warning, Germany's weather service warned of an "extraordinary onset of winter," and said the snowstorm has affected northern and central parts of Germany the most.
Image: Sebastian Kahnert/dpa/picture alliance
Extreme weather warning issued
A jogger runs close to the Reichstag building in Berlin. DWD, the German Weather Service, issued an extreme weather warning, saying emergency crews have been put on standby across the country.
Image: Christoph Soeder/dpa/picture alliance/dpa
Sled and slide
Adults and children in the eastern state of Saxony enjoy a day out in the snow with winter activities such as sledding and snow boarding. The snow seen here near the town of Altenberg is noticeably tainted by Sahara sand.
Image: Matthias Schrader/AP/picture alliance
Bundesliga games called off
Multiple football games were cancelled on Sunday due to severe weather. The Bundesliga game between Arminia Bielefeld and Werder Bremen was cancelled just hours before it was due to begin, while the second-division game between Paderborn and Heidenheim was also called off.
Image: Arminia Bielefeld/dpa/picture alliance
Rail connections cancelled across Germany
A regional train heads in the direction of Koblenz, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Large portions of Germany's most populous state woke up to a blanket of snowfall. Deutsche Bahn (DB), Germany's train operator, canceled several routes around the country, and has offered refunds in the affected regions.
Image: Fabian Strauch/dpa/picture alliance
Reduced visibility causes accidents
People walk along an avenue in Berlin. The storm, which has caused dense snow drifts and limited visibility, resulted in dozens of injuries and traffic accidents around Germany.
Image: Florian Gaertner/photothek/imago images
Frozen motorways see spike in accidents
A tree branch is frozen is Siegen, in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). Police closed several slippery motorways as hundreds of accidents were reported across the country. In NRW alone, authorities said a total of 222 car accidents had been registered since Saturday.
Image: Leon Kuegeler/REUTERS
Stuck in traffic
Heavy snow fall and powerful wind across Germany has delayed traffic in a number of cities, posing a challenge for drivers trying to make their way around. Winter storms brought up to 32 centimeters (12 inches) of snow, wind gusting up to 80 kilometers per hour (49 mph) and meter-high snowdrifts.
Image: Hendrik Schmidt/dpa/picture alliance
People urged to stay at home
Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer advised people to avoid travelling at the start of the week. On Sunday, rail and road traffic came to a standstill in many cities. Police closed motorways said to be as slippery as glass.
Image: Robert Michael/dpa/picture alliance
Homeless at risk
A woman stands by snow-covered stairs in Berlin. Several states in Germany have been covered with more than 20 centimeters of snow. Homeless people are particularly at risk during the storms. Rescue crews brought several homeless people in North Rhine Westphalia to shelters. In Berlin, protesters called for the reopening of a camp where many homeless people live before it was cleared.
Image: Florian Gaertner/photothek/imago images
Capital blanketed in white
Berlin's iconic Brandenburg gate gets a cleaning during heavy snowfall. Berliners were seen on public transport over the weekend armed with sleds as they headed to hill-tops for a day of tobogganing.
Image: Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images
Black ice hits central Germany
A woman with an umbrella crosses the road in Hanover, Lower Saxony. The DWD issued its highest warnings for parts of North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt on Saturday. Black ice was also forecast for parts of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Thuringia and Saxony.
Germany's train services were hit hard with areas around Berlin and Hamburg particularly affected.
Rail operator Deutsche Bahn canceled most connections from both cities in the direction of Hanover, Cologne, Frankfurt as well as Munich.
DW correspondent Jared Reed said that despite numerous cancellations, "luckily" there weren't too many stranded people in Hanover, a hub for regional and long-distance German trains.
DW correspondent Jared Reed said that despite numerous cancellations, "luckily" there weren't too many stranded people in Hanover, a hub for regional and long-distance German trains.
Netherlands declares 'code red'
In the neighboring Netherlands, Dutch authorities declared a rare "code red" emergency as the country grappled with its first proper snowstorm in more than a decade.
There were delays or cancellations to dozens of flights at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, while the southern city of Eindhoven's airport scrapped all services.
England was also expecting heavy snow from the weather system named "Storm Darcy" by meteorologists and dubbed by UK media as the "Beast from the East II." The first "Beast," in 2018, brought unusually low temperatures and heavy snowfallto large areas of Britain and Ireland.
