  A new ultra low-level counting setup has been installed in the
shallow-underground laboratory Felsenkeller in Dresden, Germany. It includes a
high-purity germanium detector (HPGe) of 163\% relative efficiency within
passive and active shields. The passive shield consists of 45m rock overburden
(140 meters water equivalent), 40 cm of low-activity concrete, and a lead and
copper castle enclosed by an anti-radon box. The passive shielding alone is
found to reduce the background rate to rates comparable to other
shallow-underground laboratories. An additional active veto is given by five
large plastic scintillation panels surrounding the setup. It further reduces
the background rate by more than one order of magnitude down to 116$\pm$1
kg$^{-1}$ d$^{-1}$ in an energy interval of 40-2700 keV. This low background
rate is unprecedented for shallow-underground laboratories and close to deep
underground laboratories.
