A formal announcement is expected in the next day or two, but the information has been widely "leaked" and published in MSM.

Very sensible advice IMHO, but most unusual in peacetime. I cant read German, and different translations into English differ a little as to whether citizens are REQUIRED to stock up or merely advised to so do.

No neighbouring nations have issued similar instructions, which seems a bit odd, do they expect the disaster or emergency to stop at the border ?

Do we have any German members on here who can comment in detail ?

BBC news

Report on BBC, also available from other sources.

One thing to keep in mind is that "Zivilschutz" - which is the proper term - covers mostly the handling of desasters and only remotely the case of military events. They did cut costs and allowed it a generous amount of slack.
For valid details it may be advised to wait for the official announcement. The German sources differ a little as well. The plan was brought forward by the ministery of the inner and challenged by the opposition as it only will spread panic.
So far the plan seems to be to strongly advice citizens to stockpile certain food items in certain amounts.
The same was in place during the cold war times.
It is not that unusual even for peacetime. The main problems in the past decade were caused by natural desasters (e. g. floods, grid breakdowns or supply delays due to snow and ice, sudden ice layers on streets). Those events were not handled too smoothly. So it makes sense to advice stockpiling even without the thread of an invasion by the evil ones.
The news must also be seen in context with the migrant crisis, the attacks in Cologne (and a few other big cities), Würzburg, Ansbach and Munich (they had a curfew and 2300 police officers on the scene for a single shooter). The government tries to restore a feeling of safety and security for the population. There are a quite a few questionable measures taken for that purpose (e. g. the extend of security for the Octoberfest, the proposed ban for burkas and hijabs).
I think elaborating more might get too political.
I follow that topic anyway. If there is interest, I could make summaries from the German sources and post them here.

I for one would be most interested to hear what the reaction of the German people is.

And in particular, are significant numbers of people actually following the advice to stock up on food and water.
Most large retailers in the UK only keep an average of a few days stocks. So if just 10% of the population go out and buy 10 days reserve, then retail stocks are significantly depleted.

I would not expect panic, or stores to be stripped bare, but would expect localised and short term shortages of some non perishables.

I would not even expect a short term shortage beyond the normal extend for a couple of reasons:

• most people could manage ten days on their usual weekly items
• those who care already have a stockpile
• the term "Hamsterkäufe" (hoarding) used in the MSM has a very negative connotation
• noone believes that ISIS will put us under siege for several days
• the list of items can be expected to be fairly useless (when I stockpile, I select what I want to eat and not what the government thinks I should have)
• summer break: MSM are desparate for any political news

OTOH: The other day I wanted to buy some buttermilk and oranges but the retailer was out of both . Maybe I should panic and hoard.

When I think of Germany I think of preparedness for every reasonable eventuality, so this news is not surprising to me.

The only car I have ever owned that included instructions on how to pull start it (by towing it with another vehicle) in the manual was a German car. And on its face, not a bad little tidbit of information, but what made is REALLY unusual is that the car had an automatic transmission. You were meant to get going maybe 25 mph in neutral and then drop the gear shift down to the second gear indicator.

Having 10 days of food on hand just sounds second nature in a country where they pull start cars with automatic transmissions.

things to consider: meds, dog food, coffee, a coupla good books to read

It is out in the open now. The stockpiling still is adviced and not mandatory. The plans have not been "leaked", they are published on a government website.
There is a 4 page flyer (http://www.bbk.bund.de/SharedDocs/Downlo...publicationFile) which is in no way secret. Consider it copyright protected with a license to make as many copies of it as your heart desires. Just don´t sell the copies. The flyer pdf is set up with 3 different paper formats (A5 portrait, A4 landscape and a format slightly higher than A4 portrait). It does not print nicely with just hitting the "print" button.
The recommended stockpile should be designed to last for 2 weeks without shopping. That is 28 liters of beverages + some for preparing food like rice or pasta, 4.9kg grain or grain products, bread, potatoe, rice, pasta, 5.6kg vegetable and legume, 3.6kg fruit and nuts(no fresh fruit that cannot be stored long term), 3.7kg milk and milk products, 2.1kg fish, meat and eggs (preferably powdered), 0.5kg fat and oil, miscellaneous food (honey, sugar, bread spreads, chocolate).
The checklist comprises of a list for different item groups (medical supplies, sanitary products, fire control, power outage, documents, bug out bag and receivers for public broadcasting).
The list itself is not bad but I have seen significantly better in this forum. Many forum members might be disappointed that the government did not come up with something better. (this is my personal opinion about it)
If there is enough interest I would be willing to contribute a translation of the list.
It also explains why neighbouring nations did not bother to issue similiar instructions now. Such plans and instructions are in place for decades. If there wasn´t a shortage of news about politics due to the summer break, the MSM might not even have issued an article in Germany. The proper English term for the actions might be in the vicinity of "turning mole hills into mountains".

Am I mistaken in thinking the word breaks down into "hamster" and "buy"? That's such a cute word. Is it new? Do hamsters hoard?

Also, in response to robert's post above: is there some sort of emergency preparation tradition in Germany?

A reasonable though not literal translation would be "hoarding as a hamster does" These rodents are known for hiding/hoarding food often by burial, as squirrels do.

I think that Germany does have more of a tradition of both state sponsored civil defence and individual preparations than is the case in most other countries.

Not just collective memory regarding the last war, but also West Germany was on the front line of the cold war, and of course more recently has been a terrorist target.

You are right on the money. Around here it´s not as cute as you might think. It is connected with greed, stinginess and selfishness.

No, it is fairly old. It was already around when there still was a bounty for hamsters.

Hamsters do not hibernate. They create supply caches to live through the winter. Sometimes they cache more than they actually need.

No there is not. Emergency preparation is on a rapid decline for at least two or three decades.
In the post war time people used to can or dry food they grew in the gardens so they could use it when it was out of season. Having supplies for a month or more was normal. That gradually changed when retailers offered fresh supplies all year around. Stockpiled supplies are not cool as they limit choice.
Today being prepared is kind of suspicious to a substancial number of city people. They tend to rely on ERTs (without contributing time or money beyond taxes).
Only in regions where people traditionally have to face harsher conditions ( e. g. in the alps or on the coast) prepardness is part of daily life.