The 21-year-old topped the standings with a time of 58.12sec, which was 0.10 seconds slower than World Cup winner Elisabeth Vathje of Canada in a race that was reduced to a single run following heavy snowfall.

"Amazing - the atmosphere at the start line was incredible, it really pushed me to do my best," Lölling said. 

"Because there was just one run today, it was really all or nothing.

"I tried to stay relaxed and just enjoy the race here at home."

The silver medal in the European Championships went the way of defending champion Janine Flock of Austria in 58.28, while world champion Tina Hermann of Germany secured third place in 58.37.

Canada’s Mirela Rahneva finished third in the World Cup, 0.12 seconds behind 2015 World Championship bronze medallist Vathje.

"I love coming to Winterberg," Vathje, who celebrated her second win of the season, said.

"I had an inkling that I could win here today, even though Jacqueline is incredible on this track.

"It wasn’t an easy race today, but skeleton is a winter sport after all."

Lölling now has 829 points in the overall World Cup standings, extending her lead over Flock who has 753.

At the season’s halfway point, Hermann is now third overall on 738 points.

In the four-man bobsleigh, German pilot Johannes Lochner was crowned the European champion for the first time in his career with a time of 1:48.95.

The junior world champion and his team of Sebastian Mrowka, Joshua Blum and Christian Rasp secured their second consecutive World Cup victory with a 0.45-second advantage over the rest of the field.

Taking second place in the World Cup meant that Germany’s Nico Walther, and his team of Kevin Kuske, Kevin Korona and Eric Franke, also secured their first medal in the four-man bobsleigh European Championships. 

Austria’s Benjamin Maier and his team of Stefan Laussegger, Markus Sammer and Danut Moldovan finished third in the World Cup, 0.47 seconds behind, and won European Championship bronze to ensure their country’s second consecutive medal following a silver last year. 

"The start of the second heat, in particular, went really well and it was just a great run overall," Lochner said.

"Now we’re the European champions."

Russia’s Alexander Kasjanov now leads the overall World Cup standings on 787 points after coming fourth today. 

Previous leader Rico Peter of Switzerland finished 14th and has dropped to second overall on 731 points.

Third place is held by the United States’ Steven Holcomb, who came seventh today, on 722 points,