Van Gerwen was bidding for a record-extending fifth German Darts Grand Prix crown, but was stopped in his tracks by his German opponent who eased to a 6-1 victory in Munich.
Springer won twice against the throw to race to a 4-0 lead, before the Dutchman broke back to win his first leg of the match. However, Springer replicated the feat in the next leg and won the seventh to record an emphatic and memorable victory.
It looked like it might be the result of the round, but an arguably bigger upset came in the final fixture of the evening, where top seed Van Veen - fresh off his impressive win over Luke Littler in the Premier League of Darts earlier in the week - was dispatch 6-2 by Ireland's O'Connor.
In the end, ten seeds were accounted for on the second day of action, where Ryan Searle, Danny Noppert and Daryl Gurney were all beaten by a 6-5 scoreline.
Englishman Nathan Aspinall and Welsh number one Jonny Clayton narrowly avoided the same fate, edging out their respective opponents by the same score in a thrilling day of darts in Germany.
O'Connor will face Andrew Gilding in the next round on Monday, while Springer's reward for his victory is a showdown with 2023 world champion Michael Smith.
Click here for a list of results from Sunday's German Grand Prix in Munich