How convert a german date string to datetime format

hi,
i also have read the thread DateTime Conversion but i dont find a solution for me. i only find soutions to convert from datetime to string or iso date string to datetime.
i have test the code and it gives me an error:
Rule 'Convert MAKinder_updateString to datetime': An error occurred during the script execution: null
the rule (i test with a fixed string):

rule "Convert MAKinder_updateString to datetime"
    when
            Item MAKinder_updateString received update
    then
    	val SimpleDateFormat dateFormatter = new SimpleDateFormat( "dd.MM.yyyy HH:mm:ss" )
    	val DateTime parsedDateTime = new DateTime(dateFormatter.parse("12.11.2001 20:37:47"))
    	//postUpdate(MAKinder_update, parsedDateTime)
    	//MAKinder_update.postUpdate( parsedDateTime )
    end