GIOVE: a new detector setup for high sensitivity germanium spectroscopy at shallow depth

We report on the development and construction of the high-purity germanium spectrometer setup GIOVE (Germanium Inner Outer VEto), recently built and now operated at the shallow underground laboratory of the Max-Planck-Institut fur Kernphysik, Heidelberg. Particular attention was paid to the design of a novel passive and active shield, aiming at efficient rejection of environmental and muon induced radiation backgrounds. The achieved sensitivity level of <= 100 mu Bqkg(-1) for primordial radionuclides from U and Th in typical gamma ray sample screening measurements is unique among instruments located at comparably shallow depths and can compete with instruments at far deeper underground sites.